Daily Show Tragedy
December 13, 2005 11:35 PM   Subscribe

From E! Online, Comedy Centrals "Daily Show" Staffer commits suicide over the weekend.
posted by Ignition (45 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: newsfilter link begets pile-on



 
He was the frickin' receptionist. This isn't newsworthy, much less FPP-worthy.
posted by solid-one-love at 11:38 PM on December 13, 2005


uh huh
posted by bam at 11:39 PM on December 13, 2005


... The Daily Show are devastated by his loss, the network said in a statement.

Being a young man, and having a world of possibilities in front of him, it really is "his loss". How tragic.
posted by banished at 11:43 PM on December 13, 2005


Agreed. It's a "some guy kills himself!" story. In especially bad taste because the guy is identified just as "daily show staffer" -- the post isn't even really about him; it's about people watching jon stewart's face obsessively looking for signs of grief.
posted by Tlogmer at 11:45 PM on December 13, 2005


this was newsworthy on Monday, when they cancelled production and showed a repeat instead.
posted by pruner at 11:49 PM on December 13, 2005


.

/you cocks
posted by crunchywelch at 11:58 PM on December 13, 2005


a-doodle-doo.
posted by HyperBlue at 12:09 AM on December 14, 2005


Knock yourself out, crunchywelch.

And I say this as someone who's been pretty damn suicidal as a teenager. You know nothing about this person. If he wasn't working for the daily show you wouldn't give a flying fuck.
posted by Tlogmer at 12:12 AM on December 14, 2005


National Hopeline Network. 1-800-SUICIDE.
posted by tweak at 12:20 AM on December 14, 2005


No, sorry -- Ignition is the asshole. Obviously you'll be torn up if someone you know dies. And I can understand being upset when a musician or artist or writer who's influenced you dies, even though the relationship in that case is one-directional. But posting the suicide news of a stranger who was undoubtedly going through private anguish that nobody else could comprehend isn't honoring someone's memory; it's indulging your obsession with the celebrities that that person interacted with.
posted by Tlogmer at 12:23 AM on December 14, 2005


Seriously, cry me a fucking river. I've had two friends commit suicide. This guy was no more important than they were, and they certainly didn't get an FPP.

Yeah, tragic suicide blah blah young man blah blah so much to live for blah blah.

Nobody here cares, and anyone who says that they do is full of shit. This is a bad FPP, and Item is still the biggest asshole in the room.
posted by solid-one-love at 12:25 AM on December 14, 2005


I was wondering who Bill Clarey was, and why the Daily Show dedicated tonight's episode to him.l
posted by nomisxid at 12:30 AM on December 14, 2005



posted by notmydesk at 12:36 AM on December 14, 2005


Subtle gold chains — what a bore!
posted by cillit bang at 12:54 AM on December 14, 2005


Item, you have no class whatsoever.
posted by bouncebounce at 1:11 AM on December 14, 2005


I like how the daily show characters in the little glyph are all laughing.
posted by Citizen Premier at 1:31 AM on December 14, 2005


this thread is solid gold. if we could all please take this time to call each other names some more, that would surely make whatever point you're trying to make while simultaneously improving the level of discourse, here.

that said, it's one thing to tastefully say that this fpp shouldn't be, but does it have to come with insults and/or dismissals of the departed? I'm all for minimizing minor news stories on the front page, but there are other ways to make the point.
posted by shmegegge at 1:39 AM on December 14, 2005


Wow, you guys are brutal. I read this yesterday.
via
posted by hypersloth at 1:40 AM on December 14, 2005


I agree this isn't worth a FPP. I agree that if the guy wasn't on Daily Show there wouldn't even be a story here.

Even so:

.

(Although the preface kind of misses the whole point of a . )
posted by JHarris at 1:40 AM on December 14, 2005


"Employees learned of his death as they arrived for work early Monday."

Yeah, just after they each walked in and said something to the effect of "Where's that fucking Bill? Monday morning and late again? How much longer do we have to put up with his shit? We oughta fire his ass. He what? Oh."

This post is just entertainment gossip. Receptionists all over the world are offing themselves -- there's one swallowing pills or knotting a rope as you read this -- but the suicide-slash-receptionist people talk about is the one who disrupted their evening in front of the television.

But maybe poor Bill the former 'Daily Show" intern and -- I was just joking before, maybe he was Mr Punctuality, but -- now eternally late receptionist wanted to be famous and this is his big break. Bill Clary, you poor thing, the world is finally talking about you. You should have stuck around. There's work to be done. (For one thing, who's going to answer the fucking phone?)
posted by pracowity at 1:42 AM on December 14, 2005


Hey whoa. Are you serious? They halted production. Maybe there are some real people with real feelings who just lost a real friend with a real family..
I think suicide is for quitters, but c'mon metasharks, a little decency?
posted by hypersloth at 1:48 AM on December 14, 2005


Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
Monorail!
What's it called?
Monorail!
Once again...
Monorail!
posted by Frasermoo at 1:54 AM on December 14, 2005


Yeah, the suicide itself is relatively inconsequential.

However, the fact that, for the suicide of a receptionist, the show ditched production for a day, called in grief counselors, included a somber final segment of remembrance the next day, and closed the next day's show with no theme music and a silent pan over the show's empty set is pretty remarkable. I have a feeling this guy was more personally connected to most of the show's staff than your typical secretary would be.

Also, to piggyback on Citizen's comment, E! might have considered forgoing the standard Daily Show press photo for this one. It seems the press packet didn't include a good suicide story shot.

Finally, the general level of discourse in this thread is quite depressing. It's almost enough to make someone want to... well... not spend as much time reading mefi.
posted by Wingy at 2:17 AM on December 14, 2005


Wingy you are dead right. This is a good thread, because it's about the Daily Show and how they're not a bunch of arseholes, and obviously did care about this guy who offed himself.

Meanwhile, the rest of you haters can go piss up a rope.
posted by Dag Maggot at 2:42 AM on December 14, 2005


solid-one-love, huh? Is that handle intended to be ironic?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:53 AM on December 14, 2005


Other factors that might have a bearing on the cancelling of Monday's taping: Stewart and the show's producer and head writer were on stage in London on Sunday night, reading from 'America: the Book' which has just been launched here. (Literally reading from it. Which is not what I pay £25 to watch, even if they do get Ricky Gervais on stage with them.) Five-hour flight home, huge hole in production schedule... I wonder.
posted by Hogshead at 3:49 AM on December 14, 2005


the tribute was moving, and was obviously personal to Clarey and the staff (a Dynasty clip)... Jon seemed to struggle a bit delivering it.

wingy, dag maggot, right on.

.
posted by moonbird at 4:23 AM on December 14, 2005


This post is just entertainment gossip.

Yup. Flagged.
posted by languagehat at 4:33 AM on December 14, 2005


Gossip ? It isn't so if it isn't about me !
posted by elpapacito at 4:37 AM on December 14, 2005


Wow, what an odd thread.

The suicide of a stranger really brings out the best in some of you, huh? I'll never understand why people feel compelled to explain why they don't care about something and a couple of you are just being assholes about it. If this post bothers you so much flag it or take it to MeTa, there is no need to piss all over the blue especially in a thread discussing a someones death.

How about a little bit of compassion? While the death of a total stranger may not bother you, at least have the common decency to acknowledge that he wasn't a stranger to everyone and someone, somewhere, is grieving.
posted by cedar at 4:54 AM on December 14, 2005


As an avid fan of The Daily Show, I'll admit that when I read about this news, I considered posting it here at MeFi. My reasoning was that it appears from many of the threads I've read here, many MeFites are also fans of the show and that this might have been of similar interest.

Obviously I didn't end up posting it. In the end, I decided against it because I deemed that this guy's death wouldn't even have been news had he not had a link to The Daily Show. Plus his role in the show's production wasn't even big enough to merit credit roll status (I checked some of my taped back episodes.. the most recent 'full length' credit roll I could find was back on November 1, and he's not listed at all).

So I'll show some compassion for him and those that miss him in this thread, even though he's a stranger. But was it FPP worthy, even though it halted production of The Daily Show for a day and resulted in a small eulogy at the end of the most recent episode by no less than Jon himself? In the end, that's a judgement call, but for my money, the answer is "probably not."
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:24 AM on December 14, 2005


I'm surprised by the callousness of some of these comments. ...Golly, you officious mefi pricks sure sound "edgy" and cool next to the rest of us saps! I bet you wear all black and smoke cloves and read Camus in the original French.

Thanks for telling the rest of us who we are allowed to care about and why. (...It really helps us to have a guide for those sort of things, otherwise, who knows where we'll end up.) And then, like dag maggot said, go piss up a rope.
posted by applemeat at 5:56 AM on December 14, 2005


The best
The worst
The out of kilter
They all converge at Metafilter
posted by lobstah at 6:07 AM on December 14, 2005


I'll fully admit I was considering posting this yesterday, but only in the context of "Daily Show's website advertised that tonight's episode would be new. It turns out it was not new. Should we start a boycott?"
posted by mkultra at 6:16 AM on December 14, 2005


From E! Online, Comedy Centrals "Daily Show" Staffer commits suicide over the weekend.

jeez, was wrackin' my brain to remember which on-screen correspondent was 'Staffer' till I read the article...still sad though...but not news...
posted by jettloe at 6:23 AM on December 14, 2005


Some people like to wear other people's grief like a borrowed suit and accessorize it with a big fluffy indignation hat.
posted by pracowity at 6:24 AM on December 14, 2005


Some people like to wear other people's grief like a novelty t-shirt and accessorize it with a big fluffy ironic-hardass hat.
posted by lodurr at 6:35 AM on December 14, 2005


I care as much about this guy as every other dead person I've never met or heard about.
posted by signal at 6:46 AM on December 14, 2005


"Beloved television program" being canceled or pre-empted for one night: not FPP-worthy. Guy whose life never significantly affected anyone outside his family and peer group kills himself: not FPP-worthy. The two combined: still not FPP-worthy.

Me pointing this out: not the asshole. Me defending myself from people who want to make it about me: still not the asshole.

There are something like 800,000 suicides per year worldwide. This guy was not special. This is a non-story. Someone who sheds a single salty tear for someone they've never met, and whose life affected them in no way at all, is just plain creepy. It's like the archetype of the weird religious cat lady in accounting with the big glasses who's always dabbing at her eyes from hearing about things like this. Creepy, insincere, and more indicative of some kind of social problem than actual caring.
posted by solid-one-love at 6:56 AM on December 14, 2005


applemeat: I'm surprised by the callousness of some of these comments. ...Golly, you officious mefi pricks sure sound "edgy" and cool next to the rest of us saps! I bet you wear all black and smoke cloves and read Camus in the original French.

Regarding Applemeat's comment and others like it: I think what you perceive as callousness may in some instances simply be an irritation at the hypocrisy of this news item, which is fair enough and entirely worthy of discussion, in my view. What's a life worth? How much media attention is it worth? What's instructive about this news item is just how context-dependent the question is. Sure, give the kid a . -- but there's more to discuss here than just that, or whether posters are displaying the requisite compassion.
posted by Hobbacocka at 7:01 AM on December 14, 2005


This has got to be the most mean-spirited thread I have ever read on Metafilter. If you don't give a crap, then move on. The rest of us don't care which items fall outside your area of interest. Nobody deputized you into the FPP Police.
posted by Lord Kinbote at 7:11 AM on December 14, 2005


MeTa
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:13 AM on December 14, 2005


Suicide is the most selfish thing anyone can do. One act ripples to everyone you knew, and usually a bunch of people you didn't know.

This sucks. No one should ever feel like there is no way out, no hope, no nothing.

Life is really harsh. But I picked up a huge lesson from a friend of mine a few months ago, when things were looking pretty horrible in andreaazureland: He was an active duty paratrooper in the early 90s. He learned a lesson from Vietnam vets in boot camp. It goes like this:

If you ain't bein' shot at, it ain't that bad.

If that doesn't work for you, change "bein' shot at" to "living in New Orleans and having nothing at all" or "living in rural China, where you barely count as human to those in power" or any other true-yet-scary phrase, you'll get the idea.
posted by andreaazure at 7:17 AM on December 14, 2005


I hope when I die, I get a Metafilter FPP with lots of snarking, instead of a bunch of .....
posted by Balisong at 7:18 AM on December 14, 2005


Me pointing this out: not the asshole. Me defending myself from people who want to make it about me: still not the asshole.

Ever heard of MetaTalk?
posted by juiceCake at 7:33 AM on December 14, 2005


« Older Photographer's account of Katrina   |   Unclean! Unclean! Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments