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The Daily Show (currently The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning half-hour American satiric news television program produced by and run on the Comedy Central cable television network. The show premiered on Monday, July 22, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn, who acted as an anchorman. In 1998, Kilborn left the show and was replaced by Jon Stewart in early 1999. Providing news-related comedy in the tradition of Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment, Channel 4's The Eleven O'Clock Show, the BBC's "The Day Today," and the long-running Canadian series This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Daily Show reports on the foibles and hypocrisy of the real world with a satirical edge. Since Jon Stewart's entrance, the show has also developed a reputation as one of the sharpest political commentary shows on American television.
Current formatImage:Dailyshow a.jpg Jon Stewart mocking President George W. Bush
Following the regular news portion are correspondent pieces and interviews, the order of which varies from episode to episode. Correspondent pieces involve the show's members actually traveling to a different location to make a report or interview people important to the story. Topics vary widely, ranging from the invention of hufu, a tofu-based human flesh substitute, to a piece highlighting the lack of Asian men in pornography. Local media have reported on visits from Daily Show correspondents.[1] Some segments occur periodically, such as "Mark Your Calendar", "Back in Black" with Lewis Black, "This Week in God", "Trendspotting" with Demetri Martin, "Poll Smoking" with Dave Gorman, "Great Moments in Punditry as Read by Children" (small children reading transcripts of contentious moments from programs like Crossfire and Hannity and Colmes), and "What Are We Doing To Pigs (usually a random news article involving pigs). Since the early days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a common part of the show has been "Mess O' Potamia", focusing on the troubles in the Middle East, especially Iraq. StudioThe program begins with a deep/low voice saying that day's date (if it is a repeat, the date will not be said) and "from Comedy Central's world news headquarters in New York this is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart" (as this is announced in the opening of each show), where Stewart is seen sitting at his desk on an elevated island stage in a "theatre in the round" type studio. On July 11, 2005, the show moved its "World News Headquarters" to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan at 733 11th Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets. The set changed along with the move, gaining a sleeker, more formal look, including a backdrop of three large LCD television panels which at first was not well-received by many fans of the show. The set change immediately spawned a backlash among fans and served as impetus for a campaign to "Bring Back the Couch" as it was not a part of the new set. The campaign was subsequently mentioned on the show by Stewart and supported by Daily Show contributor Bob Wiltfong. The couch was eventually made the prize in a Daily Show sweepstakes in which the winner got the couch, round-trip tickets to New York, tickets to the show and a small sum of money. Their old studio is now used for The Colbert Report, a spin-off of the Daily Show starring former correspondent Stephen Colbert. Production
The Daily Show tapes four new episodes a week, Monday through Thursday. Taping of the program begins in front of the audience at 6:30 PM; the show is then broadcast at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central, a time when local television stations show their real news reports and about half an hour before most other late-night comedy programs begin to go on the air. While the studio capacity is limited, tickets to attend tapings are free and can be obtained if requested far enough in advance. HistoryWith Craig Kilborn (1996–1998)The Daily Show was created by Lizz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg. Searching for a weeknight staple to replace Politically Incorrect (a Comedy Central program that moved to ABC), Comedy Central premiered The Daily Show in the summer of 1996. A fake news program originally hosted by Craig Kilborn, the show featured a humorous take on contemporary news events. Aimed to parody conventional newscasts, the show featured a comedic monologue of the day's headlines, mockumentary styled on-location reports, in-studio segments, guest commentary, and debates. The show also took advantage of its visual medium, littering episodes with small touches like in-screen images labeled with their own gags, and presenting absurd bits of trivia coming back and going into commercials. Such segments included: "This Day in Hasselhoff History", "Last Weekend's Top-Grossing Films, Converted into Lira", and "Trivial Compromise" in which Winstead's mother, Ginny, would ask and answer various trivia questions. Originally the show was done without a studio audience, and would just prompt the laughs of its own off-camera staff members. A studio audience was incorporated into the show for its second season, and has remained since. Under Winstead and Kilborn the show had a much more relaxed atmosphere, with not all contributors wearing suits. Kilborn often made personal asides to the audience taking on the character of an "enlightened frat boy". Kilborn would also often dance for the audience, especially on Thursdays as a celebration of the end of the week. In each show Kilborn would conduct very informal celebrity interviews that would end with a segment called "Five Questions" in which Kilborn would ask a sequence of five questions that often had irrelevant answers. The routine was derived from a pick-up line of Kilborn's invention, which Winstead thought would make good material for the show. Regular correspondents included Brian Unger, Beth Littleford, and A. Whitney Brown. Stephen Colbert joined the cast a year after it premiered and was referred to as "The New Guy" for the remainder of Kilborn's three year tenure. Lizz Winstead herself also acted as a contributor as well as a writer in a weekly spot called "He Said, Winstead" in which she and Kilborn would ad lib a point-counterpoint style argument. Each show was capped off with a segment called "Your Moment of Zen" that often showed random video clips of humorous and sometimes morbid interest such as a snake charmer pulling a snake out of his throat via his nostril. A controversy arose due to one clip in which Asian men and women were shown throwing live baby chicks at alligators as feed. Winstead reacted to complaints by creating a similar video in which she threw fake chicks into a pond from a row boat. Tensions often flared behind the scenes between Kilborn and female cast, leading Beth Littleford (a once-crew-leading member of the Daily Show) to comment later that Kilborn was as "dumb as a post". In a 1997 Esquire magazine interview, Kilborn made sexually explicit comments about his female coworkers. This led to a two week suspension without pay. Co-creator Winstead quit one month later. In 1998 Kilborn left The Daily Show in order to replace Tom Snyder on CBS's The Late Late Show. He was able to take the interview segment "Five Questions" and for a brief period, his "Moment for Us" segment with him to the new show, disallowing any new TDS hosts from using it in their interviews. Correspondents Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown left the show shortly before him. Unger returned for a single show in which he was supposedly killed on assignment by an incoming cruise missile. Kilborn's last new show was aired on December 17, 1998. Reruns were shown until Jon Stewart's debut 4 weeks later. A book released by Comedy Central titled The Daily Show: Five Questions (ISBN 0-8362-5325-6) was released in 1998, and highlights many of the best interview moments from Craig Kilborn's stint as host. With Jon Stewart (1999–present)Image:Jon Stewart in 2000 and 2005.jpg Stewart on The Daily Show, in bewilderment at the difference between himself in 2000 and in 2005. Jon Stewart took over as host on Monday, January 11, 1999. Stewart had previously hosted two shows on MTV (You Wrote It, You Watch It and an eponymous talk show), as well as a syndicated late-night talk show, and had been cast in films and television. His first guest was Spin City's Michael J. Fox, who quipped, "I've been on this show more than you have!" Unlike Kilborn, whose dialogue and character were written entirely by others, Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and co-executive producer of the series. His influence is noted for heading a significant shift in the way the show handled news. Stewart had a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. This satirical edge, combined with the show's 2000 Election coverage, presciently dubbed "Indecision 2000", helped to catapult Stewart and The Daily Show to new levels of popularity and critical respect. With Stewart on board, the show has won nine Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards, and its ratings more than doubled according to a 2003 Newsweek article. By 2004, the show had emerged into a pop culture hit and one of the most popular programs on cable television. Stewart took over hosting from Kilborn retaining much of the same staff and on-air talent, allowing many pieces to transition without much trouble, while other features like "God Stuff", with John Bloom presenting an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists, and "Backfire", an in-studio debate between Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown, evolved into the similar pieces of Stephen Colbert's "This Week in God" and Colbert and Steve Carell's "Even Stevphen". Since the change, a number of new features have been, and continue to be, developed as well. The ending segment "A Moment of Zen" developed from a random selection of humorous videos to often being recaps or extended versions of news clips shown earlier in the show (though sometimes are completely unrelated to any previous segment). The show's theme music, "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould, was re-recorded by They Might Be Giants. Interviews and guestsImage:Musharraf on the Daily Show.jpg Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf drinking tea on the Daily Show In addition to news stories, The Daily Show includes interviews with celebrities of various degrees of notoriety and fame, authors, musicians, and political figures. The political interviews have featured many prominent guests such as:
Musharraf is the only sitting head of state to appear on The Daily Show. When former correspondent Steve Carell appeared on the show as a guest, Stewart asked him if he had a report to file (after a minute of awkward silence), to which Carell responded in a deadpan joke, "I don't file reports anymore," before adding (as part of the joke) patronisingly, "I do movies." Through Kilborn's run and the early years of Stewart's, the celebrity interviews would most often take place midway through the program. In recent years this has changed to the interviews being placed near the end of the show. Recent years have also seen the show's guest list tend away from celebrities and more towards non-fiction book authors and various political pundits, as well as many prominent elected officials. On December 1, 2005, the White Stripes became the first musical guests to perform on a regular episode of the show. After a brief interview with Stewart, the duo performed their songs "The Denial Twist" and later, "My Doorbell." In a press release, Stewart said, "We've never had a musical performance on the show before — not because we haven't wanted one — but because we were holding out for a reunited Spandau Ballet. This will have to suffice." They Might Be Giants's appearance on the December 15, 1999 special "The Greatest Millennium" where they performed the theme (Bob Mould's "Dog On Fire"), incidental music, and their song "I Can Hear You" is not counted, as the producers do not consider it to be a part of the regular series. Another "unofficial" performance came on September 29,2003, when Tenacious D played from the couch. Most recently, the November 28, 2006 show—also Stewart’s birthday—featured a live performance by guest Tom Waits, who played his song "Day After Tomorrow" during the closing credits. When Stephen Colbert started his own show, The Colbert Report, which airs immediately after The Daily Show, Stewart began ending his show "checking in" with Stephen Colbert, usually exchanging notes on each other's shows, which is then followed by the Moment of Zen. On August 8, 2006, Stephen Colbert turned the tables and "checked in" with Jon Stewart as Stewart was leaving to go home.[2] On August 10, 2006, Stephen Colbert reappeared on the set of The Daily Show to demand that Jon apologize to Geraldo Rivera who on The O'Reilly Factor, said that Stewart and Colbert "counted for nothing" and showed "clips of old ladies slipping on ice" for humor. Colbert, in character, condemned The Daily Show for angering Rivera. When Stewart refused to apologize, Colbert proclaimed him "On Notice", though Jon averted the crisis by appearing on The Colbert Report the following Monday and apologizing (after "walking a mile in Geraldo's shoes" by wearing his moustache). On September 13, 2006, a new portion of the interview segment began called "The Seat of Heat", wherein the host would ask a guest one hard question to be answered. On September 18, 2006, for example, former United States President Bill Clinton was asked how Hillary Clinton could be defeated, should she run for President. The segment was apparently discontinued on November 27, 2006. As a news sourceImage:DailyShowClinton.jpg Bill Clinton on The Daily Show Television ratings show that the program generally has 1.4 million viewers nightly,[3] a high figure for cable television. In demographic terms, the viewership is skewed to a relatively young audience compared to traditional news shows. A 2004 Nielsen Media Research study commissioned by Comedy Central put the median age at 35. In fact, during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the show received more male viewers in the 18-34 year old age demographic than Nightline, Meet the Press, Hannity & Colmes and all of the evening news broadcasts.[4] The show's writers often repeat the fact that The Daily Show is a comedy program and not a reliable news source by itself. The show does not follow normal rules of journalistic integrity, but much of the schtick of the program involves questioning whether establishment television news sources in the United States, notably the cable news channels CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News Channel, are holding themselves to high journalistic standards. The Washington Post ran an article on August 24, 2004 in which it quoted Nightline anchor Ted Koppel, who said to his viewers in a telecast from the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston: "A lot of television viewers — more, quite frankly, than I'm comfortable with — get their news from the Comedy Channel on a program called The Daily Show." Stewart took issue with Koppel's comment, saying Daily Show fans watch "for comedic interpretation" of the news. "[They watch] to be informed", Koppel replied, refusing to budge from his position: "They actually think they're coming closer to the truth with your show." Stewart shot back: "Now that's a different thing, that's credibility, that's a different animal." Appearing on each other's shows a few weeks later, Koppel and Stewart downplayed the idea that the two had any mutual animosity. Also, in America (The Book), written by the staff of the Daily Show, Ted Koppel was one of only two political interviewers that the authors deemed credible (the other was Tim Russert). Image:Kerry on the Daily Show.jpg John Kerry on The Daily Show The National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania ran a study of American television viewers around the same time and found that fans of The Daily Show had a more accurate idea of the facts behind the 2004 presidential election than most others.[5] The study primarily focused on comparing the audiences of TDS with that of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman, but Daily Show viewers also beat out people who primarily got their news through the national evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, and NBC and those who mostly read newspapers, while roughly matching the knowledge level of viewers who watched a considerable amount of cable TV news. The study attempted to compensate for the fact that many viewers of TDS get information from many sources, including the Internet. The National Annenberg Election Survey is contradictory to a survey by Pew Research Center, however. According to Pew Research Center on their 2004 campaign survey, those who cited comedy shows as a source for news were among the least informed on campaign events and key aspects of the candidates' backgrounds while those who cited the internet, National Public Radio, and news magazines were the most informed. People who cited newspapers, public news TV shows, and talk radio were also nearly as knowledgeable as people who used the internet as a source. Even when age and education were taken into account, the people who learned about the campaigns through the internet were still the most informed, while the those who learned from comedy shows were the least informed.[6] In 2006, a study published by Indiana University tried to compare the substantive amount of information of the Daily Show against primetime network news broadcasts. Julia R. Fox, an assistant professor of telecommunications at the university, showed in her study, "No Joke: A Comparison of Substance in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Broadcast Network Television Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign"[7] (to be published in the summer of 2007), that when it comes to substance, there is little difference between the Daily Show and other news outlets. By using coverage and footage of the 2004 Presidential Election, she analyzes and compares both communication media. What she found was that neither actually offers more, since both programs are more focused on the nature of "infotainment" and ratings, making them both "equal" in content.[8] The analysis indicates that the Daily Show offered more humor than substance in their coverage, but that same study also found that the typical network coverage preferred to offer more hype than any real political substance.[9] The study seems to indicate that either the Daily Show has become a legitimate 'news source' or the mainstream media has ceased to be one.[10] Julia Fox states that "In an absolute sense, we should probably be concerned about both of those sources, because neither one is particularly substantive. It's a bottom-line industry and ratings-driven. We live in an 'infotainment' society, and there certainly are a number of other sources available." According to Fox, the study was less of an endorsement for the Daily Show; rather instead was meant to indict the negligence of news networks for their failure to uphold high standards in their political coverage.[11] Stewart was half-facetiously floated as a possible successor to Dan Rather of CBS Evening News according to Time (this is partly due to the fact that, at the time, Comedy Central and CBS were both owned by media conglomerate Viacom). The Daily Show writers authored a best-selling text, America (The Book), published in September 2004. It remained a bestseller even after the election, despite a decision by Wal-Mart to cancel its order because Chapter 5, on the Judicial Branch, includes obviously doctored photographs of the then current Supreme Court justices, with their heads superimposed on appropriately aged naked bodies. On the page opposite the photographs, the reader is invited to "restore their dignity" by covering each justice with a cutout of his or her robe. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman was quoted in USA Today as saying, "We felt a majority of our customers would not be comfortable with the image." The book was also banned from some Mississippi public libraries for its ribald "centerfold". (The ban was lifted within 24 hours of its announcement after the library board received complaints.) Stewart responded to this on air by saying, "Of course the go-to joke here would be, 'They have libraries in Mississippi?' But we're not going there." Stewart, along with Stephen Colbert, was featured on the November 16, 2006 cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, being called one of "America's anchors."[12] CriticismLiberal biasDue to Stewart's liberal leanings, some perceive that The Daily Show has a liberal bias, and that Stewart gives special critical attention to conservative figures. [1] While this was also brought up and addressed by Stewart in the famous Crossfire interview (see below), the perception has continued. Joel Surnow, creator of The 1/2 Hour News Hour, described his show as a "The Daily Show for conservatives," implying The Daily Show panders to a liberal audience. He went on to say, "You can turn on any show and see Bush being bashed." [2] InterviewsWhile The Daily Show is considered by its creators to be a "fake news program", critics have said that current host Jon Stewart regularly has as guests the very politicians and newspeople he often lampoons, but rarely takes them to task face-to-face; instead, politicians on all sides of the spectrum use the show as a platform to reach younger demographics. Show co-creator and ex-producer Lizz Winstead said of interviews with controversial figures: "Jon's tremendous. I feel, though, when you are interviewing a Richard Perle or a Kissinger, if you give them a pass, then you become what you are satirizing. You have a war criminal sitting on your couch—to just let him be a war criminal sitting on your couch means you are having to respect some kind of boundary."[13] During Stewart's appearance on CNN's Crossfire, he criticized that show and its hosts for "hurting America" by reducing issues to a left vs. right screaming match and enabling political spin. When co-host Tucker Carlson complained that Stewart did not ask John Kerry substantial questions when Kerry appeared on The Daily Show, Stewart countered that it was not his job to give hard-hitting interviews. Suggesting that a "fake news" comedy program should not be held to the same standards as real journalists, Stewart said, "You're on CNN! The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls! What is wrong with you?" Stewart also directly addressed the criticism, noting of his Kerry interview, "I also asked him if he was in Cambodia", in reference to accusations that disputed some of Kerry's service record in Vietnam. However, he humourously added, "But I didn't care."[14] Enabling complacencyImage:Vilsacktds.jpg Stewart mocks Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's name. In a March 3, 2006, article in The Boston Globe, "Why Jon Stewart Isn't Funny", Michael Kalin argued that Jon Stewart's laughs come at the expense of idealism and to easily enable American college students to adopt a self-righteous attitude toward politics, ultimately rendering them complacent and apathetic. "Stewart...leads to a "holier than art thou" attitude [among students] toward our national leaders. People who possess the wit, intelligence, and self-awareness of viewers of The Daily Show would never choose to enter the political fray full of "buffoons and idiots." Content to remain perched atop their Olympian ivory towers, these bright leaders head straight for the private sector."[15] A Daily Reflector article about The Daily Show viewers concluded that they trust their own knowledge in politics, rather than the news media or the elites who run the political-media system. The article suggests that citizens who believe they understand politics may be more active in the system than those who do not. Yet the article also points out that cynicism can be a voter turnoff.[16] Many do not agree that watching The Daily Show is harmful to the youth or a cause of apathy in young voters.[17][18] Critics of the show suggest that Stewart's criticism is causing a loss of confidence in government and the media, thus damaging confidence in America.[19] Defenders of the show point out that Stewart is putting a humorous spin on a faulty system. They contend that as long as Stewart's jokes are factually correct, then responsibility for increased cynicism should belong to the political and media figures themselves, not the comedian who makes fun of them.[20] Stewart said in an interview, "I don't understand how anyone can consider jokes about this stuff worse than the reality of it."[21] Editions for various marketsImage:Dailyshowwarning.png Disclaimer at the beginning of the Global Edition. An edited version of the show, called The Daily Show—Global Edition, is run outside of the U.S. on CNN International once a week on several weekend time slots. This edition is always prefaced by the following announcement, which is also displayed in written form against a Daily Show background: "The show you are about to watch is a news parody. Its stories are not fact checked. Its reporters are not journalists. And its opinions are not fully thought through." Viewers are invited to send comments regarding the show to CNN by email. For the Global Edition, Stewart provides an exclusive introductory monologue in front of an audience, usually about the week's prevalent international news story, and closing comments without an audience present. The segments for the Global Edition are usually culled from Monday and Tuesday's episodes. Strong language is often censored on CNN, even if it means losing a punch line. Westwood One had broadcast small portions of the show to many radio stations across America. This ended, unannounced, in 2006. In Australia the regular show airs on The Comedy Channel Monday to Thursday at 9:30pm, roughly one day behind the US broadcast. The Global Edition airs on CNN on Sundays at 1:30am and is repeated on Mondays at 12:30am. Free-to-air broadcaster SBS also intermittently runs The Global Edition on Thursdays at 10pm and on Sundays at 1:45am. In Canada, the program airs four nights a week on the free-to-air CTV stations at 12:05 a.m. Local time, after the local news, as well as 4:00 p.m. the day after the original airing. A simulcast of the show also airs at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time (and re-run throughout the day) on The Comedy Network. Since October 10, 2005, both the Global Edition and the weeknight program have been shown in the UK and Ireland at 8:30pm on the free-to-air digital channel, More4. Each episode is repeated later, usually between 11:00pm and 12:00 a.m., but this is variable. The Global Edition (without the preface shown on CNN International) is shown on Monday, with the regular Monday through Thursday editions shown on a one-day delay Tuesday to Friday. The Global Edition still airs in the UK on CNN International. In Germany, the Daily Show will be launched in April 2007 on the German Comedy Central.[22] Also, since the inception of Comedy Central Germany, the Daily Show is available via the German homepage of Comedy Central. [3]. There viewers can watch the most recent episode in English language without German subtitles in full length..
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is also available in the Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland & Denmark) at 19:00 (20:00 in Finland) on the Canal+ (Nordic) channel. Since February 26 2007 it is also available in Denmark on DR2 on Mondays-Wednesdays at 23:30 and Thursdays at 23:40, roughly two days behind the US broadcast. In the Philippines, cable channel Jack TV airs The Daily Show at a half-day delay every Tuesday-Friday (given the time difference), alongside other Comedy Central shows. In Israel, the global edition airs on the Yes+ satellite channel every Thursday night, with reruns throughout the following weekend.
In April 2006, the show began screening in New Zealand at 22:00 Tuesdays on music channel C4- however, as of 30 January 2006, C4 has been screening the US version of the show four days a week. The show airs in Portugal on the Sic Radical (Portuguese) cable channel (it stopped airing for a while in 2006, but viewer feedback made the show be shown again). It can also be seen on the American Forces Network. Spin-offsA spin-off, The Colbert Report, was announced in early May 2005. The show stars Stephen Colbert, and serves as Comedy Central's answer to the programs of media pundits such as Bill O'Reilly. The word "Report" in the show's title, like "Colbert", is pronounced with a silent "t". Colbert, Stewart, and Ben Karlin pitched the idea of the show to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to run the show for eight weeks without first creating a pilot. The Colbert Report first aired on October 17, 2005, and takes up the 11:30 UTC-5 slot following The Daily Show. Initial ratings satisfied Comedy Central and the show was renewed for a year. AwardsCorrespondents, contributors, and staffThe correspondents normally have two roles: "experts" with satirical "senior" titles that Stewart interviews about certain issues, or hosts of original reporting segments which often showcase interviews of serious political figures. The show's contributors have their own unique regular segment on the show. Correspondents
Contributors
AlumniFormer correspondents and contributors include the following:
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