Guest: Jon Stewart (Political Satirist, Writer, Producer, Director, Television Host, Actor,

Media Critic, & Stand-Up Comedian)

Twitter Username: @TheDailyShow
Portfolio Author: Chris Jones
Biography: Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, although popularly known as Jon Stewart, was
born on November 28, 1962 in New York City into a well-educated, middle class family.
His mother is an educational consultant and teacher, while his father, who died in 2013,
was a professor of Physics at the College of New Jersey in addition to Thomas Edison
State College. Stewart and his brother Lawrence attended Lawrence High School in New
Jersey where he was a victim of anti-Semitic bullying. In 1984 Stewart graduated from
the College of William & Mary in Virginia where he played soccer and majored in
psychology. Stewart had many different jobs and tried everything from being a busboy to
a puppeteer for children with disabilities. In 1986, Stewart moved back to Yew York City
to try being a stand up comic, but did not get on stage until 1987 claiming that he had
stage fright. For two years he performed every night at the comedy club known as The
Comedy Cellar and was always the last performer, routinely going on at 2:00am thereby
honing his skills. The following year he would go on to host a show on MTV called You
Wrote It, You Watch It, which invited viewers to send in their stories and scripts to be
acted out on the air. In 1999, Stewart began hosting The Daily Show on Comedy
Central after Craig Kilborn left the show. The show, which has become wildly popular
since Stewart became the host (ratings increased by 400%), blends humor with the top
news stories of the day. Stewart has become one of the highest paid late night hosts
raking in $25-30 million dollars annually and has won 19 Emmys for the Daily Show as
either a writer or a producer. Stewart is married to Tracey Lyn McShane whom he dated
for four years and met on a blind date set up by a production assistant on one of his films.
He also has a daughter and a son, Maggie (age 8) and Nathan (age 10), whom the latter
was named after Stewarts grandfather.
Comedy Central Mission: Comedy Centrals niche in television is that they are the
people who comment. By using "reality-based humor," instead of just going through
the comedy motions with sketches and sitcoms. Bob Kreek, president and chief operating
officer of Comedy Central said "I feel that brand (people who comment) of comedy is
something that we sort of put a stake in the ground and claim that territory as ours. But I
think we can have a reputation for doing that... I would love people to see an event and
say, `Gee, I wonder what Comedy Central's take is on that`?"
Background/History of Comedy Central: On November 15, 1989, Time Warner (owner
of HBO) launched The Comedy Channel, which was the first cable channel devoted
exclusively to comedy-based programming. On April 1, 1990, Viacom (who at the time
owned MTV, VH1, and Nickelodeon) launched a rival channel called Ha! While The
Comedy Channel broadcasted mostly low-budget original programming, Ha!'s schedule
featured sitcom and sketch comedy reruns as well as complete 90-minute reruns of
Saturday Night Live. After two years of competing, the two channels merged into
one, re-launching on April 1, 1991 as The Comedy Network (CTV). The network later
changed its name to Comedy Central in June 1991 to prevent issues with the Canadian
broadcast television network also named CTV. From the late 1980s through the mid1990s, the channel had a pretty low viewership until 1997 when South Park premiered.
It was the first major basic cable show to carry the TV-MA rating for mature

Guest: Jon Stewart (Political Satirist, Writer, Producer, Director, Television Host, Actor,
Media Critic, & Stand-Up Comedian)
Twitter Username: @TheDailyShow
Portfolio Author: Chris Jones
audiences and thus was too controversial to be picked up by a mainstream network. As a
direct result of its popularity and edginess, the number of people who requested that
Comedy Central be added to their cable providers increased, and the channel became
available in over 50% of American homes by 1998. Eventually in April 2003, Viacom
bought out Time Warners half of the network for $1.23 billion. Since then Comedy
Central has thrived and can now be seen internationally including, but not limited to Asia,
Spain, Russia, and Germany.
Current Issues/Recent News:
The Colbert Reports Finale: On December 18th, after nine years and 1,447
episodes, Comedy Central said goodbye to Stephen Colbert and his show The
Colbert Report. Being one of Comedy Centrals most popular shows, it is widely
believed that the end of the show will surely hurt Comedy Centrals ratings in the
near future. Colbert will take over "The Late Show" from David Letterman next
year. Letterman's final episode is scheduled to air on May 20, 2015.
o http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/18/last-colbertreport_n_6352158.html

Comedy Central Cancels Daniel Toshs Animated Sitcom Brickleberry:

Comedy Central has chosen not to renew the animated sitcom for a fourth season.
Brickleberry debuted in 2012 and was executive produced by Daniel Tosh, who
also stars in the show Tosh.0. Brickleberry was about a group of dysfunctional
park rangers at a second-tier national park and also featured Tosh as one of the
main characters, a vulgar bear named Malloy. It averaged 1.2 million viewers
during the third season, down from the 1.6 million viewer average for season 2.
o http://deadline.com/2015/01/brickleberry-cancelled-3-seasons1201343240/

Comedy Central Promotes Ian Friedman: Comedy Central promoted former

West Coast Development Executive, Ian Friedman, to VP of original
programming and development. Friedman has been with the company since 2008
where he started as a Manager of Development and Acquisitions. In 2011 he was
promoted to Director of Development of Original Programming where he was
integral in developing shows such as the widely popular Drunk History.
o http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/comedy-central-promotes-west-coastdevelopment-exec-1201381387/

Recent Work
Stewarts On-Air Charlie Hebdo Reaction: Stewart reacted to the Paris attack
that left 12 people dead, including several cartoonists and editors of the satirical
magazine Charlie Hebdo, during The Daily Show on Wednesday, January 7.

Guest: Jon Stewart (Political Satirist, Writer, Producer, Director, Television Host, Actor,
Media Critic, & Stand-Up Comedian)
Twitter Username: @TheDailyShow
Portfolio Author: Chris Jones
Stewart was shaken up about the incident calling it a senseless act and
publically mourned the death of the victims.

o I know very few people go into comedy, you know, as an act of courage.
Mainly because it shouldnt have to be that. It shouldnt be an act of
courage. It should be taken as established law. But those guys at Hebdo
had it, and they were killed for their cartoons.
o http://nypost.com/2015/01/08/jon-stewart-pays-tribute-to-charlie-hebdovictims/

Stewarts On-Air Eric Garner Decision Reaction: On December 3, a Staten

Island grand jury made the decision not to indict the white NYPD officer Daniel
Pantaleo who put Eric Garner, an unarmed African-American man, in a chokehold
that would lead to his death. A video exists of the incident in which Garner can be
seen and heard saying, I cant breathe before his death. On-air, Stewart
compares the incident to the Ferguson case in which Michael Brown, another
unarmed African-American male, was killed by a white police officer, and voices
his opinion about both incidents in addition to our society as a whole in relation to
race and injustice.
o "I honestly don't know what to say. If comedy is tragedy plus time, I need
more f****** time."
o "None of the ambiguities that existed in the Ferguson case exist in the
Staten Island case and yet the outcome is exactly the same."
o "We are definitely not living in a post-racial society and I can imagine
there are a lot of people out there wondering how much of a society we're
living in at all."
o http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/12/04/jon_stewart_on_eric_ga
rner_the_daily_show_got_serious_on_the_grand_jury.html

Stewart Defends Crack Dealer Jay Z Against Fox News: Jay Z was among a
group of prominent black leaders who recently met with New York Governor
Andrew Cuomo to discuss potential changes to the states criminal justice system.
FOX News host Sean Hannity was critical of Cuomo for taking advice from a
guy who sold crack, was a drug dealer, and actually shot somebody. Stewart
enlists the help of correspondent Jessica Williams to defend Jay Z and point out
some questionable things in the lives of people associated with Fox News.
o I mean, if you go over their black male to-do list, Jay Z has it covered:
good job? Check. Stable marriage? Check Is he a good father? Check.
And hes not just pulling his pants up the guy sells belts. Jay Z is the
guy they keep saying they want all other black guys to be, but to them hes
still a crack dealer.

Guest: Jon Stewart (Political Satirist, Writer, Producer, Director, Television Host, Actor,
Media Critic, & Stand-Up Comedian)
Twitter Username: @TheDailyShow
Portfolio Author: Chris Jones
o Rush Limbaugh, for example, is no longer a "radio talk show host"; he's a
"prescription drug addict."
o http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/18/jon-stewart-hannity-jayz_n_6346000.html

Questions
1) After college you returned to New York to pursue a career in stand-up comedy,
however, it took you a year to actually perform. How did you get over this stage
fright and do you still get nervous performing your job today?
2) Growing up you said that you were often the victim of anti-semitic bullying. How
did something like this affect your life and influence your career choice?
3) You have had many jobs from being a puppeteer for children with disabilities to
be being a busboy and a bartender. How did working these various jobs and others
influence your decision to pursue comedy?
4) Being the host of the satirical news show, The Daily Show, how do you think
satirical news ultimately compares to regular news that you might find on other
networks?
5) A part of your show I have really come to appreciate is when you give your
opinion on various tragedies that occur in the world. You are very passionate
about these serious topics and can often be seen going on rants about them on
the air. Are these segments of your show scripted and how do you prepare to talk
about such solemn topics sometimes, while still maintaining the comedy aspect of
your show?
6) Youve written various books including Naked Pictures of Famous People and
most recently Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race. How is
writing a book different than writing as you prepare for a show?
7) In 2005, you were named one of the 2005 Time 100, an annual list of 100 of the
most influential people of the year by Time magazine. Explain how this honor
made you feel to not only be on the list yourself, but also be listed amongst peers
such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Clint Eastwood.
8) On The Daily Show, youve had interviews where you confront your guests with
hard, tantalizing questions such as your interview with John McCain in 2006.
How do you prepare for these types of interviews and how do you gauge whether
you are ever stepping over the line with some of the questions you ask?
9) Over the course of your life you have had a pretty turbulent relationship with your
father. How has this molded you into who you are today and how has this
estranged relationship impacted your career?
10) Working as a bartender at the legendary City Gardens in Trenton New Jersey was
a pivotal moment for you and youve been quoted saying "finding this place City
Gardens was like, Oh, maybe I'm not a giant weirdo. Maybe there are other
people who have a similar sense of yearning for something other than what they
have now. I think it inspired a lot of people, man. It was a very creative

Guest: Jon Stewart (Political Satirist, Writer, Producer, Director, Television Host, Actor,
Media Critic, & Stand-Up Comedian)
Twitter Username: @TheDailyShow
Portfolio Author: Chris Jones
environment. It was a place of great possibility." How did working at City
Gardens inspire you to pursue comedy and what types of things went on there that
caused you to be so positively impacted?