Blog : TV Worth Watching

What Do Jon Stewart and Benjamin Franklin Have in Common? Or Stephen Colbert and Will Rogers?

Today, instead of writing, I'm linking -- to an impressively well-reported essay on Comedy Central Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart, and his place in history.

Not just cable history, or TV history... but history. (Yes, Virginia, there was history before television.)

And I'd love the article, published in Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer by TV critic Mark Dawidziak, even if I weren't one of the people quoted. Read on for a link to the story, and more...

Dawidziak's story is called "Jon Stewart Blurs the Line Between Jester and Journalist." Read the full article by clicking HERE.

Then, if you're still in the mood, here's a link to a story I wrote for the Boston Phoenix in 2007, on Stewart's Comedy Central cohort, Stephen Colbert -- a story called Comedy Rambo. Read that one by clicking HERE. And its sidebar, which links Colbert to everyone from Will Rogers to (couldn't help it) Pat Paulsen, by clicking HERE.

The central thesis of all these pieces: These two humorists, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, definitely are to be taken seriously.

1 Comments

Sarah said:

You bring up Jon Stewart and I have to comment-

I agree with the articles and I have been saying the same things about these two for years (I even wrote down my own ideas about them a week before the election). I have been watching The Daily Show since Jon Stewart took over and have loved every minute of it. Even though he says he's bad at asking questions he seems to always ask the right ones and you can tell he reads each book and learns about each guest before they come on the show. I love how passionate he gets about the issues. Jim Cramer was good but I will never forget his "feud" with Tucker Carlson, till this day I believe that he was the reason Crossfire was canceled. When people say it is a news source for young people I have to admit I do get my news (and laughs) from the Daily Show, but I DO still have to watch the real news to get their jokes in the first place (it is great satire). Jon Stewart got me through the Bush administration and I love that he was the one who told me Obama was the winner this time around. I could go on but I afraid I would take up too much space. As for Stephen Colbert, let's just say I was proud when my Congressman appeared on Better Know a district. (Thanks, Sarah. And never worry about taking up too much space. Good writers, like quality TV viewers, always are welcome here. -- David B.)

Comment posted on April 13, 2009 3:39 PM

Archer T-shirts & fan gear at the Fox Shop!

Behind David in the picture is the first TV owned by his father, Virgil Bianculli, a 1946 Raytheon. (The TV, not his father. His father was a 1923 Italian.)

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air, occasional substitute host for that show's Terry Gross, and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His most recent book is 2009's Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,' and he's at work on another.

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