http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/05/comedy-central-developing-jesus-christ-cartoon-series.html
Executive Summary:
Comedy Central is developing a cartoon series based on the idea of Jesus Christ just wanting to live a "regular life" in NYC and escape his "domineering" father.
Comedy Central executive Kent Alterman said of the series, "Comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable."
Opinion:
It's official. Comedy Central is no longer cutting edge, or hip, or anything else. Their recent censorship of South Park material regarding Islam while they are working on this series proves once and for all that they only go after easy targets like Christians. This makes their "comedy" irrelevant, stale, unimaginative, lazy and not worth 5 seconds of your time. Lefties, it's time to leave Jon Stewart in the dust and find some new humor sources. Or start your own.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"JC" will probably flop like most of the junk shows on Comedy Central. They will get some media attention out of it, of course, but I doubt it will run more than 1 season.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the connection you're making with The Daily Show though. I'm not going to stop watching The Daily Show or Colbert Report because Comedy Central runs some other show that is stupid.
We shall see, I guess, but my point wasn't about JC ratings. Do you not think that a big part of Comedy Central's popularity is due to the fact that it is perceived as cutting edge, agenda-free, and will lampoon anyone in a position of power or influence that deserves it? But it is obvious from recent events that this is absolutely a sham. The CC exec's (and Jon Stewart's) comments on this situation show that he will stand up for unpopular speech unless it targets a group he doesn't want to target for some reason. Why waste your time on him?
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked, Christians don't threaten violence when their prophet is satirized... Comedy Central should not have censored that South Park episode, even with a threat of violence, but maybe their executives are sissies.
ReplyDeleteI watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report because they are entertaining and very adept at pointing out the hypocrisy of politicians (which I particularly detest). Occasionally they have a good conversation with a guest. If I wanted "serious" news, I'd go elsewhere.
Do you have any suggestions for cutting-edge, hip- agenda-free news/entertainment?
You're right, they don't threaten violence (try to tell that to CAIR, though), and CC executives are probably sissies. They also keenly know their audience and have the right to shape their product accordingly. They know that most of their audience (not including you) doesn't really know about the first amendment or much of anything else political and is just fine with censorship as long as it is a certain kind of censorship. Censor a South Park episode about Islam? Fine---we wouldn't want to be judgemental about Islam anyway because they are "oppressed" in this country. Censor any activity they like, say Ludacris' disgusting lyrics or that hot, mostly naked bikini model? No way! What about the first amendment? They also know that their audience wants to make fun of establishment religions, politicians, etc., but only if that ridicule doesn't burst the comfortable liberal bubble they live in. I will be impressed with Jon Stewart the day he devotes his show to pointing out the hypocrisy of oh, HIMSELF, or most Democrats, or most Hollywood celebs, or environmentalists, or...(insert favorite liberal here). I do like watching Stewart get uncomfortable when a conservative guest is able to find the chinks in his armor (although his sycophantic audience usually comes to his rescue anyway). Watch the interview with Jonah Goldberg, for example, which CC heavily edited on their website so that their boy Jon wouldn't look quite so foolish.
ReplyDeleteI guess I usually keep news and entertainment mostly separate. I watch TV shows and movies for entertainment, not news, and I read books and online content for news, not entertainment. There are some writers that have a good sense of humor, like Jonah Goldberg and Mark Steyn, so I get some entertainment value there, but that's about the only place where those lines cross.
ReplyDeleteThe first amendment states that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech". Whatever Comedy Central does by censoring/editing their broadcasts has nothing to do with the first amendment. Comedy Central is not violating my first amendment right to free speech. :)
ReplyDeleteI watched the Jonah Goldberg segment from The Daily Show just now (the 6 minute edited version was all I could find). I would bet that stuff like that is why they now air the complete interviews on their website when an interview runs too long. I think they started doing that sometime in the last year.
I won't argue that The Daily Show is neutral or unbiased, but if you think they only expose the hypocrisy or shenanigans of Republicans, then you have missed some episodes. Jon Stewart has spent the majority of 2009 calling the Democrats bumbling fools for failing to pass whatever bills they want when they have a super-majority in Congress.
As Jon Stewart frequently points out, The Daily Show is not journalism or news -- it's comedy.
I was not arguing that CC decisions are really first amendment issues. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. My point is that their audience is mostly made up of uninformed teenagers and twenty-somethings that would be standing up and demanding the episode be shown if the content being censored was rap lyrics or bikini models, demanding that Matt Stone and Trey Parker's "free speech" rights are being violated. They'd be wrong (about the 1st amendment), but my point was only that the mostly liberal CC audience is hypocritical about such things and the execs play to the audience. Not illegal or immoral for them to do that, but why watch the network if it is such an echo chamber, especially to get "news" from it? And calling Democrats "fools" because they aren't going far enough on the liberal agenda is a entirely different from calling Republicans Hitler, racists, sexists, bigots, etc., which the Daily Show does on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteJon Stewart won a Peabody award in 2005 for his coverage of the 2000 and 2004 elections. These awards are given by the University of Georgia's School of Journalism and Mass Media for excellence in broadcasting, documentaries, or children's programming. True, these awards do occasionally go to TV shows, but most of the winners are journalists. I don't see any comedians as recipients. Jon Stewart did not refuse to accept this award. Therefore, he is a journalist.
ReplyDeleteUmmm, you should really take a look at the Peabody Awards website before making that claim.
ReplyDelete"First presented in 1941, the George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished achievement and meritorious service by broadcasters, cable and Webcasters, producing organizations, and individuals."
and
"Early television winners include Howdy Doody, The Ed Sullivan Show and Edward R. Murrow's See It Now series. Recent winners include The Wire, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Dora the Explorer, Save Our History: Voices of Civil Rights, Scrubs and the website four docs (channel4.com/fourdocs)."
2008 winners include various news segments and documentaries but also the Onion News Network (satire), ABC's "Lost", and Saturday Night Live Political Satire.
2004 Peabody award statement: http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=1397
2000 Peabody award statement: http://www.peabody.uga.edu/winners/details.php?id=1268
But anyways, if I agree with the premise that The Daily Show is news and Jon Stewart is a journalist, what does that mean?
I looked at the Peabody award website. I consider a "comedian" to be somebody like Chris Rock. I don't see anyone like that in the Peabody awards lists. Children's programming is especially called out as a targeted recipient, so saying that Dora the Explorer or Howdy Doody won doesn't detract from the seriousness of the overall award. Yes, there are a few outliers like Scrubs (which I called attention to previously), but I would say that 80% of the winners are "serious" news stories and programs coming from NPR, PBS, the networks, etc. This means that it is a serious award given to serious broadcasters and not stand up comedians. Therefore, Jon Stewart considers his show to be a serious news show worthy of a Peabody award. He can't then turn around and claim to be just another comedian.
ReplyDeleteI also see that he won the 2004 TV critic's award for outstanding achievement in news and information (don't know how serious of an award this is, but it sounds serious and he accepted it), and a lot of journalism professors are starting to work his show into their curriculula:
http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=4329
Jon Stewart is a journalist. I think he's a terrible one, but I think he needs to stop denying it (which he does except when it suits him).
Journalists are supposed to be honest brokers of information. Many young people think Jon Stewart is an honest broker. He does nothing to discourage this during his program and even encourages it. He accepts awards that affirm it. Then he does incredibly biased "reporting" of the day's events on his show. When he is called on it, he always hides behind, "Hey, I'm just a comedian. Don't take me seriously." It's how he avoids the criticism he deserves for such awful reporting. Sure, CC has the right to show whatever programming they want and people have the right to watch what they want. But that doesn't change the fact that Jon Stewart is a hypocritical jerk that is helping entire generations grow up uninformed and poorly prepared for participation in our political process. He is not worth anyone's time when we have so little time in our day to get the information we need to make rational decisions as citizens.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am reading right now has a whole chapter on how Jon Stewart helped deliver the young vote (18-24) to Barack Obama. I'll let you know if there's anything in there that we haven't mentioned in this discussion.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Jon Stewart be honest for once in his life and issue the following statement:
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm Jon Stewart and I am a journalist. I know that I am the sole source of news for much of my audience and I like it that way. If they actually listened to other points of view, I wouldn't be able to count on them to support my favorite causes and candidates. I want them to be free to smoke pot, swear on TV have sex, and get abortions, but I don't want them to have any real freedom, like the freedom to spend their hard-earned money in the way they see fit. They are too uninformed and unpracticed in critical thinking skills to do that---who do you think helped make them that way? I am a committed leftist and I will never be critical of democrats unless a) they aren't going far enough to implement the socialist utopia I want for the commoners in my audience but not for me or b) they really did something bad but I can immediately follow it up with a story about Republicans or conservatives (whom I hate) doing something worse (even if I have to make it up). Please do not criticize my news stories devoid of critical thinking because my fragile ego (and the egos of my writers) can't take it. Thank you and vote Barack Obama in 2012. Even if he's been impeached by then.
The most frequently repeated complaint by conservatives about Jon Stewart is that he doesn't ask "the tough questions" of his guests. They say he lampoons politicians until they appear as guests on his show, at which point he brown-noses. Is that your complaint as well?
ReplyDeleteFundamentally, he's a terrible reporter (I agree) and a hilarious satirist. Perhaps you don't like his humor, oh well.
No, I haven't heard that complaint often. Do you have a source for that, or is that just your impression? Humor for me has to be based on an element of truth, and Jon Stewart's humor isn't, therefore it isn't funny.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of the "statement" I wrote for him?
And it's at this point that it becomes difficult to have a rational conversation. Let me re-state what I said to begin with:
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Show is not a news show. It mocks the failures of real news outlets, revels in the hypocrisy and lies of people, makes up its own "news" entirely, and interviews a random interesting person for fun. It is no more "news" than a political cartoon is "news".
If you are watching The Daily Show to get the facts of what happened, then you are a complete idiot. In fact, The Daily Show: Global Edition (a weekly edition broadcast overseas) has the following disclaimer at the beginning: "The show you are about to watch is a news parody. Its stories are not fact checked. Its reporters are not journalists. And its opinions are not fully thought through."
If you don't enjoy watching The Daily Show, then ok, I can respect that.
Ha ha ha---so do you believe that Jon Stewart couldn't possibly have ulterior motives? You may suspect everyone else of having them (especially corporations), but not him. Very interesting. And I am curious why they only show that disclaimer on the overseas version. Why not the American one? I don't really expect you to answer that question, but doesn't that support what I think Stewart really thinks about his audience? And is his audience really stupid if Jon Stewart is held up as a paragon of virtue in their journalism classes and in all the liberal circles they travel in? Even if his "news" is satire, they have no reason to believe it isn't based on truth because Jon doesn't lie---their professors told them so. TIME magazine and the NYT called him America's most trusted news anchor. That doesn't make them stupid, it makes them uninformed. There is a difference. On the other hand, since 30% of young people 18-29 do think that TDS is replacing more traditional news outlets, and another 30% are undecided about this, that means you believe that 60% of 18-29 year olds are complete morons. What do you believe caused this shift, and does that mean you would support raising the driving, drinking and voting ages to 30? :>
ReplyDeleteAnd I also find it interesting that hyperbole and satire as used by Jon Stewart is okay in your book, but when I use it, it "makes it difficult to have a rational conversation." Lighten up a little!
ReplyDeleteThe young people who see TDS as news have some distinguished company:
ReplyDeleteTom Brokaw on Jon: "Athenian, a voice for democratic ideals and the noble place of citizenship, helped along by the sound of laughter."
Matt Lauer on Jon: "...one of the most respected and listened to political voices in this country."
UK newspapers: "voice of reason in an insane world," "epicenter of real news."
Not bad for a "comedian."