Is It Time For Jon Stewart To Hang Up The Daily Show Gloves?

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Twelve years, almost three Presidential elections, dozens of failed cable news shows and disgraced politicians later, The Daily Show is still alive and kicking. Sometime in 2010' a decade after his rise to host The Daily Show and the year that saw him and sometime partner-in-crime Stephen Colbert rally thousands to Washington D.C. to protest insanity, Jon Stewart could well be considered the most revered political satirist living in America today. But having that pedestal for years, four days a week, has left the format in dire need of reinvention, and for someone as tied to routine as Jon Stewart has been all this time, it is hard to imagine a reinvention for him without leaving the program.

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Stewart has earned a position as one of the most beloved political figures in media, as more than a court jester to his fans but an almost infallible rhetorician with a gift for leaving those who challenge his wisdom regretting they ever tried. But more than one have noticed that he has never adapted his style of comedy to the times' partly because he previously hasn't needed to' and increasingly threatens to be left behind. As Politico's Alex Burns posited yesterday, to many, the Daily Show has been regularly overshadowed by The Colbert Report in actual political relevance. Many agreed, and many offered theories' that Stewart's self-righteousness had become too big a fish in the small pond of ego-demolishing comedy; that his constant retreats into 'I'm just a comedian' territory had made him a sort of Boy Who Cried Objectivity. Yes, the work done on The Colbert Report is often genuinely sublime comedy in its own right' from the Colbert SuperPAC to the far more dangerous interviews with far more controversial personalities' but that doesn't diminish the fact that The Daily Show itself seems to be at an identity crossroads: it has lost the element of surprise and, with that, much of its charm.

The secret to longevity in the comedy industry as well as in politics is the ability to reinvent oneself' anyone from Madonna to Glenn Beck to Sen. John Kerry can tell you that. MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan seems to have gotten the memo, writing yesterday, 'Once you've said your piece, you can either keep saying it ' or you can decide what you're going to do about it.' Aside from the jump from offbeat MTV comedian to beloved political satirist, Jon Stewart has rarely done that. He made one shift from political sideshow to Serious Political Thinker when he almost single-handedly got Crossfire, the most interesting cable news experiment of its time, canceled by whining about how it 'hurt America' or something. And he reached a sort of media apotheosis in 2010, following the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Aside from that, he has never exhibited a desire or ability to reinvent himself, and the result is that anyone who has watched on a semi-regular basis since he acquired the top spot at the Daily Show can more or less tell you what will transpire on any given night of the show. It works to some degree' ratings have certainly not noticeably declined. But good ratings and a bottomless well of political insanity to feed the show doesn't mean the format hasn't started to feel at least somewhat stale, especially when the supernova of exploitable theatrics that was Fox News' Glenn Beck burnt itself out.

Most people who have watched with some regularity can plot out a Daily Show episode down to nearly every detail. Jon Stewart will pick some sniplets of news from the cable news networks' likely more CNN and Fox than MSNBC, though in egregious cases (like the misty-eyed Ed Schultz on Wisconsin recall night), them too. Stewart will play an absurd, outraged soundbite and stare aghast into the camera, perhaps punctuate his Aghast Face (and you know which one I mean) with an f-bomb or two. He will then play a clip of an equally absurd but nonchalant reaction to the outrage and mock it in a faux-mobster accent, possibly while waving his hands around and shrugging. Somewhere in there a favorite punching bag like Megyn Kelly or Gretchen Carlson will surface, saying something naive and contrived about 'the children' and 'morality' that Stewart will again hurl a profanity at, much to the delight of an approving audience that makes Real Time with Bill Maher look like Showtime at the Apollo. Then a correspondent will show up for a hackneyed bit about how Republicans are racist or, if no avenue toward that joke exists, something about genitals.

It is all very 2000s, very been there done that. Nothing about the Daily Show is fresh, but nothing about it is classic in that Johnny Carson, Celebrity Roast way. And so Jon Stewart has become a Bush-era anachronism, like Motorola Razrs and that Numa Numa song, partying liberally like it's 2005. The problem is not a partisan one, as so many critics of Stewart's work often claim' it does not matter anymore whether he attacks Fox News or CNN or MSNBC, and he has attacked each with regularity. Stewart counts among his fans many conservatives and liberals alike because the source of his comedic talent is not necessarily based on political dogma but on his exceptional ability to write good jokes. That ability has not eroded, but it has lost the gloss of surprise that comes from innovation. Stewart's crass jokes and bad Italian accents are no long innovative no matter who they target, and that he recycles them so often is proof he hasn't been trying to improve upon them.

That is not to say that he has any less talent than when he began, or that his rabidly loyal base is tired of him. They are mostly not, and even those who are exhausted of the style he clings on to so strictly can still appreciate the indelible contributions to culture America owes Stewart. But soon the day will come if they continue being fed the same diet Stewart has had them on for the last 12 years that they will tire, because humans en masse are only creatures of habit for so long. Someone who hasn't been watching for years, will still find the sophistication of much of his comedy, particularly in the analogies he chooses to describe the most embarrassing bits of our political system, something extraordinary. But Stewart does this now with his eyes closed, and it shows that he, like his audience, is no longer straining to top himself. There is no more ambition in this comedy, and perhaps that is because Stewart has ridden this genre train to its logical destination. There are no more ropes left for Stewart to learn in this gym, and for such a versatile comedic athlete as this one, that means it's time to find a new, more challenging arena.

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• Are you high?

• No! Why? The only people who will be happy to see that are Fox News and other right wingers who are constantly made to look stupid. 

• Jon Stewart can retire as soon as politicians, pundits, and the media start to behave themselves

• 'Stewart has earned a position as one of the most beloved political figures in media'

  Really? Maybe among liberals under the age of 19. For the rest of America' not so much.

• Gotta be fresh! ' Workaholics. I still think it's funny. He can stay as long as he likes.

• Is Frances Martel TinafromTampa's real name?

  BUSTED!!

  Yeah, the routine is 'so tired' that it is a too story on Mediaite daily.

  Pointing out hypocrisy NEVER TIRES.

• 'You know, I heard you had balls big enough to come in a dump truck, but you don't look like much to me.'

  Anyone know the two words that follow this?

• Martel prefers Tosh 2.0.

• Reinvention isn't all it's cracked up to be. Two words: Crystal Pepsi.

• Why? Are conservatives like you tired of Stewart's mockery?

  The answer is simple: no. He's not gonna go anywhere. He will continue mocking the politicians and the media. It doesn't matter if the jokes are almost the same as they were in 2005. Nothing has changed. The media is still biased, the politicians are still liars. And Stewart is still popular. That's the only thing that matters.

• BOO! HISS! Repeat.

• Set Troll Phaser to Concern!

• Is it time for Frances Martel to stop writing bull pucky?

• And this is coming from someone who finds Greg Gutfeld funny.oookay

• I love you, Frances, but this is kind of ridiculous. I'll listen to one of your screeds against Jon Stewart the day you find it possible to write one that doesn't blame him for the cancellation of a show you liked years ago. This is like me saying Fox News should be shut down because Fox Entertainment cancelled Arrested Development and I'm still really sad about it.

  But good trolling, I guess?

• This proves, once again, that even 'critics' can't make a distinction between a comedy show that spoofs the media, and does a better job at media criticism that than the media itself. If Stewart's shtick is tired, what does that say about Mediaite, which has merely glommed onto the most vapid aspects of journalism, namely the media reporting on itself about every inane  and stupid thing that's posted, written about, or recorded on TV?

  It seems that every so often some media outlet does a piece on Stewart and it often reads as if the media is upset that he, a mere comedian, does a better job at keeping people informed and  skewering politicians than the real media.

  Oh, right it is a comedy show so it has to be 'fresh,' but not consistently funny. And what is exactly fresh  and original about Mediaite? 

  The Daily Show is vastly more funny than Mediait is informative.

• frances?  aka bristol palin

• When Breitbart died, Frances wrote a piece about how much she admired him. She wrote:
  'Breitbart understood the left like no one I've met who hasn't lived under communism. He knew the threat in a way that most Americans cannot fathom, because life in such a thoroughly free society can never prepare your mind to flex to where it must be to comprehend the sort of oppression the radical left proposes. He got it, the way we exiles get it, almost injuriously so.'
  IMHO All of Frances's writing is far more comprehensible in the context of the above quote.

• And now my wonder weed is flaring'..

• Absolutely. No one else calls out the absurdity and hypocrisy of our political and media spheres like Stewart does. I'd argue he's more of an asset to our political discussion than Hannity and Ed Schultz combined.

• This piece says a lot more about Frances Martel than it does about Jon Stewart

• A++ Francis, would read again

• I was actually just thinking the same about Bill O'Reilly the other day.
  I loved The Factor over the years, but it has been reduced to a painful parody of itself.

  Bill-O starts off with whining about the Liberal Media (without recognizing that his show is followed by Hannity, and preceded by The Five), showing a clip from MSNBC (the same network he claims nobody watches) and invites Bernard Goldberg to rant with him.

  He then attacks the Obama administration, glossing over facts, and sometimes has to be corrected by his guests when he goes overboard with exaggeration ' often Brit Hume or Juan Williams. He pretends to be correct when he know he messed up, and then ends up using humor (or raises his voice) to dismiss his factual error.

  Token debate between a liberal and conservative (usually Juan Williams or Alan Colmes vs Monica Crowley or Katherine ham) takes place, and of course O'Reilly makes his talking points known and wins regardless of facts.

  The most excruciating part is when he delves into a foreign policy issue (which he is either superficially informed or totally clueless about) and brings on Dennis Miller (!!!) or Dick Morris to bash President Obama. Most shocking was after Osama was killed, and during the Gaddafi saga. These foreign policy geniuses will bash Obama regardless.

  Finally, before Pinheads & Patriots, O'Reilly tries to sell t-shirts or jackets, and plugs his website, his latest book, or his latest tour with Dennis Miller.

  Bill O'Reilly should do his viewers step aside for someone smarter and more informed, like Laura Ingraham. Love her or hate her, but she is honest, factual, humble, and very informed about everything she says.

• If Stewart skewers both sides equally, as the left often claims, why would it only upset 'Fox News and other right wingers?'

• Your colleague is high. See my comment about why Bill O'Reilly should retire below. Awaiting a Mediaite post about it :P

•  That's high praise!

• And if there's anyone here fit to comment about comedy, it's Jon Bershad. Afterall, he thinks he's very funny.

• I don't think anyone claims that an equal number of lefties and righties are skewered.  Dishonesty, idiocy and distortion are so rampant on the right that Stewart would have to ignore vast amounts of good material if the goal was to keep the numbers completely even.

• Uh-oh. Frances wrong something negative about the left-wing sacred cow. Can't do that, Frances.

  Here come (already are) the personal attacks, the screams of high offense, and condemnation of everything you've ever done ever.

  You MUST learn to walk the line. You cannot think for yourself, or make a point contrary to what the left wants! That's not part of their 'freedom.' That's an abuse of humanity' disagreeing with them!

  So hate on, haters. Nothing feeds the left-wing trolls like saying one of their favorites, isn't so great.