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Bound With These Titles
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Summary
Summary
The complete, uncensored history of the award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as told by its correspondents, writers, and host.
For almost seventeen years, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brilliantly redefined the borders between television comedy, political satire, and opinionated news coverage. It launched the careers of some of today's most significant comedians, highlighted the hypocrisies of the powerful, and garnered 23 Emmys. Now the show's behind-the-scenes gags, controversies, and camaraderie will be chronicled by the players themselves, from legendary host Jon Stewart to the star cast members and writers-including Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Steve Carell, Lewis Black, Jessica Williams, John Hodgman, and Larry Wilmore-plus some of The Daily Show 's most prominent guests and adversaries: John and Cindy McCain, Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson, and many more.
This oral history takes the reader behind the curtain for all the show's highlights, from its origins as Comedy Central's underdog late-night program hosted by Craig Kilborn to Jon Stewart's long reign to Trevor Noah's succession, rising from a scrappy jester in the 24-hour political news cycle to become part of the beating heart of politics-a trusted source for not only comedy but also commentary, with a reputation for calling bullshit and an ability to effect real change in the world.
Through years of incisive election coverage, Jon Stewart's emotional monologue in the wake of 9/11, his infamous confrontation on Crossfire , passionate debates with President Obama and Hillary Clinton, feuds with Bill O'Reilly and Fox, the Indecisions, Mess O'Potamia, and provocative takes on Wall Street and racism, The Daily Show has been a cultural touchstone. Now, for the first time, the people behind the show's seminal moments come together to share their memories of the last-minute rewrites, improvisations, pranks, romances, blow-ups, and moments of Zen both on and off the set of one of America's most groundbreaking shows.
Author Notes
Chris Smith was born in 1970 and attended University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Graduate Film Program in 1995 after completing his film American Job. He met Mark Borchardt while editing American Job, and began filming a documentary about the making of Mark's psychological thriller Coven. Both films played at the Sundance Film Festival, and American Movie won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. Sony bought the picture for $1 million. In 2016 Chris collaborated with Jon Stewart on the book The Daily Show: An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests which made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Kirkus Review
A lively oral history of The Daily Show focused on Jon Stewart's improbable transformation from basic-cable comic to progressive conscience.New York magazine contributing editor Smith deftly combines narrative with the recollections of people involved with the show at every level, ranging from boldface names like John McCain to correspondents like Stephen Colbert and Ed Helms. Stewart contributes the foreword, concurring with Smith that the show's popularity resulted from its gradual development of an ethical center: "We never forgot what a privilege it was to have a platform." Yet the show's cultural impact was unforeseen when the fledgling Comedy Central network determined to create a parody news show to follow the show's previous Craig Kilborn-hosted iteration, which "could be mean-spirited." When Stewart took over in 1998, he ruffled feathers by trading the snarky persona for a political bent that "punched up" at powerful targets. As correspondent Mo Rocca recalls, "[Jon] had resolved that the show needed to have a point of view and couldn't just be the kid at the back of the classroom throwing spitballs." Following this backstage drama, the show found its voice during the 1999-2000 presidential contest, during which correspondents like Steve Carell and key writers like Ben Karlin added memorable guerrilla theater-style ambushes to both the torpid campaign and the ensuing tense deadlock. The election of George W. Bush and the horror of 9/11 and the increasingly absurd terror wars that followed set the tone for the show's dark intensity and explosive popularity over the next decade. As John Oliver recalls about the show's creative rigor, "Jon's saying is, If you take your foot off the throat of the show for a second, it will just get up and walk away.' " Smith effectively combines these reminiscences with an overall arc covering the show's technical innovations, high-stakes internal negotiations (including spinoffs like The Colbert Report), and staffers' contentious relationships, friendships, and shenanigans. An intimate and entertaining look at a fake-news program whose caustic, witty alchemy remains missed by many. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Writers, producers, cast, crew members, even guests associated with The Daily Show during Jon Stewart's watch, nearly 80 in all, share candid memories and tell revealing tales in this substantial, many-faceted oral history. Stewart himself, executive producer Madeleine Smithberg, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Hodgman, Larry Wilmore, Aasif Mandvi, Jessica Williams, and the rest discuss everything from Stewart's initial battle with the old guard to achieve more depth, satiric edge, and social resonance to personality clashes to the production of the show's daring, cringe-inducing field pieces to its resounding emergence as a stealthily influential political force during the contested election of 2000 and throughout the turmoil of the first 15 years of the twenty-first century. This superbly well-edited choral work illuminates the enormous effort, creativity, collaboration, and hustle required for producing a hilarious, news-focused, four-times-a-week comedy show and the chutzpah necessary for taking on the powers-that-be. The Daily Show stepped up when the press failed to advocate for the public, and it continues with Trevor Noah at the helm to protest injustice with humor and heart.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
AFTER AN ELECTION in which facts could be oh so elusive, it's instructive to look back to 2003. That's when several "Daily Show" staff members heard a speech from President George W. Bush that directly contradicted things the presidential candidate George W. Bush had said about foreign policy. It dawned on them to pull old tape and set up a mock debate in a split screen: Bush versus Bush. It was a breakthrough for Jon Stewart's show. "If we, as basically stoner comedy people, could remember it, how was it possible that the actual media couldn't remember it, or didn't care, or didn't think it was important?" Ben Karlin. a former producer of the show, says. That's one valuable anecdote in this exhaustive oral history, which traces the 16year sprint that turned "The Daily Show" from a second-rate cable presentation into a vital institution in American politics and the media. The book, compiled by the New York magazine contributing editor Chris Smith, rides through moments of history like the 2000 recount. Sept. 11. the 2004 election and the Obama years. explaining how all of it altered and refined "The Daily Show" with Stewart at the helm. As in other late-night show tales, the best stories here involve contract talks. And the book breaks plenty of news. It reveals that in 2012, negotiations for Stewart and Stephen Colbert - whose show "The Colbert Report" followed "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central - became so tense, both stars temporarily quit. The appointed villain is Philippe Dauman, former chairman of Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom. Colbert was ready to stay through the 2016 election, but Dauman refused . (That worked out well for Colbert, who in 2014 was hired to replace David Letterman on CBS. "Thank God they said no," he says.) Stewart also blames Viacom for botching the chance to sign John Oliver as his replacement before Oliver left for his successful HBO show. But delicious stories like these - the lifeblood of any oral history - can also be fleeting. When the journalists James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales paired up to compile oral histories of "Saturday Night Live' and ESPN, there were tales of sex and drugs. But "The Daily Show" was a different animal. "The drug stories are pretty lame," Elliott Kalan, a writer on the show, tells Smith. "The sex stories are pretty lame." The "Daily Show" staff was, instead, mostly hard-working. There are allusions to unhappiness in the writers' room because of Stewart's autocratic rule, with one producer saying "plenty of people" would describe Stewart as a tyrant. But the producer in question wasn't one of them, and only rarely does any actual bitterness spill onto the page. Instead, there's space dedicated to grindingly banal details like how morning and afternoon meetings were crucial to the show's success. One producer is quoted discussing the pride she took in organizing a staff clambake and wine tasting. The book's tone can be a bit wide-eyed, too. After "The Daily Show" wins one of its first Emmy Awards, Smith writes that despite their commercial and critical success, "Stewart and the staff, to a remarkable degree, stayed focused on the task of creating 160 or so shows each year." Still, the book is a valuable reminder of the show's role in introducing an era of video-based fact-checking in American politics. Producers recount seeing a politician lie on CNN, only to have the reporter respond, "Well, we'll have to leave it there" - a too-common occurrence. "The Daily Show" ran a segment holding both the politician and the network accountable. "I think Jon's joke was, 'Don't leave it there. There is a terrible place to leave it!'" the producer Ramin Hedayati tells Smith. "Now when something crazy happens on CNN, there are five blogs that flag it. Back then, it was either us or no one." ? JOHN KOBLIN covers television for the media section of The Times.
Library Journal Review
The Daily Show evolved from a fledgling late-night talk show hosted by Craig Kilborn on Comedy Central to a culturally significant political satire and news commentary program under the helm of Jon Stewart. New York magazine contributing editor Smith traces the history of the show from its inception in 1996 to its takeover by Trevor Noah when Stewart retired in 2015 after 16 years. He records a series of quotes in chronological order garnered from interviews with the hosts, correspondents, writers, crew, and guests. The author frames the narrative with comments about each of the major news stories that drove the content of the show. The 2000 election, 9/11, the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the subsequent recession, as well as politicians and the media itself, were all deconstructed via the lens of comedy. Stewart and company brought to light many of the lies and inconsistencies in government and media, with some stories even helping to change policy. VERDICT This "oral history" of a show that won 23 Emmys and launched the careers of such notables as Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, and John Oliver is a must-read for the show's fans and those aspiring to a career in comedy or television. [See Prepub Alert, 4/25/16.]-Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Foreword | p. ix |
| Introduction to the Beginning | p. xv |
| 1 This Just In | p. 1 |
| 2 Indecision 2000-The Sunshine Wait | p. 27 |
| 3 America Freaks Out | p. 69 |
| 4 Check Your Soul at the Door | p. 83 |
| 5 Mess O'Potamia | p. 103 |
| 6 Indecision 2004-Crasstastic! | p. 121 |
| 7 Do You Have the Balls? | p. 156 |
| 8 Midwest Midterm Midtacular | p. 185 |
| 9 Not. The Daily Show | p. 206 |
| 10 Indecision 2008-Clusterf@#k to the White House | p. 215 |
| 11 In Cramer We Trust | p. 233 |
| 12 Oh, For Fox Sake | p. 249 |
| 13 Worst Responders | p. 271 |
| 14 Anthony and Cleopenis | p. 280 |
| 15 The Amazing Racism | p. 301 |
| 16 Minarets of Menace | p. 312 |
| 17 World of Class Warfare | p. 325 |
| 18 Whoop-De-Doo | p. 334 |
| 19 When Barry Met Silly | p. 346 |
| 20 A Man Who Was on TV | p. 384 |
| 21 Your Moment of Zen | p. 403 |
| Cast of Characters | p. 413 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 431 |
| Index | p. 435 |
| About the Authors | p. 461 |