The Daily Show became funny again as soon as Trevor Noah stopped being the host.
The Daily Show became funny again as soon as Trevor Noah stopped being the host.
Seriously though, whose bright idea was that, and why was it allowed to continue for so long?
i was actually amazed at how Stewart was able to step back in and almost immediately it felt like he'd never been away. It's HIS show. Always will be. Watching that first episode on Monday just felt right again.
I mean, he took it from being a pure comedy, almost a joke of a show, to something that defined a new category of TV. People forget that he was not the first host of the show. Craig Kilborn was great, but it was totally a different show, it was all about laughs and pop culture.
Then Stewart came along, and it turned into this brilliant quasi-news satirical-but-serious show that changed the way a lot of people thought about politics, news, television, and American culture as a whole.
Yeah, sometimes Stewart had to struggle to keep the balance of the show. There was a push to make it purely into a serious news show, but that's not what it was best at. That showed up most often with interviews, where John took flak for not treating it as an opportunity to go hard at politicians in particular. But he was right, that's not what the show was for, nor would it have worked. Not only did they not have an obligation to push hard on guests, I would say they had an obligation not to.
Which is tangential, but I think it explains why the show is his in a way that nobody else could pull off. He was deep in the entire process of the show.
Agreed, but then I watched Tuesday with the new host and lost interest halfway through.
I think Stewart is good at getting serious between the funny bits, but the other guy just tries to be funny constantly and it doesn't work for me.
This is not an unpopular opinion
I liked Trevor, he was really funny! He also leaned into the show from home thing which helped. That being said Jon Stewart was my daily news. When he left Steven got Late Night and John Oliver got Last Week Tonight. So my focus shifted
This is a terrible take and a great post for unpopularopinion.
No question Jon Stewart is the best, let's get that out of the way.
When Trevor took over he had to follow Jon, which was going to be a challenge for anyone. Trevor took over in 2015 and for the first 5 years he was good, but it took him time.
However when 2020 hit things changed, globally. But it also caused Trevor to really find his own. Trevor was one of the best late night programs during the pandemic and you could tell while watching that Trevor got a lot more comfortable.
Trevor brought that energy when he returned to the studio and continued to excel. In fact his final year of hosting earned him (and the Daily Show team) a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Series. (Yes, partially because John Oliver was moved to a different category, but Trevor is still excellent, even if second to John Oliver.)
I will say when Trevor retired from The Daily Show I was surprised, but not that surprised. I think Trevor chose to leave while he was in top. I think the pandemic really changed his outlook on things and while he knew he was doing great work, he was ready to move on.
I won't be surprised if Trevor ends up back hosting a late night show, podcast or something similar in the future, but I think he's a young guy and wants to be a little more reckless/creative before heading back to the format. (That isn't to say late night shows are only an "old mans" game, it's just not what Trevor is feeling at the moment.)
I think he's as entertaining as a mayonnaise sandwich.
I would like to see your mayo sandwiches because those sound damn entertaining.
Trevor wasn't terrible he just wasn't consistently funny. When he was funny, he was hilarious and biting. He just didn't hit that note often enough imo. Satire is a tough gig, you gotta come in and constantly bat 1000. Seth Meyers and John Oliver even have bits that fall flat and they're pretty much the best at the game rn.
Tbh I'm glad Jon Stewart is only hosting one night a week now because I think even he can't hit it every night anymore. It's just genuinely a really hard job.
Trevor Noah was John Stewart's idea lol. Overall I'd still say he was alright but his accent and Trump being president and Covid really didn't help any. John Stewart has got some big shoes for anyone to try and fill especially after he'd been doing the show so long. I think a real problem is that Trevor often leaned too far into the fact that he is different, that he is South African not American. He often used that to make jokes that seemed to fall against the audience for no reason. As opposed to all the successful comedy talk shows where the audience is with the joke.
That's a great perspective that I hadn't considered before, thanks for sharing.
Now that you mention it, that's visible in Trevor's standup specials that are all great - at least, every one that I've ever seen. Especially before coming to the USA while still in Africa.
He got to where he is today not in spite of but because of that attitude - the racist white establishment said "know your place" (ostensibly meaning "young/inexperienced comedian" but dog-whistling bc he is mixed heritage, which is treated as so much worse than black in that area), but he bucked the system and we just love that about him.
But it was not how The Daily Show was organized, so it did not mesh well with his own voice. Also, he's not Stewart - nobody is, not Steve Colbert and not even John Oliver - so yeah that would be horrible shoes to have to try to fill for anybody.
Daily show was a daily watch the entire run with John Stewart. It was comedic, it was newsworthy, it was silly and engaging yet informative. Brilliant.
Trevor Noah sucked. I like his standup. I liked some of his jokes. But he was way too soft on most things and just not funny. I watched for a few weeks after the transition and turned it off. Came back a few times for an episode here and there to see if he'd gotten better, and left when he hadn't.
The rotating host thing was also annoying. Almost all of them were terrible with a few episodes total that sparked joy. Not enough to watch again.
I tuned into the new 2024 John Stewart and it was the same John Stewart in the exact way it should be. I literally LOLd and was engaged. His news was not newsworthy and it was a soft ball night. Obviously getting back into the groove and I'm excited to see what happens. I will be tuning in purposefully.
I hope Comedy Central doesn't ruin the golden goose that just landed back in their laps. Let Stewart remain on air as much and as often as he likes until he needs to be wheeled in on a health machine.
Yup
He was abysmal, I have no idea how he lasted more than a few days. I gave it to college try, but he sucked hard.
Or you didn't get his jokes. I have no complaints.
He didn’t have any jokes
It was Jon Stewart's bright idea.
What a blunder for him.
That was after John Oliver left for basically the same deal that got Stewart to come back.