September 20, 2001

8:33 PM

God bless Jon Stewart and The Daily Show, back for their first show after the attack. It's not completely new, but God knows I needed to see it. New York may be OK after all. (Comedy Central will repeat the show several times before Monday, so don't despair if you thought it would be a rerun and missed it.)
posted by mdeatherage (24 comments total)

Tonights Daily Show broadcast here in the East was a rerun.
posted by tamim at 8:40 PM on September 20, 2001

It's about time!
posted by rushmc at 8:44 PM on September 20, 2001

Repeat at 12CST for those who missed it.
posted by skallas at 8:50 PM on September 20, 2001

The show that aired here (Pittsburgh) was new and surprisingly moving. Do try to see it (the opening monologue, at least).

Plus: one of the best Moment(s) of Zen ever!
posted by arco at 8:51 PM on September 20, 2001

Tonights Daily Show broadcast here in the East was a rerun.

tv.yahoo.com says the original air date was Jan, 11. Who (what cities) saw the new one?
posted by skallas at 9:05 PM on September 20, 2001

Thank you! for the good news - it certainly brightened my day a little.
posted by spinning jennie at 9:38 PM on September 20, 2001

Hm- on Dish Network the 8pm PST- 11pm EST- one was a re-run, but after seeing this post the 10pm PST- 1am EST- one is the new one. I'm glad they'll rerun it, because I've missed some of it already. Jon Stewart's giving a tearful monologue right now.... it's moving, especially from someone who normally is a master of deadpan and wry sardonic humor.
posted by hincandenza at 10:10 PM on September 20, 2001

I am speechless.

The 1am repeat just went to commercial. It's also repeating tomorrow morning at 10am. I might watch again.
posted by joemaller at 10:12 PM on September 20, 2001

A weeping and semi-incoherent Jon Stewart may not have been the wisest decision for their return. The man is obviously hurt and that speech was incredibly painful for him to deliver. Granted, it is "reality TV," but I'd rather have those hurt by this enjoy the privilege of their privacy than make a spectacle so the rest of us can detachedly empathize.

I really don't know if good or bad apply to his monologue, but certainly he was very ill-equipped to deliver it and the strained "I need to get through this checklist" format is worth criticizing.
posted by skallas at 10:23 PM on September 20, 2001

ummm... I didn't see this, but is everyone trying to one-up letterman? I felt like leno was the other night, or at least create an equivalent tone or show or something.
posted by rebeccablood at 10:52 PM on September 20, 2001

What happened, did he have a total breakdown?
posted by aaron at 10:53 PM on September 20, 2001

I just saw the show here in Chicago, and I can say - without reservation - that Jon Stewart was not trying to one up anyone.

After a tragedy of epic proportions, it's not easy to bring a comedy show back on the air. Though we're all aching for a good laugh, those who provide that laughter aren't always able.

Such was the case with Jon Stewart.

His words were sincere and touching. Indeed, he moved me to tears at a time when I thought I'd shed all that I was capable of producing. My respect for him, and for the Daily Show has grown enormously.
posted by aladfar at 10:56 PM on September 20, 2001

Hm- on Dish Network the 8pm PST- 11pm EST- one was a re-run, but after seeing this post the 10pm PST- 1am EST- one is the new one.

I saw the new one on Dish Network at 11pm EST (in fact, that was why I started the thread). I wasn't expecting it to be new, but it was.

I understand this feeling among people who present themselves that they have to say something so they can move on. I'd rather see that than yet another "We express our deepest sympathies, and now the latest scoop on Michael Jackson and his pets." It's the latter that seems plastic to me.
posted by mdeatherage at 10:58 PM on September 20, 2001

He's funny because he's so self deprecating. He know's himself and he know's his limitations. I just saw the monologue of the new episode.

I can't keep my body from shivering. Nothing can be said, but that man has just moved my very, inner being. . .

Wow!
posted by crasspastor at 11:12 PM on September 20, 2001

knows not know's
posted by crasspastor at 11:15 PM on September 20, 2001

What happened, did he have a total breakdown?

It looked like it was headed that way, he sure was incoherent on many points.

I don't want to suggest that CC exploited his pain, but there was no editing and if the goal was for Jon to express himself then a few breaks to stop crying would have made his speech a lot more coherent and moving.

I think they just decided to do one live shot, give Jon the ball, and get over with it. The prepared metaphors and little stories went over badly but you could get the gist of it.

Going back to my arm-chair psychiatrist mode, all the comedians I've met are either neurotic and/or can't express their feelings well so they resort to filtering everything through comedy. I'm not at all surprised to see a master of dry wit like Jon practically breakdown when dealing with an overwhelming event like this.

I understand the need to talk about it to your audience and such, but I what I saw wasn't the Daily Show addressing the attack but one very tortured man barely expressing himself because of his pain.
posted by skallas at 11:16 PM on September 20, 2001

I'm here in the East, and the 11PM show was a new one (it will be rerun a couple of times on Friday). It had a few older segments in it because they didn't want to do any new comedy, but the opening (I thought Jon's speech was fine and genuine) and the ending were new.
posted by sassone at 5:23 AM on September 21, 2001

i think john stewart did a wonderful job. he even broke down crying, unable to continue at parts, saying that it could be edited out for the later broadcast. wonder who's idea it was to run it unedited like that? he was very moving, and i applaud him for going forward with it.
posted by mich9139 at 7:45 AM on September 21, 2001

The "hey, at least we can edit this!" is a traditional Daily Show gag. When he said it, he knew it wouldn't be edited. Also, he made a very important point...he needed to say what he said, not for you, or me, but for him. He's a person, like me and you, and he was deeply affected by this. And in order to "get back to work" and do what he does, which is make us laugh, he had to let us know that he was hurting too.

The "we get to sit in the back and shoot spitballs" part was inspired. I was very proud of them, especially since I've been a TDS watcher since the beginning. Thank God Kilborn had moved on...I can't imagine he would have been able to pick back up this soon.

The freedom to make fun of the President and not go to jail is one example of how great the US is. TDS reminds us of that every night, and now will remind us to not take that for granted.

Doty in '04!
posted by ivey at 9:55 AM on September 21, 2001

Thank god the Daily Show finally won the Emmy it's deserved for years. The best daily show on television, bar none.
posted by tweebiscuit at 10:39 AM on September 21, 2001

i wish i'd seen this, but we don't get comedy central. speaking of craig kilborn, is anyone getting a bad taste in their mouth from his shows this week? i dunno, i mean, i know he's based in LA, but he just seems still smarmy. it's too bad, too, because i like his show. just... not right now.

the other night they were trying to guess adam west's age, and they kept throwing out all these different random numbers, and it just seemed to me to be too much like the different death tolls announced in the hours after the attacks. maybe i just read too much into it.
posted by sugarfish at 12:03 PM on September 21, 2001

Watching his monologue was the closest I've come to crying during this whole thing.
posted by VanRoosta at 6:31 PM on September 21, 2001

Thank God Kilborn had moved on...I can't imagine he would have been able to pick back up this soon.

Craig did the first episode of The Late Late Show on Monday, and also had a serious, emotional monologue at the beginning of the show. (It ran the same night as Letterman's first show since the tragedy, so I don't think you could characterize it as trying to one-up Dave.)
posted by dansays at 6:18 PM on September 23, 2001