Help Us Say Goodbye to Jon Stewart

New episodes of The Daily Show return on Monday as Jon Stewart counts down his final weeks at the helm of the popular political comedy show. Stewart's 16-year run as host will officially come to an end August 6th and will include a final interview with President Barack Obama that will air on July 21st. 

The Daily Show has featured several current and former Reason contributors over the years, including Lenore Skenazy, Andrew Napolitano, David Mark, and Brink Lindsey. 

Whether you agreed with him or not, it's impossible to ignore Stewart's impact on cultural and political conversation over the last decade. As Nick Gillespie noted in a February column, Stewart and "The Daily Show played a huge role in cutting down the authority and power of broadcast and cable news in our mediascape."

You can help Reason say farewell to Jon Stewart by letting us know your favorite (or most frustrating) moments from The Daily Show. What did Stewart get right? And where was he way off? Let us know in the comments and we'll feature a few in an upcoming video.   

And now, your moment of Zen.

Comments

[John]

Here is my goodbye

Go spend the rest of your life doing something positive to start to make up for the damage you have cause by spending years as a mindless hack pandering to the worst instincts of your hateful and ignorant audience. Thanks for making our political culture a lot dumber and a whole lot more vicious. Thanks for helping along the process of ending reasoned debate and replacing it with "destroying" your opponents. Yeah Jon, your entire career is a lie and you turned into exactly what you wanted to avoid when you started; a no talent hack serving the interests of the powerful through propaganda and lies. I hope you are proud and all that money was worth your soul.

[Brett L]

What? I always appreciated TDS because I knew that anyone who used it as a primary source was someone who would rather parrot pithy lines than think something through. That's valuable information to gain from the ere statement, "I saw on The Daily Show,,,"

[John]

There is that I suppose. Jon Stewart the great retard tagger of the 21st Century.

[DEG]

Yes.

[GeneDoc]

Amen. He helped elevate politics into a spectator sport and became the main cheerleader for his (blue) team. It'll be decades before politics can be put back into its rightful place of being ignored until a month before the next election.

[F. Whiny Comments, Jr.]

The Daily Show is what happens when you fuse groupthink, applause comedy, and Defcon 1-level smug into one colossal turd.

Go fuck yourself Stewart, and may your departure crush TDS' ratings so badly that it sinks and dies. The Man Show, even when Rogan and Stanhope replaced Corolla and Kimmel, was more relevant and thought-provoking.

In closing, since Reason asked that we share a memorable moment from TDS, I remember this one time Stewart unloaded on Sarah Palin and then they edited a video to make the interviewee look bad. HILARIOUS.

[bolus]

I don't think you can blame the current political culture on Jon Stewart. There were plenty of smug partisan douches on TV posing as comedians in the decades before him, but it never got this bad. Remember Mark Russell and Bill Maher? He just happened to be the right guy at the right time to fill the niche. If he hadn't done it, someone else would have.

You can blame our horrible political discourse on fragmentation of media and culture that has occurred in the Internet and cable news era. While it's nice not to have a center-left journalistic oligarch like Walter Cronkite or Peter Jennings dictating how everyone in America should interpret the news, the small-scale partisan echo chambers that people get their news from now may produce even worse effects.

[pan fried wylie]

but it never got this bad. Remember Mark Russell and Bill Maher?

Who?

[John Galt]

Bye [ bitch ].

[John]

Thanks for condensing my long winded paragraph in to a concise two word summary of my sentiments. My compliments Mr. Galt.

[John Galt]

No problem, friend.

[John]

Stewart's 16-year run as host will officially come to an end August 6th and will include a final interview with President Barack Obama that will air on July 21st.

I guess Stewart wants to get on his knees one last time for old time's sake. How cute.

[Homple]

Full facial finish for the show?

[John]

I am told bukaki is quite popular. So I would expect nothing less.

[MarkLastname]

Bukkake? No no no no, this time Stewart's going to swallow it all.

[Mr. Paulbotto]

Well, I guess I didn't really need the nutrition from the lunch I just ate... 😛

[Crusty Juggler]

He consistently spoke truth to power, and for that I will always be thankful.

[John]

Since when is propagandizing for the powerful "speaking truth to power"? The moment Obama took office, Stewart became nothing but a mouthpiece for the state.

This is the guy who will go out and brutally satirize people in some small town who have no way to fight back and then in the next breath get on his knees and lick the soles of the shoes of the person holding the most powerful office in the world.

What he speaking truth to power when he blamed Charleston on the confederate flag? Was he speaking truth to power when he spent 7 years now ignoring every Obama scandal until events made it impossible for him to ignore it anymore?

[F. Whiny Comments, Jr.]

John, sometimes it helps to turn your sarc detector upside down and shake it a few times. You can get another two or three weeks battery life out of it.

[John]

I bought the worst sarc detector there is. You know, if you can't trust Yugoslav surplus, what can you trust?

My apologies Crusty.

[F. Whiny Comments, Jr.]

+1 Crazy Vlade's Discount Electronics

[Crusty Juggler]

I have not watched the show in a long time, but I thought he could be funny. What probably did not do, and what he should have done, was ask President Obama why he didn't legalize marijuana.

[John]

He could be funny. As long as Bush was in office, he was serving the purpose of making fun of the powerful. The moment Obama came in office, his complete lack of integrity transformed him into a vicious hack for the powerful.

More than that though, is his cowardice and dishonesty. Stewart never did anything to stop his audience from taking him seriously and in fact loved it. Yet, every time someone tried to hold him accountable for the things he said and did he tried to claim he was just a comedian. Okay, then tell your audience that.

For example, his show is notorious for refusing to release the unedited versions of the interviews they do and thus preventing the subjects from proving how distorted and unfair the editing of them is. When called on this Stewart claims it is just an entertainment show and not a real news show and thus he is under no obligation to do so.

[Crusty Juggler]

"Forget it, he's rolling."

[Fist of Etiquette]

"Power" being Fox News.

[Crusty Juggler]

Someone has to take Gretchen Carlson down a peg or two.

[R C Dean]

Yes, go on . . . .

[JW]

:::shudders:::

[MarkLastname]

He consistently spoke power to truth, and for that I will always be thankful.

[Fist of Etiquette]

That's a "you can't unsee" quality picture.

[DEG]

I might try later tonight to "unsee" it with some booze.

[AlmightyJB]

Here's what I could never understand about Stewart and Colbert. They seem to be intelligent guys. They make their entire careers out of making fun of the stupidity and hypocrisy of politicians and while yes they are both hacks and mostly went after the GOP they also at times pointed out the same level or retardation coming from the other stupid party. Yet, anyone who thought that these same idiots should not continue to receive more money and more power on ongoing exponential scale, they painted as knuckle dragging slack jawed selfish assholes. How in the hell do you reconcile that in your head unless you are a complete idiot? I don't get it.

[JW]

Partisanship is never having to say that you're stupid.

It's the same cognitive dissonance that has been driving American politics for the last century, if not longer. "He may be a bastard, but he's our bastard."

People just want to control the Other. It's never their tribe that's the problem.

[bolus]

Easy, they cared more about fame and money and friends in high places than integrity.

[GILMORE, Haiku Pornographer]

I always look at that photoshop of Matt and Nick, and see Ben Gazarra and Morton Kondrake

Its uncanny

[Crusty Juggler]

Not only was Ben Gazarra one of history's great movie villains, he also had intimate times with Audrey Hepburn.

[R C Dean]

Respect.

[GILMORE, Haiku Pornographer]

He is a fantastic actor that seems to have never really been given a lot of credit.

and despite being a funny-looking, sort of italian-nebbishy guy, he had the persona of a guy who had to fight pussy off with nunchucks.

He always seemed to be best in the weirder of cassevettes movies

[Homple]

Ben Gazarra? Fake Skaaandul!

[Crusty Juggler]

Also, those pictures were spot on creepy.

[Jackand Ace]

Kind of amusing asking this crowd for favorite Stewart moments...you won't get many as it would require an understanding and appreciation of comedy and satire. He too often went after the GOP for their liking.

Any of his pokes of FOX were on target. My favorite was probably his dismantling of their "war on Christmas."

[John]

Joe we know your a hateful idiot with a hilarious lack of awareness of that fact. You don't have to prove it over and over again. Just go away. You were not missed and you have nothing to add except unintentional comedy, which long ago got stale.

[John]

Yea Jow. TDS was primarily an avenue for stupid people to feel smug. It goes without saying you loved it.

[Jackand Ace]

Like clockwork, the humorless arrive.

[Cytotoxic]

Those who seriously believe TDS with JS has been funny since 2007 have no grounds to criticize the tastes of others.

[JW]

Lickspittle partisanship is rarely funny, except to the politics as sports crowd. HURR DURR OTHER TRIBE STOOPID.

The writers did have a sharp tongue and decent snark from time to time, when they weren't slavishly kissing the ring. "Mess-o-potamia" was a good one.

[MarkLastname]

Ah, so you're retarded? Good to get that out of the way.

Now, the issue isn't that he went after one party; it's that he only went after one party, effectively being a propaganda organ for the other party. Even when the democrats controlled congress, the senate, and the presidency, he still spent 95% of his time going after the opposition. And when he did go after the dems, it was usually for dick pics or not towing the party line firmly enough.

You may as well be bitching about how butthurt we all are at Pravda for having the courage to attack capitalism and the west.

[PapayaSF]

The show could be very funny, but long ago it became the Humor Department of the Democratic National Committee. They would make fun of Republicans for anything and everything, and for balance make fun of Democrats for being too much like Republicans.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Meh. I haven't watched a full episode of TDS in forever. I've seen a few clips of Stewart DESTROYING someone or another.

His formula got tiresome quickly, so even when I was sympathetic to his point of view I frequently found him predictable.

I don't watch talks shows except for Graham Norton's show which is the bomb.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Is that a picture of Welch above? Dude, what happened? You go through a chubby phase? So that French wife straightened you out, huh?

[Jerry on the sea]

More like the Michael Moore lesbian phase.

[Mrs. Lemuel Struthers]

Ahhhh. I see Gilmore explains above.

The good thing about Michael Moore is that he'll die relatively young because he's so freaking fat either a heart attack or diabetes will get him eventually.

Eat up, fat boy.

[Hyperion's Statist Chipper]

Ok, I will do my part.

Buh bye Stewart, you slimebag partisan hack. Maybe you can pull your head out of Obama's arse now and get some fresh air.

[Mr. Paulbotto]

He can't. Fresh air would kill him. His red blood cells have adapted and he now needs the gases from On's farts to survive.

[Mr. Paulbotto]

*O's

[Ryan60657]

JS' takedown of Kathleen Sibelius was among my favorite interviews of the last couple of years.

I will be sorry to see him go, especially with the current rise to the top of our favorite carnie barker...

[Jerry on the sea]

Jimmy Fallon?

[cavalier973]

I appreciated his treatment of Ron Paul in 2012, and his discussion of the NDAA

[SeanR]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdDr7yYSPV4

Jon Stewart did not know the difference between the debt and deficit. He is a grown man(let) who does not understand this.

[Notorious G.K.C.]

Why is Nick Gillespie hanging out with the civil servant from *Yes, Prime Minister*?

[Jayburd]

"Whether you agreed with him or not, it's impossible to ignore Stewart's impact on cultural and political conversation over the last decade."
Evidently I've done the impossible. I tried to watch 2 minutes of the show not knowing what it was. The content was dumb and the audience laughter sounded eerily like Letterman's during his monologue (low information). I only watched Letterman if I knew there would be a good musical guest or comedian appearing. Letterman made me believe it was not worth my time to visit New York City. I think I may have watched Stewarts predecessor a few times.

[Jackand Ace]

Well, you got about 3. So much for sense of humor at Reason.

[Cytotoxic]

Smug tasteless asshole is smug and tasteless.

[Ted Shred]

Jon's impassioned and heartfelt monologue on the destruction of the Twin Towers immediately after 9/11 was a tour de force and endearing. I trust his assessment of current events, savor his calling-out of bloviatimg hypocrites and thank him for ratcheting my BS detector to a healthy 11.

[Bam!]

The purpose of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was to give a handjob to progressives before they went to bed.

[bolus]

To be fair, Stewart has ripped into Obama occasionally, if not with the zeal that he ripped Bush. On June 15, 2010 they had the "Respect My Authoritah" sequence where Obama was portrayed as holding on to, and continuing and increasing the use of, the presidential powers he had previously opposed during the Bush administration. He also ripped into Obama over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill's handling the next night.

It's possible that the 2010 elections -- a major setback for the leftist programme in America -- caused him to pull back on some of the criticism, but he still hasn't always kept the kid gloves on.

[Jackand Ace]

To be fair? Your at the Reason comments section. Fair has never been a consideration.

[Nwallins]

To be unfair: your dum

[MarkLastname]

If by 'fair' you mean 'let's all try and find something nice to say about Ted Bundy', then yeah, it's horribly unfair to have a negative opinion of an overall negative person. Also terrible of me to not give 'fair' consideration to 911 truthers and people who are irrationally afraid of gluten. Terribly unfair. All sides deserve equal time... except on the Daily Show of course...

[Wasteland Wanderer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVrEwCa8nSA

[Almanian - Trump's Woodchipper]

Whether you agreed with him or not, it's impossible to ignore Stewart's impact on cultural and political conversation over the last decade.

You are mistaken. I ignore it, utterly. Other than clips shown on other shows, never watched his tripe after 1 or 2 viewings. Just not funny, and not....all that smart. Just smarmy and butthurt.

Glad to see you go, you fucking asshole.

It's too bad - before this show, John Stewart was FUNNY as a comedian! As a make-believe "newscaster"? Just sad and pitiful and annoying. Fuck off, and don't let the door....no, let it.

[Jackand Ace]

Here is the ironic thing...it would be easy to see how one could read the title of this article and just stay away because to that person, Stewart wasn't funny. Fair enough.

Incredible how many showed up here because Stewart just poked their sensibilities. They're the sanctimonious that all good satirists hope to agitate. Mission accomished by Stewart. And funny that he poked most at FOX and the GOP (easy pickings) and this offended most here. In fact, he made more fun of Dems than he ever did of the libertarians.

Proves once again that most here are right wing hacks rather than libertarians.

[Nwallins]

LOL the article specifically requested feedback from the commenters. "Help us say goodbye" -- why should commenters stay away, regardless of their opinion on his funniness? Total non sequitur.

[JPyrate]

It's Jackass. The only proper response to his asshatery is this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je-M675ZTK4

[Certified Public Asshat]

I'd have to say my favorite moment occurred on August 6, 2015. What a show.

[UnCivilServant]

I saw one episode. Dwayne Johnson was shilling "Doom". The only laugh in the entire episode was when the host tried to threaten the guest using the BFG prop.

I still have no idea why I ended up seeing that episode anyway. I wasn't a viewer of the show.

[Harold Falcon]

I thought he was rather good in Death to Smoochy. That was an underrated comedy.

[JPyrate]

I stopped watching TDS when I first read "Our Enemy The State" He really did not have a big impact on my life. "The Trailer Park Boys" that's funny, and has an Agorist flavor that suit's my funny bone. TDS, meh.

[Paul.]

August 6th and will include a final interview with President Barack Obama that will air on July 21st.

Really?

Aide: Mr. President, we've gotten you booked on a friendly, sympathetic talk show.

I'll have some respect for Stewart if he goes out asking some hard-hitting questions. If it turns into an 8 minute glad-handing ceremony, then I'll be quietly disappointed.

[Patrick of Atlantis]

I watched Jon Stewart briefly. All of his sentences are punctuated with a burst of canned laughter, and a sardonic smirk on his face. After watching him for a few minutes, Stewart began resembling a large, erect, circumcised penis. That may have be due in part to the part in his hair and his hair color.

[KevinP]

Pew Research: For some, the satiric 'Colbert Report' is a trusted source of political news

Quote:
Those with consistently liberal political views are the most likely to use and trust The Colbert Report.

Roughly a quarter (26%) of consistent liberals reported getting news about government and politics from The Colbert Report in the previous week. That is far more than other ideological groups.

[timbo]

In a hilarious twist to his otherwise clever routine of looking confused, then sick, then screaming at all things not provided in his talking points from the white house press secretary, stewart's last show was briefly outed as his secret visits to the white house were revealed this week.

One does not have to have any political affiliation or social high ground to understand that he simply was not funny.

his delivery was as easy to forecast as a punch line from Friends, and just as terrible. The only thing he offered was that he will likely go down as better than all of the tools on comedy central lately. He certainly carries the water for the prog propaganda machine but at least he was a tiny bit funnier than that Wilbon guy. HE SUCKS.

The only comedy that is left in the world is to make fun of the united states for being the herd of fag sheep they are. The punch line is that citizens of the US do what they are told with no pushback. They can be driven to the deep end by comedians like stewart that are not funny.

Saying stewart changed the face of news delivery is like saying ...... punch line????

[Orange]

Before 2004, The Daily Show was really funny. Laugh comedy, not applause comedy. Stewart used to say things like, "Why are you so extreme?" And he said it to Leftists. "Why don't you meet us in the middle?" I clearly remember him saying that a couple times. Then, wham! New contract, new format, a gig hosting the Oscars and suddenly we have a bitter leftist. The establishment got him. And whether it was carrot and stick or just simple bribery, a refreshing, moderate, and funny show was gone. Ironically, Leftists criticize him for "selling out" on a few occasions where he made some reasonable comments. Well, he sold out all right. Stewart deserves no admiration.

[Raymond Luxury Yach-t]

Bring back Craig Kilborn