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The Daily Show

posted 13 years ago by wj-n3
2 replies | jump to latest

I think the UK needs a show like Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" that can cut through the one-sided, biased print and TV media news miasma to present a realistic and pragmatic opinion on the important things, the important things that affect our lives on a daily basis.

We're all, to an extent, victims of politics. For everything we like there are two things we hate. It's human nature.

The problem begins when all we're allowed to see is black or white. So for every initiative the Tor-the Coalition takes, Labour presents the counter-view, denouncing the new policy and presenting the alternative, which is 180 degrees different, provided you don't look at it too hard.

In the US Jon Stewart pokes fun at both sides, and while he is clearly a left of centre US comic, that makes him a right of centre comic in the UK, by default. That's not a criticism - no US comic would get a TV deal holding opinions like the majority of UK comics. Sad but true.

The 10 O'Clock Live has a chance to inject a little of Jon Stewart's political punditry into our UK television viewing (well aside from the 70k passionate Daily Show viewers that used to watch on More 4 before they decided to cut all but the populist Global Edition) but it has a way to go yet and the format is, sadly, doomed to fail in its current incarnation.

Too many cooks. Not enough broth.

Individually I'm a fan of all four presenters. Put them in one room... not so good.

Jimmy Carr did a "bit" about Tunisia. It wasn't so much humorous as tragic. Had he chosen to tear up and deliver the shtick to camera with a choked voice, brushing a tear from his eye, it would have made more sense. As comedy it sank.

Lauren Laverne, in her only piece without the rest of the crew, was squashed by a sketch about Sudan. You could have put a blonde wig on Wikipedia and had a more convincing spokesperson.

Not to drive this point home but... satire can encompass clowning, but it is neither necessary nor preferable. A straight, point by point description of the Sudan situation, pointing out the absurdity with a brass neck should be enough for anyone.

I watched that Morecambe and Wise show recently about their early life and it was made clear how talented people can be made to look stupid when they entrust themselves to supposedly wiser counsel. I think the four hosts should think about that.

David Mitchell ran rings around a Tory MP, denouncing bankers, while a former banker looked on like a spider wondering if it had room for another fly and some twonk from a pointless policy group sang the way she'd been tuned. Like every other David Mitchell piece that night, it ended with him frantically apologising for stepping on somebody's important comment because they had suddenly run out of time. Who did he upset on the production team?

Jimmy Carr interviewed Professor Bjorn Lomborg about alternative climate change strategies. Jimmy Carr is always "on" and can't resist the pull of a joke. I'm genuinely in awe of the way his brain works - if we could de-couple it from his laugh we might have a force for good. As it is, he picked obvious, perhaps deservedly obvious, holes in Professor Bjorn's statements. For one thing Lomborg wants to inject Sulphur Dioxide into the atmosphere to combat global warming because Sulphur Dioxide has a cooling effect once it hits the upper atmosphere. Volcanoes spew out the same chemical and it has been proven to lower global temperatures.

Professor Bjorn was invited back, in what I suspect was a pre-arranged deal for him to present his cogent, well-reasoned, crazy ideas on a weekly basis. I hope I'm wrong because that would be massively disappointing. Okay, I read Super Freakonomics and I'm already a believer. Whatever!

David Mitchell did a spot-on piece on Jeremy Hunt and his pathetic idea that we want more local news.

We don't. Or, if we do, we shouldn't. One world.

Charlie Brooker took a second look at Tunisia. He remembered to pack the funny, unlike Jimmy Carr, while still managing to deliver some incisive commentary. Brooker excels at this... I feel quite proud, having watched him grow up from game journalism to goggle-boxing and now keeping an eye on those cheating politicians. God bless and long may it continue. Oh, maybe, Dead Set 2. Come on.. on ice, strictly dancing... come on!!!

David Willetts is, perhaps, the first person who in a side by side meeting made David Mitchell look tongue-tied. I don't actually believe that David Mitchell is SO against the Coalition fees policy, particularly after his Guardian piece where he largely ripped the crap out of University education as a goal in the first place. I think he favours the idea of University education for all... for all who deserve it, but for the sake of the show held back on the second point.

I hope they make something of this show. Right now the audience is too in awe of the guests to raise hell. They need to look at the Question Time audiences - they be rowdy. Conservatives bad - boo!, labour good, yah! is daft. The world isn't like that.

Politics shouldn't be like that either.

Damn. We need real politics in this country.

[–] Valjean24601 13 years ago

I agree with most of what you have said.

However, I don't think the key to Jon Stewart's success was poking fun at both sides. When the Republicans were in power, Jon Stewart rarely attacked the Democrats at all. When the Obama won, you were left wondering how on earth he was going to do now. Since the Democrats got into power, he has started attacking the Democrats too, although it's done from a position to the left of the Democratic party, e.g. attacking Obama for being a pussy and giving to the Republicans on tax reforms, etc.

This is the sort of show naturally attracts a left-wing audience. Given we have a right-wing party in power, at the moment the show needs to firmly on the left to be successful. However, I agree it would a lot better if it somehow managed to rise above ya-boo politics the way Jon Stewart somehow manages to do.

The way Stewart seems to do it is by making points where the American media has failed to make. The one time the 10 O' clock show managed to do the same thing, was David Mitchel's rant about Local TV. Local TV is obviously a rubbish idea but nobody else seems to have picked up on it, at least not that I've seen.

[–] filmchap 13 years ago

Firstly let me agree with both of you, you both have raised some valid points and arguments. I have just watched the first episode of this show and felt inclined to add it was a little bit like watching satire on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Does Albert Brooks in Broadcast News ring a bell?
The first episode of 10 O'Clock Live featured not so much 'jitters' as 'seizures' amongst its presenters. The only presenter at ease tonight, at least with 'presenting' side of things, was Lauren Laverne, who is clearly more accustomed (and comfortable) IN the live chair. But I don't fancy her getting a word in edge ways, going by the first episode the poor love. She was mostly ignored, like a silent bid at an auction. She came in at the end, to tell us "We've run out of time...".
No doubt, as the show progresses, each of these talented presenters (and you can always plonk me down in front of the TV with Mitchell, Brooker etc on it, well, anytime they are!) all of them, professionals! But none-the-less, all going through the transition period called 'Live television'... no doubt they will become as comfortable with their surroundings as say, Israel and Palestine are. (That's live TV for you, unpredictable)
Meanwhile I am hoping, six or seven episodes later... the show has become less like John Stewart and The Daily Show and more like Bill Maher and Real Time. But then again, call me an idiot, I'll always listen more to the "geek" than the "jock".
Finally, on the opening episode, I couldn't help but be reminded of an early episode from The Larry Sanders Show (a show that incidentally guest stared John Stewart as a talk show host out to steal Larry's job) but the episode that came to my mind tonight featured an "anxious" Larry finding it uncomfortable when the television network has asked him to do a live commercial for a product named "The Garden Weasel" AND to do it Live during his show! All I can say is Jimmy Carr, I love you, but your no Hank Kingsley and please no more chroma key compositing for you.

I miss Peter Cook.
Thank you.

"Be good. If you can't be good, be careful" -Naked, Mike Leigh