Just as Juliet parted from her dear Romeo, the parting of Jon Stewart from "The Daily Show" is such sweet sorrow. On Thursday Aug. 6, Comedy Central aired the last of 2,677 episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, finalizing his 16-year career with a star-studded show. It featured almost anyone who has ever shown their face on Comedy Central and a musical performance by Bruce Springsteen. I, along with 3.5 million other people, made a point to tune in, because a TV show that lasts 16 years doesn’t come by too often.
As I was watching, I couldn’t believe the impact Stewart has made on "The Daily Show." About four years ago, I started watching his show here and there because I would watch "The Colbert Report" almost every night, which aired after "The Daily Show." After "The Colbert Report" came to a close, I was for one, devastated, but I checked into The Daily Show from time to time just for kicks. Little did I know that he actually helped launch Colbert’s career, along with Larry Wilmore and John Oliver who are presently hosting their own talk shows as “fake” news anchors. I mean, Jon Stewart launched Steve Carell and Ed Helms’s careers, aka Michael and Andy on "The Office"! All-time favorite show right there!
So what about Stewart garnered all of the following he had? It’s pure satire, the ancient king of comedy. Fun fact: the word “satire” comes from the Latin word satura meaning “mixed dish” because the poetry written thousands of years ago was diverse and basically labeled as the “miscellaneous” type of poetry. Later, satire focused on “ridiculing or denouncing people’s follies or vices.” The ancient Greeks started it, and whatever Ancient Greece did, you know it’s gotta be good. Satire is classic, and Stewart’s making fun of politics, world leaders, and American culture was just one way of making sense out of the world’s chaos.
The madness that which is satire takes on many forms today; written satire can be seen in newspapers such as The Onion, The Daily Currant, and much more. SNL does an amazing job of this on Weekend Update, which, sadly has seen a decline in viewership. However, "The Daily Show’s" mockery is in depth, thought through, and framed in such a believable setting that looks just like any other newsroom, yet is but a stage for mockery of politics, the media, and America in general.
Of course, many on the opposing side here would say that Stewart’s mocking and teasing is irreverent and rude, which is true; some jokes did go too far. But everything said on these satirical shows are true facts presented in just a different, comedic perspective. While the mainstream news presents the facts cold, this “fake” news actually takes in all the information from all different forms of news and creates a richer, more vibrant stream of information. News broadcasts merely take in information and regurgitate it to the public. Stewart’s team of writers took all the information and made it so that the news was actually fun to watch.
It’s sad to say “Jon Voyage” to such an influential figure, yet the new face of Trevor Noah will grace "The Daily Show" stage September 28th. From what I can tell, he will have a lot to live up to, yet with the 2016 election heating up, he’ll have lots of material with which to work. Alas, with Stewart entering retirement, "The Daily Show" will never be the same.
