Behind the Scenes: Jon Stewart"s takeover of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert"

Jon Stewart takes over "Late Show," rips RNC

Itsa few minutes after 6 p.m. on Thursday night, and as Donald Trump prepares to accept his nomination at the Republican National Convention, a weary-looking Stephen Colbert is rehearsing a few hundred miles away at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Dressed in rumpled khakis and nursing a massive Starbucks coffee, the hostruns lines ahead of what will be his fourth live broadcast this week.The jokes playup the vibe of loopyexhaustion in the room:Hey, remember Monday? he asks, setting up a clip package. I dont.

As the nation has watched the surreal political theater unfolding in Cleveland, Colbert and his team at The Late Show have been pulling out all the stops each night at 11:35 p.m. (Or sometimes much later, thanks to RNC overruns). Theyll repeat the feat next week during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Thursdays show features a return appearance by Jon Stewart, who has come out of quasi-retirement on his New Jersey farm to lend his old Comedy Central buddy a hand.

He temporarily borrows Colberts desk to deliver a vintage, destined-to-go-viral Daily Show-style rant inspired by the news that his longtime nemesis, Fox News chief Roger Ailes, is resigning amid sexual harassment allegations.

So far, at least, the sleep deprivation seemsto have been worth it. The live broadcasts enable Colbert to capitalize on his perceived strength as a political commentatorand helpThe Late Showdominateonline conversation throughout the convention.

We really felt that we fulfilled the mission of what were trying to do as a late-night show this week, says show runner Chris Lichtin an interview Friday afternoon. The former executive producer of CBS This Morning was brought on board The Late Show in April.One of the missions of this show is to be as topical and relevant as possible. We cannot do that during a convention week without being live.

The Late Show team is also leaning heavily on star power.Mondays episode included an appearance byColberts blowhard character from The Colbert Report,something that had previously been verboten, Licht notes. The decision to bring back Stephen Colbert is a reflection ofColberts growing comfort in his new role. Hes really getting into his groove lately.Its another tool in his toolbox he realized he could use in a limited way.

Stewarts two appearances create a feeling akin to a supergroup reunion.

At Thursdaysrehearsal, Stewart watchesColbert admiringly from a seat near the front of the Ed Sullivan Theater. In his off-duty beard and a backwardFDNY baseball cap, Stewartoccasionally weighsin with colorful words of encouragement and the odd reference to the Coen brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy.

Colbert runs through a monologue riffing on Trumps NATO blunder and awkward air kiss with running mate Mike Pence, virtually all of which is scrapped for convention coverage in the live show. (Sadly, a graphic reimagining Russian President Vladimir Putin as Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen doesnt make it to air.)

Then its time to address the other big news of the day: Ailes ouster. Stewart is summoned to the stage, where the seasoned TV veteranfeigns ignorance of production basicswhich way do I face? he asksin an affected Jewish grandma voice then crawls beneath Colberts desk.

When its finally time for him to emerge,Stewart usesFox News personality Sean Hannity as the central example in a blistering critique of conservatives embracing Donald Trump.

The bit playswell in rehearsal, its success fueledby the obvious chemistry between Stewart and Colbert, who popsout from below the desk to explain the Taylor Swift-Kim Kardashian feud and to admonish Stewart for mocking Arbys (a running gag from The Daily Show).The only problem is the episodeis running long by about six minutes. As a sound guy removeshis microphone, Stewartshakes Colberts hand. Well tighten it down. Well get it good.

Thanks to Trumps lengthy acceptance speech, Thursdays show doesnt actually begin untilFriday morning. At roughly12:16 a.m., the show begins with a cold open featuring the nights first guest, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and playing on the rumors shell be Hillary Clintons running mate.

Then Colbert takes to the Ed Sullivan stage. Despite the late hour, and in contrast to his subdued demeanor earlier in the evening, he is lively and energized. His monologue is fresh with jokes targeting Trumps acceptance shout and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus.

During a commercial break, agaggle of producers distracts the audience by pretending to point at something awry in the ceilingwhile Stewart sneaks into position.Amazingly, it works.

Colbert sets up the Fox News segment by making the obviously disingenuous claimthat Ailes resignation gives him no pleasure. Then he asks to have the camera taken off him for a moment. Safely out of view,Colbertrubs his nipples suggestivelyand arches his back. The audience eats it up.

Stewarts appearance, moments later, is met with ecstatic applause.His takedown, though edited slightly, is an even bigger hit in the room at the Ed Sullivan Theater.Like many of The Daily Shows greatest hits, it usesconservatives own words against them, in this case arguing that criticisms leveled atPresidentObama for his supposed elitism and lack of experience, among other alleged shortcomings apply even more directly to candidate Trump.

Stewart adds to the live versiona pointed reference tothe lack of Republican support for 9/11 first responders, and a pithyrecap of the conventions key themes. He also keepsthe CBS censors on their toes with some basic cable-styleprofanity. (Luckily, theyre also well-caffeinated.)

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-behind-the-scenes-colbert-rnc-20160721-snap-story.html

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Jon Stewart shaped cultural attitudes of a generation

Jon Stewart, who helped shape the political and cultural attitudes of a generation with some of the brainiest satire that television has ever seen, announced Tuesday that he will step down from his perch at Comedy Centrals The Daily Show later this year.

Its been an absolute privilege, said Stewart, who struggled with his emotions at times as he made the announcement at the end of his show Tuesday night. Its been the honor of my professional life.

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Hinting at the reason he is leaving, Stewart told the studio audience and the television audience beyond: This show doesnt deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you. An audience member cried out: We love you, Jon!

Whenever Stewart departs the show he has hosted since 1999, it will leave a major vacuum. What Walter Cronkite was to an earlier generation an utterly trusted voice Stewart has been to millennials. The key difference, of course, was that Stewart was schooled not in journalism but in comedy, and he was a purveyor, as he often reminded us, of fake news.

Yet the reality is that Stewarts devastatingly witty mock newscast-with-commentary often seemed closer to the truth than the news delivered with straight faces by sonorous network anchors. His stock rose as the medias credibility sank.

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Jon Stewart to depart The Daily Show later this year

Stewart told an audience at the taping of his show today that he would leave, and Comedy Centrals president confirmed it.

Indeed, in one of those you-cant-make-this-stuff-up coincidences, NBC News announced Tuesday night that anchor Brian Williams has been suspended by the network for six months without pay, after he admitted that his story about being in a helicopter that came under enemy fire in Iraq was false. (In keeping with his neither-fear-nor-favor approach, Stewart had lampooned Williams, who performed winningly during guest stints on The Daily Show, during Monday nights show. Commenting on the media feeding frenzy over Williams, Stewart remarked sardonically: Finally someone is being held to account for misleading America about the Iraq war.)

Stewarts genius and for once that overused word is appropriate lay in the way he turned The Daily Show into must-see-TV by presiding over an ongoing counter-narrative to the official pronouncements of Washington policy makers and to the medias coverage of those pronouncements.

As The Daily Show won nearly two dozen Emmy Awards along the way, Stewart helped raise televisions collective IQ not just with his own razor-sharp satire of elected officials and media figures, but also by playing a direct role in boosting the careers of onetime Daily Show regulars such as Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Larry Wilmore, all of whom got their own impact-making shows.

Stewart regularly rejected suggestions that he wielded enormous influence, claiming he was just a comedian, but those assertions were never persuasive.

A decade ago, a survey by the Pew Research Center found that more than one-fifth of 18- to 29-year-olds got their presidential campaign news from The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live.

I can attest to that phenomenon firsthand. For the past dozen years, Ive taught at a local university, and in the first class of each semester I ask my students what their primary news sources are. Invariably, several of them reply: Jon Stewart.

During the presidency of George W. Bush, especially during the Iraq war, Stewart emerged as a one-man opposition party, far more vigorous than the Democrats in Congress. At the end of 2004, Entertainment Weekly bypassed the usual movie stars and rock singers to name him Entertainer of the Year. When CNN pulled the plug on its long-running political debate show Crossfire, a top CNN executive said that he agreed wholeheartedly with Stewarts scathing criticism of the show.

While he was a guest on Crossfire, Stewart had told the hosts that their partisan shoutfests were hurting America. It was just one of several memorable Stewart takedowns.

The extent of his influence was underscored when Dan Rather stepped down as anchor of the CBS Evening News and the head of CBS told television critics that he was contemplating a multianchor format that could include a role for Stewart.

For the better part of the last two decades, I have had the incredible honor and privilege of working with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central president Michele Ganeless said in a statement Tuesday night. His comedic brilliance is second to none. Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera. Through his unique voice and vision, The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come.

Stewarts announcement of his upcoming departure comes just two months after Colbert wrapped up The Colbert Report. (Colbert will take over David Lettermans late-night show on CBS later this year, but he will abandon his persona as an arch-conservative blowhard.) They were a one-two punch for the ages. Airing back to back, Stewart and Colbert made us laugh and think about the news, and about the people who deliver it.

Don Aucoin can be reached at aucoin@globe.com.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFpEOswQXquuVVmjpN2pCqQK2VTaQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=9RnbVMK7AcPs8wG5roHAAw&url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/11/jon-stewart-stepping-down-after-shaping-cultural-attitudes-generation/m4NdlXWtJCBuRMqqalprpN/story.html

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