Last night’s episode started on a perplexing note. Stewart began by discussing the signature sign-offs of TV’s most famous news anchors. Edward R. Murrow used, “Good night and good luck.” Walter Cronkite used “And that’s the way it is.” And, according to Stewart, Tom Brokaw used “And stay tuned next for Access Hollywood.”
Granted, I’ve never watched NBC Nightly News on a regular basis. Of the episodes I have seen though, I don’t recall ever hearing Brokaw utter that phrase. Regardless, it’s always fun to watch Stewart do impressions. That’s partly because he’s just so bad at them (his George Bush is a hoot) and partly because, well, he’s Jon Stewart and is—generally speaking—very funny. His Tom Brokaw was like a sloppy, jowly mash-up of Droopey Dog and Foghorn Leghorn with a dash of Tom Brokaw thrown in for spice. After [badly] channeling Brokaw, Stewart then informed us that, the night before, he’d alighted upon his own signature sign-off and was eager to try it out. He turned to face camera 3 (as he’s previously dubbed it) and said, “Good night and keep [bleep]ing that chicken.”
Stewart’s studio audience, as one might expect, roared laughter. Sitting at home though, feeling more confused than amused, I squinted slightly at the TV (I squint sometimes when I’m bewildered) and hit rewind on my DVR, unsure if I’d heard correctly. A second view confirmed it: Stewart had just suggested that his signature sign-off would involve advising his audience to keep engaging in passionate relations with a chicken—which, as worded, seems to assume that said audience is already intimate with said chicken. I was even more confused now, but chuckled mildly; I’ve been watching The Daily Show for a while and am well versed in Stewart’s ways. I smelled a joke coming.
Stewart didn’t let me down either. He next explained that, after composing that signature phrase, he clicked his late local news on and saw this exchange involving local New York news anchor Ernie Anastos, confirming that Anastos has already taken his sign-off:
Warning: This clip contains objectionable language
What followed next: the best laugh I’ve had all week. I laughed heartily for a minute or so and then rewound the segment and watched again. And laughed some more. Here’s Stewart's clip:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Intro - Ernie Anastos' Catch Phrase | ||||
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I’m not familiar with Mr. Anastos, but I can’t help wondering how the heck he keeps a job on public air waves. He must be a-million-kinds-of-awesome newsanchor. Either that, or his producers are too thrilled with the guy's ratings to administer a psychological evaluation.
The remainder of the segment included a report on the recent fraudulent elections in Afghanistan and an assessment of US progress in the conflict there. Daily Show correspondent John Oliver presented commentary on why the situation in Afghanistan is untenable for the US. Those reports, while informative and mildly amusing (I happen to disagree with some of Stewart’s conclusions on Afghanistan, but that’s another story), were nowhere near as funny as the intro.
The interview, featuring Former President Bill Clinton, was longer than normal and consumed more than half the total broadcast time. Moreover, the actual session time was significantly longer than what was broadcast and the uncut version (embedded after the article) was posted online.
Stewart, in my opinion, is one of the smartest, most engaging interviewers on TV. This particular effort, however, though informative and amusing in places, was choppy and flat compared to normal sessions; it’s still worth a look though. The moment of zen involved a film clip from The Legend of Ron Burgundy and referenced the opening bit. Quite funny. Overall, this episode was a slight letdown, but the opening sequence easily compensated for any weaknesses—however slight they actually were compared to the wasteland that comprises the rest of cable news/comedy/punditry (with the exception of The Colbert Report of course). Next week’s guests include Tom Ridge and Rod Blagojevich. I’m certainly looking forward to those.
Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Bill Clinton Pt. 1 | ||||
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| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Bill Clinton Pt. 2 | ||||
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