Yesterday was the last day of Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show and it was an extended program that avoided becoming overly sentimental because it is clear that Stewart does not like to talk about himself. I will definitely miss him but I understand why he is leaving and the timing of his exit.
The first segment saw a parade of all the correspondents who have worked on the show come back for cameos.
The second segment had some people, some of whom were the targets of his barbs, taking good-natured jabs at him.
The third segment had Stephen Colbert give an amusing and heartfelt tribute to Stewart’s mentoring and nurturing of the talent who appeared on the program. This was as maudlin as it got.
The next segment introduced as to the vast number of people who work behind the scenes to put the show on the air. The numbers involved were even greater than I imagined.
He then gave his departing editorial commentary.
The final segment saw Bruce Springsteen and his band give a rousing send off.
I was glad to see Wyatt Cenac appear. No idea if it signified any sort of real rapprochement, but at least it showed some class on both sides.
I was glad to see Cenac too although it was a little strained and they seemed to be talking in a bit of code so that people who did not know about the history might not notice.
Brilliant show.
I’m amazed so many present and former correspondents turned up for what was actually just a few seconds on screen for each individual.
I’m really glad Wyatt appeared. He was one of my favourites. I don’t really understand his problem with Jon’s impersonation of Herman Cain. Jon seemed (to me) to impersonate Cain pretty much the way he did McConnell, Boehner, W, Cheney…
Maybe I’m missing some degree of subtlety because I’m not American. Could be.
I missed the deal with Cenac too, but there was a long stretch where I missed TDS. Care to link to a summary?
It did seem a bit awkward, but the reason was entirely lost on me.
Here is Cenac’s take on what happened. I have not seen any response by Stewart.