Marco Rubio interview w/ Jon Stewart

[bhamHusker]

Well considering that Bill Maher has been cancelled twice, once on ABC and again on (god what's the other network that axed his worthless arse?) only to resurface on HBO a "network" that has an audience that pays to view programming but has zero say in what said network shows...yes I'd say that Maher survives because of the liberal agenda. Because he clearly can't have a show supported by advertisers because the ratings aren't there.

 

Both Stewart and Maher go after Dems? When? And one time out of a hundred isn't significant enough to warrant "balance."

 

Finally, the whole unemployed liberal attending mid afternoon tapings was more of a joke than anything. Although it does raise the question of why is it that television audiences are predominately left-leaning?

I'm not an HBO subscriber, so I don't catch his show regularly, but I do see it on occasion. I don't dislike Maher, but I wouldn't call myself a fan, either. That said, there are a few things entirely wrong with your comments, so lets get some facts into the discussion. First, as far as I know, Maher's show, Politically Incorrect, was originally on Comedy Central. It wasn't cancelled, but was bought out by ABC. He was canned at ABC when a bunch of reactionary idiots got mad when he said something politically unpopular (think Dixie Chicks). Ratings declines were the official excuse, but while his ratings were strong prior to the controversy and dwindled somewhat due to boycotts, the bigger issue was advertisers refusing to have their products and services associated with the program. After departing ABC, he began his show on HBO which has a similar format to Politically Incorrect. Real Time, however, is broadcast live at 7pm pacific time. HBO's programming decisions, like any other network, are driven by ratings. If no one is watching, it isn't a product worth producing. When HBO renewed the series for two more years recently, their press release mentioned that his show averages 4.1 million viewings per episode. That's a pretty significant viewership for this type of program and for a premium network especially.

 

There's no arguing that Maher is an unabashed and unapologetic liberal, and so naturally his audience skews leftward as well. I don't see why either of those things matter. He's not promoting himself as a balanced, objective or neutral party. He is representing a perspective, just as Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck are. The only differences are that, unlike those two, he's managed to have multiple successful television series, and he's actually entertaining in a non-ironic sort of way (your opinion may differ, which is fine). The fact that he's consistently on the left, doesn't diminish the fact that he's been rather critical of many policy positions of the Obama administration or of Democrats in general.

 

Edit to add: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's audience averages around 2.25 million, which is huge for a basic cable network like Comedy Central, and represent numbers that would make anyone in late night TV happy except for Letterman and Leno.

[KJ.]

Why is a Spanish NBA player talking about the republican party?

[carlfense]

For the record, Limbaugh isn't much better . . .

[AR Husker Fan]

For the record, Limbaugh isn't much better . . .

And can be even worse...

 

[ZRod]

For whoever was talking about Stewart not being critical of Obama or only on rare occasion, here's some articles with clips for you. And this is all from the first 5 or so hits on google. He may not be as scathing as Fox News, but he certainly doesn't give the President a free ride. The show is more about keeping things in check/perspective than it is pushing an agenda. More often than not Stewart and his team point out the absurdity of both parties, and nowhere is it more prevalent than with the media itself. But like anyone he's human, and his views tend to shine through since he is the main feature of the show. Like anything else it's best if you take the Daily Show with a grain of salt and just laugh at the ridiculous nature of things, you may learn to appreciate it.

 

May 1, 2012: Stewart on Obama and gay rights

http://thinkprogress...rder/?mobile=nc

 

April 26, 2012: Stewart pokes fun of Obama on Fallon

http://popwatch.ew.c...ily-show-obama/

 

March 23, 2012: Stewart critical of Obama's communication with the public

http://www.huffingto...f_n_613937.html

 

July 15, 2011: Stewart criticizes Obama for weak debt talks

http://gawker.com/58...lks-performance

 

June 16, 2010: Stewart critical of Obama's broken campaign promises (Gitmo, rendition, etc.)

http://www.huffingto...f_n_613937.html

[Yossarian]

For whoever was talking about Stewart not being critical of Obama or only on rare occasion, here's some articles with clips for you. And this is all from the first 5 or so hits on google. He may not be as scathing as Fox News, but he certainly doesn't give the President a free ride. The show is more about keeping things in check/perspective than it is pushing an agenda. More often than not Stewart and his team point out the absurdity of both parties, and nowhere is it more prevalent than with the media itself. But like anyone he's human, and his views tend to shine through since he is the main feature of the show. Like anything else it's best if you take the Daily Show with a grain of salt and just laugh at the ridiculous nature of things, you may learn to appreciate it.

 

May 1, 2012: Stewart on Obama and gay rights

http://thinkprogress...rder/?mobile=nc

 

April 26, 2012: Stewart pokes fun of Obama on Fallon

http://popwatch.ew.c...ily-show-obama/

 

March 23, 2012: Stewart critical of Obama's communication with the public

http://www.huffingto...f_n_613937.html

 

July 15, 2011: Stewart criticizes Obama for weak debt talks

http://gawker.com/58...lks-performance

 

June 16, 2010: Stewart critical of Obama's broken campaign promises (Gitmo, rendition, etc.)

http://www.huffingto...f_n_613937.html

 

I like and watch The Dail Show regularly. But I never forget that Stewart is a comedian first.

[zoogs]

Should Stewart be expected to go after both parties equally, anyway? His politics are well-known. And I'm not really interested in the interviews where he brings on somebody he totally agrees with. My impression is he usually just shoots the breeze with some of those guys. He does a great job, however, of frequently bringing on guests with whom he doesn't agree and having engaging discussions. These are the most serious interviews and also the most insightful.

 

The regular bits of the show are hit and miss at times. Stewart is better as a serious interviewer than as a comedian, in my opinion, and he's pretty good as a comedian.

[Yossarian]

Should Stewart be expected to go after both parties equally, anyway? His politics are well-known. And I'm not really interested in the interviews where he brings on somebody he totally agrees with. My impression is he usually just shoots the breeze with some of those guys. He does a great job, however, of frequently bringing on guests with whom he doesn't agree and having engaging discussions. These are the most serious interviews and also the most insightful.

 

The regular bits of the show are hit and miss at times. Stewart is better as a serious interviewer than as a comedian, in my opinion, and he's pretty good as a comedian.

 

I only expect him to be funny, but when he hits it out of the park on a serious interview, I love it. Again, what I don't like is when he goes into the "Shucks I am just in this for laughs" schtick whenever someone pins him for the count.

[knapplc]

I only expect him to be funny, but when he hits it out of the park on a serious interview, I love it. Again, what I don't like is when he goes into the "Shucks I am just in this for laughs" schtick whenever someone pins him for the count.

 

What would you expect him to do? He concedes points when people do pin him down. What more are you looking for? Further, is there anyone else on TV that does what you're asking of Stewart?

[Yossarian]

I only expect him to be funny, but when he hits it out of the park on a serious interview, I love it. Again, what I don't like is when he goes into the "Shucks I am just in this for laughs" schtick whenever someone pins him for the count.

 

What would you expect him to do? He concedes points when people do pin him down. What more are you looking for? Further, is there anyone else on TV that does what you're asking of Stewart?

 

I'm looking for him to be funny. He is on the Comedy Channel after all.

[The Dude]

I only expect him to be funny, but when he hits it out of the park on a serious interview, I love it. Again, what I don't like is when he goes into the "Shucks I am just in this for laughs" schtick whenever someone pins him for the count.

 

What would you expect him to do? He concedes points when people do pin him down. What more are you looking for? Further, is there anyone else on TV that does what you're asking of Stewart?

 

I'm looking for him to be funny. He is on the Comedy Channel after all.

As long as he's not in it for the laughs?

 

You're not making any sense.

[Yossarian]

I only expect him to be funny, but when he hits it out of the park on a serious interview, I love it. Again, what I don't like is when he goes into the "Shucks I am just in this for laughs" schtick whenever someone pins him for the count.

 

What would you expect him to do? He concedes points when people do pin him down. What more are you looking for? Further, is there anyone else on TV that does what you're asking of Stewart?

 

I'm looking for him to be funny. He is on the Comedy Channel after all.

As long as he's not in it for the laughs?

 

You're not making any sense.

 

Again - I only expect him to be funny. I like it when he does a good interview, but again, I only expect him to be funny. Not MSNBC funny, but funny nonetheless.

[zoogs]

I think I'm basically in agreement with Yoss here.

 

There have been times when Stewart played the comedy card and I thought he wasn't making a very good point. Other times it has been fair - such as when Fox talk show hosts whine about the treatment they get from The Daily Show. One of the two claims to be "Fair and Balanced."

[ZRod]

Figured I'd bump this thread back up since Rubio was on The Daily Show again the other night. The original segment didn't have much substance but the extra stuff on the internet was again well worth the watch. I have a lot of respect for Rubio because of how well he can articulate his opinions and he says the right things, but I hope he can walk the walk and change the culture in Washington. I really wish they would have finished their train of thought at the end because it was getting really deep and philosophical, at least to me.

[zoogs]

Ahhh, I was just watching that earlier today. They did seem to just cut off the last part of the interview mid-sentence, didn't they? Must've been just a mistake; hopefully soon to be rectified.