The House of Stewart
The other day, Apple TV+ streamed the second episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart. (It's on a bi-weekly schedule.) The show was on Freedom, and how certain countries have either lost it or are battling for it in recent years. It was a very good program, better than the first one, I thought. (Though I enjoyed the first one.)
Stewart's opening at the desk was not only much more like how he delivered the news on The Daily Show, but it was longer than the first week's show, around 13 minutes. Very pointed, serious and often very funny. And the panel discussion was particularly interesting, with three good guests -- helped by one of them being the wonderful Bassem Youssef who fans of The Daily Show will recall had a show in Egypt he openly patterned after Stewart and The Daily Show -- until he had to flee Egypt.
Here are a couple of videos from the episode. This first is close to the start of Stewart's behind-the-desk opening.
A few times throughout the show, when they finish a segment, Stewart will say, "We'll be right back..." as if they're cutting to a commercial, though this is where they insert comedy bits. Here's one of them with Jenifer Lewis --
Also, as I mentioned last time, Stewart is doing a companion podcast with the show. It's on the same topic, though not necessarily the same guests (as is the case here), and also their conversation is somewhat freewheeling with quips, the focus is a fairly straightforward one.
Comments