The Great Jon Stewart Debate

Earlier this week when I wrote about TV Land’s 50 Greatest Icons special airing tomorrow night at 8pm ET, I said some things about Jon Stewart being listed as #41. Basically, I said that he doesn’t deserve to be on the list, not just because he’s been hosting The Daily Show for only a few years, but that he might be too over the top in his “we have to save journalism from itself” attitude to really be able to become a beloved figure in television history. I also predicted that this kind of critique would turn a few heads and get a debate going.

I've had a chance to see some of clips of the special, you know what? Now I'm more sure than ever he doesn't deserve to be on the list! Here’s the first one starring Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden:



McFadden's assessment of Jon Stewart being a better journalist that most network journalists is ludicrous. Commentator? Yes. Interviewer? Sometimes. But journalist? No way. Stewart anchors from his desk and comments on the stories reported. He’s not doing investigative work and chasing down the stories on Capitol Hill. Saying that Jon Stewart is an excellent journalist would be like saying that Dennis Miller’s time on “Weekend Update” made him the most important journalist in America. He was doing the jokes and commentaries about Reagan and the contras in the 80s, but no one thought he was showing Washington who’s boss.

I do agree with McFadden on one point. She says that the job of an icon “change the way we see things and change the form” of the medium they are involved in. Jon Stewart and his Daily Show co-horts have definitely made people look at the news through a more skeptical prism. But I think the show as a whole as done that, with Stewart as the ringmaster. Maybe I would have felt better The Daily Show itself, and not just its host was nominated, like how SNL’s “Not Ready For Prime Time Players” made the list at #15 as a group, and didn’t specify John Belushi or Chevy Chase individually.

Here’s clip #2 of the Stewart segment, featuring Wes Crusher himself, Wil Wheaton:



I know Wheaton was one of the first celebs to embrace the whole blogging thing, but I’m not sure when Ensign Crusher became a pop culture expert. Anyway, Wheaton’s argument that the CNN Crossfire incident catapulted Stewart from comedian to icon might be true, but here’s the thing for me: That is the incident that soured me to Stewart for a while, and I still haven’t recovered.

In the interest of full disclosure, when that moment happened, I was working in news (NOT CNN), and I thought it was incredibly rude and obnoxious what Stewart did to the Crossfire crew. He’s an invited guest on the show, and the first thing he does it insult the hosts and tries to rally the audience to have the show cancelled. Then after that, any media personality who appeared on The Daily Show gets a heaping lecture about how bad they are for the country. He spent most of his interview with Chris Matthews telling his disingenuous his book was. I can’t imagine Stewart tolerating a conservative guest coming on The Daily Show and calling him names and slamming the show.

But even after all this, there is a way for Stewart to redeem himself in my eyes. I am looking forward to (in more ways than one) The Daily Show when the party in charge is the one that Stewart agrees with. I hope the sharp wit and criticism stays intact even when there is Democratic Congress and President. If not, Stewart and company may become the worst thing possible: Not a parody of the news spin cycle, but of itself.

Does Jon Stewart Deserve To Be On The List?

Do you think Jon Stewart has earned his spot on TV Land's Top 100 TV Icon list?

• Stewart IS a TV Icon!
• No way, he's not an icon!
• Eh, maybe if he's still relevant in another decade or two.

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