The past 12 months have been rough for late night television. The Colbert Report is gone. The Late Show with David Letterman is gone. And now, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is gone. But Jon Stewart, who assured everyone that he is only going off air and not dying, did not leave with just handshakes and tears. If David Letterman got to go out with a Top 10, Stewart got to go out with one final jab at politicians and the media.
Since the show was taped before last night’s Republican debate, Stewart had nothing to joke about on it. So instead, he focused on the bullshit. For 16 and a half years, he has waded through all the bullshit politicians and the media shovel our way and tried to make sense of it.
“Bullshit is everywhere,” Stewart announced. “There is very little you will encounter in life that has not been, in some ways, infused with bullshit.”
There are good types of bullshit, like telling someone that their baby is beautiful, and there’s the bad type. This is the kind of bullshit that politicians will throw at you to convince you to support things that you usually wouldn’t.
“The good news is this, bullshitters have gotten pretty lazy and their work is easily detected,” he explained. “And looking for it is kind of a pleasant way to pass the time, like an I Spy of Bullshit. So I say to you tonight, friends: The best defense against bullshit is vigilance. So if you smell something, say something.”
The first 20 minutes of the show - which went by without a commercial - featured nearly every correspondent who ever appeared on the show, from Ed Helms and Rob Corddry to Steve Carell and Samantha Bee. Even Craig Kilborn, who Stewart replaced in 1999, taped a message. Correspondents who were only there for a short time, like Olivia Munn, Josh Gad and Michael Che were there. Wyatt Cenac was there, despite his recent comments on Stewart.
John Oliver tried to turn the show into a Last Week Tonight episode. Future Late Show host Stephen Colbert showed up too. It was a dizzying scene, reminding us how The Daily Show became a better farm system for comedic talent than Saturday Night Live.
Stewart also introduced everyone to the behind-the-scenes crew with a Goodfellas knock-off, which even featured an appearance from Martin Scorsese himself.
At the end of the episode, fellow New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen sang “Land of Hope and Dreams” and “Born To Run.” Stewart said, “Good night” and it was officially the end of one of comedy’s great achievements.
Personally, I can’t believe it’s over. I got into the Daily Show and Colbert while in college and for four years, I could not go to sleep until I heard their voices. It’s true that they were not journalists, but their points of view highlighted things the media missed. Without Stewart, there will be a big hole on TV. Good luck trying to fill it, Trevor Noah.
image by Martin Crook/Comedy Central