"Wired" interview with Jon Stewart . . .

[OneBlueSky]

Reinventing Television:
We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a Special Report from Jon Stewart

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/stewart.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

Wake up, television executives of America: Jon Stewart - the wiseacre host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show - knows more about your business than you do. Sure, The Daily Show may just seem like a smart comedy program on basic cable; nothing more than good political satire and a spot-on parody of TV news pieties. But it's also a demonstration of television done right. In the six years since Stewart took over, the audience for The Daily Show has grown almost threefold to 1.4 million viewers a night. It boasts a legion of young, smart fans who are among the most demographically desirable audiences in the industry - further collapsing the caste distinctions between networks and cable. It has raised the bar for tie-ins, with a best-seller (America has sold a stunning 2.5 million copies), a hit DVD (Indecision 2004), and - starting in October - a full-fledged spinoff (The Colbert Report). And The Daily Show may be the most popular TV program on the Internet:

Between blog links and BitTorrent downloads, hundreds of thousands of people watch clips online each day rather than on TV. In other words, in form if not in tone, Stewart's Daily Show offers a glimpse of what all TV may one day become: something we can consume in many distillations, at a time, place, and device of our choosing.

Stewart likes to protest that he doesn't pay any mind to this. All he and his crew do, he says, "is try and put out a funny, well-written show about current events." But push a bit and he shows himself to be a savvy observer and critic of his industry. Not entirely surprising: He's spent 15 years in cable and syndicated television, a stint that includes three failed MTV projects. And his scorching critique of television on CNN's Crossfire last fall was so dead-on that the network's president cited Stewart's indictment when he canceled the show in January. Wired sat down with Stewart and Ben Karlin - The Daily Show's executive producer, Stewart's partner at Busboy Productions, and a guy who can finish Stewart's sentences - for a conversation about television: where it might go, and whether Stewart will get there first.

- more . . .

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/stewart.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

[Henny Penny]

1. Now I'm depressed....

The Daily Show has grown almost threefold to 1.4 million viewers a night.

I had fondly imagined that everyone in America had to be watching this show....

And that the end for * was consequently in sight.

[Shipwack]

2. When did TDS -become- the show we currently love?

I remember when Jon Stewart first came on, and I was sure he was not going to as good as... the red-haired guy (no, I'm not going to google him; the fact that I can't remember proves my point).

He came on, and I saw that he was amusing in his own way. Instead of pretty-boy pretentious newscaster, he was disgruntled shabby nicotine addicted news guy... kind of Dennis Leary-lite.

Then something happened, and darned if I can put my finger on the turning point (Indecision 2000, maybe?). At some point, they started tackling serious stuff and being as outraged as I was...

So, does anyone know if this was a conscious decision that they had planned, or did they accidentally strike a chord and decided to run with it, or did happen to gradually for even them to realize?

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Craig Kilborn is who you're thinking of...

...and he was nowhere near as topical with his stuff as Stewart is. I do miss Vance DeGeneres, though...

[peekaloo]

4. I read an interview once where Stewart stated when he took over

the show he inherited a staff that didn't necessarily agree on his vision of the show. Rather than fire people he allowed them to leave and gradually brought in a crew that he wanted.

Sounds like he knew what he wanted the show to be.

[Randypiper]

5. kick