After wrestling with my weighty conscience for weeks, I am compelled to speak out on behalf of a fringe-yet-burgeoning community. A group of naysayers that feels a deep-rooted guilt over preferring Stephen Colbert to Jon Stewart.
I know. I know. Jon’s, like, “our guy.” He’s the dude we used to put at the top of the Nebbish Is The New Skinny Jeans Argument. And Stephen, well, he’s a Gentile. But not just a Gentile. Stephen’s an Irish-Catholic Gentile. He has a love for Jesus and a high alcohol tolerance, and occasionally, even employs both at the same time. Jon, whose real name is Jonathan Stewart Leibowitz, suffered from Anti-Semitism as a child and his dad is a doctor. Now, which one sounds more like you? Actually, let me rephrase that: which one feels forced and unnatural to you?
Recently, though, I find myself with an upside-down smiley face or not LOLing whenever I watch The Daily Show. Stewart has somehow reduced his sharp, wry, and occasional self-deprecating humor into a Jewish caricature. We get it, Jon. You’re short, you’re lactose-intolerant, and you can do the “chhh” sound. Why not go by Leibowitz from hereon in? It’s not like you’re fooling them (you know who “them” is).
But the thing that bothers me most about Stewart is his unabashed and patronizing interview methodology/ass-kissing. Stewart’s interviews are, for a lack of a better word, boring and unsubstantial. Where’s the argumentative passion, where’s the linguistic wrestling, where’s the controversial rhetoric we grew to love and admire on Crossfire? Bowing to Ted Koppel? Kissing John Kerry’s behind? Having Sandra Bullock over to promote Premonition? Shame on you, Leibowitz.
Colbert, paradoxically, can turn a potentially boring guest (another author of a “book”? Really?) into something provoking and humorous. He’s comfortable with his Catholicism and I can’t help but find that sexy. In a straight-way, of course. In fact, during a recent episode, the snarky comedian had writer Christopher Hitchins over to discuss the new anti-religion book titled God Is Not Great (paraphrased, sadly, after a Joan Osbourne lyric) and when the Colbert locked horns with his guest, it was subversively stimulating television and funny. Sure, it gets frustrating when the host of The Colbert Report is always in character but underneath that shmaltz-thick sarcasm, I sense a smidgen of intellectual hunger. The other night, I could even imagine Colbert saying to Hitchins, You, Christopher, don’t believe in God and yes, I’m making a lot of jokes about your agnosticism but I, on the other hand, do believe in God. So you see, I’m making a joke about arguing with you but I’m also really arguing with you. How meta.
Stewart, you’re on notice. Shape up your act, start sitting straight, and for God’s sake, would it kill you to make people feel dumb every once in awhile? But until then, I’m with Colbert. Even if it makes me a tad self-hating, or even a little Irish-Catholic.
I still like Jon Stewart’s show much better than Colbert. I totally disagree with you about the interviews. Stewart’s probing question style produces more real answers. He does just what I would do… try to understand the guest’s point of view by asking
I think they are both great in their own ways, though it is admittedly disturbing to see an irish-catholic outdoing a jew in sarcasm. colbert’s schtick can be occassionally annoying, but I think he usually manages to be hilarious and do a fantastic job of
You got that wrong. It’s Colbert-Stewart .
thank you for finally saying out loud what so many of us have been thinking for so long! especially with the interviews! seriously, jon stewart needs to get tougher on these guys. did you see him with whats-his-face the former very sweaty white house spok
bigshank you are probably thinking of sweaty Scott McClellan. I would have liked Jon to have asked McClellan why he kept calling on questions from fake reporter (shill) Jeff Gannon at those press briefings.
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