Political comedy has been a popular subgenre for a long time. With all of the ire that the cable news outlets get, many people more easily gravitate towards satirical news programs to learn about current events, along with a bit of levity. Late night comedy shows see a great deal of success by giving their light-hearted takes on the news. Arguably the most acclaimed of these programs was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. For a time, the Comedy Central production was lauded for its humorous yet insightful witticisms about politics and news for well over a decade. Jon Stewart was constantly entertaining as the host, and many of the shows correspondents went on to have fruitful careers of their own, such as Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Lewis Black, and Stephen Colbert. …show more content…
Many feel that the new host, Trevor Noah lacks the same charisma and comedic prowess of his predecessor. While The Daily Show with Trevor Noah has a solid fanbase and continues to receive praise, it seems that its halcyon days are behind it. Now, there’s a new standard bearer for satirical news. HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver follows a similar yet different formula to TDS while delivering a unique brand of humor that has earned the adulation of numerous fans. After winning a Peabody Awards two years ago and four Emmys this year – including Outstanding Variety Talk Series – the program has solidified itself a cornerstone of late night
Comedian Jon Stewart gives a speech on the Daily Show during the “Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear”. He wants the viewers of the Daily Show to realize the difference between the real and fake threats and to take a humorous perspective on most of America’s “problems”. Stewart also emphasizes to his audience not to take every person on the media by his word and not to overreact to everything they hear. He uses metaphors, comparisons, and hypothetical examples to get his point across.
“Women! What do they want?” John Oliver exclaims sarcastically as he begins his segment on the wage gap. John Oliver always begins his segments with sarcastic and witty comments in order to initially engage his audience which is largely young adults. His use of a news station background is what grabs the attention of news watchers. While he does discuss serious issues he does it with wit in order for his audience to come to the same conclusion as him. Knowing that the majority of his audience holds some college experience, “Last night tonight” expects the audience to be able to differentiate between the actual news and the host’s sarcasm. In his segment “Wage Gap”, host John Oliver uses statistics from the U.S Bureau of Labor, contradicting
Ferrell had a rough start on SNL. However, he had gladly won the hearts of viewers as he did more impressions and skits (“Biography”). Some of his most famous spot-on impressions included James Lipton, Harry Caray, Alex Trebek, Neil Diamond, and perhaps most famously George Bush. His most famous sketches include “The Spartan Cheerleader,” “Celebrity Jeopardy,” and “More Cowbell.”
Seinfeld was a sitcom from NBC that was very popular during the ’90s, and is often referred as “a show about nothing.” It consisted of the life of a fictitious Jerry Seinfeld and his friends in New York City (IMDb). Seinfeld reached a Nielsen rating of 21.7 percent and number one in the United States ranking during its ninth and final season (“Appendix 3: Top-Rated Programs by Season”). It was unique in the way that it portrayed social life during the ‘90s, and this inspired shows such as Friends, Ellen, and Mad About You (Pierson 49). In Seinfeld episodes, the viewer can observe social customs, fads, social standards, and family portrayals of ‘90s semi-young adults.
For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more
The Simpsons first aired in 1980 as a hilarious, sarcastic, and exaggerated satire of everyday life. With depictions of politics and politicians, bad parenting, greedy industry owners, and the faults in everyday society. The show really brings to life the thoughts and sometimes unrealistic views we have of everyday people.
Humor is an intriguing aspect of our life that makes us happy when we are sad, and keeps us upbeat when with friends. The title that I chose was the Broadway performance from Will Ferrell in Will Ferrell: You 're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush. Will Ferrell portrays the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, as he reflects on a variety of incidents and occurrences that happened while serving the United States from 2001-2009. The humor speaks primarily to people who are politically savvy and especially know the major points in Bush’s presidency. Ferrell highlights key points such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2000 Presidential election, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama. In “You 're Welcome America,” the target audience is political savvy individuals who are well informed with politics and followed the Bush presidency closely. The humor most associated with this material is stand-up comedy, and irony with a few political jokes smashed in between, with Will Ferrell proving his worth cracking jokes as the wiseass George W. Bush. Overall, I find this comedy to be hilarious, while others struggle with many of the jokes because the audience needs to be “in the know” with
Wherever Stewart tread, Eden grew: his talent was an infectious blessing, taking root in Stephen Colbert; in Jon Oliver and Larry Wilmore; in Steve Carell, and Jason Jones, and Jessica Williams, and Samantha Bee, and has nurtured an entire generation of worldly cynics. He has shown the world how to laugh at its darkest scars, as well as how to mourn
Satire is the most powerful democratic weapon in the arsenal of modern media. Sophia McClennen, the author of America According to Colbert: Satire as Public Pedagogy, describes it as the modern form of public pedagogy, as it helps to educate the masses about current issues (73). In fact, ”a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey in 2004 found that 61 percent of people under the age of thirty got some of their political news from late-night comedy shows” (McClennen 73). This statistic shows how influential satirical shows such as The Colbert Report or South Park can be.
Just days before the South African comedian, TV and radio host - Trevor Noah will take over the American comedian, media critic, and television host - Jon Stewart on the "The Daily Show," Trevor Noah willingly accepted the truth that "it is hard to reboot and re-enact a new show from an old show in just five weeks." On Monday at 11p.m. ET, Trevor Noah has been obliged to assume Jon Stewart's position as host on Comedy Central. It has been only a little over a month since Jon Stewart ended 16 years as the nation's court professional joker who shape up "The Daily Show" in his own savvy image. Despite all these, Noah managed to look calm and composed as he greeted a reporte"r into his 'not-quite-settled-into' workplace at the network's so-called World News Headquarters.
James Conroy argues that laughter in serious topics has been regarded through the ages as dangerous, deviant, and subversive; yet equally as refreshing, challenging, and constructive. Political humor is extensively used in almost all countries, but political satire is perceived differently from one country to another. The research question is as follows: what factors make political satire an effective tool that affects politics and policy? I argue that humor is more influential when blended with serious topics, such as international relations or politics. Laughter is a great means to put serious topics under the lenses of critical thinking. The use of humor, and political satire specifically can bring about serious political change. Humor can play all sorts of roles in the political process through being informative, educational and influential while keeping its captive entertaining
Joke on show jon stewart calls in as bernie bernstein (apparent reporter) and is guest. The Daily Show premiered in 1996 hosted by Craig Kilborn, until 1999 when Jon Stewart took over. The show presents itself as a foil to regular news programs, often using satire and comedy to address current political issues. Jon Stewart hosted the show until 2015, when Trevor Noah took over. The Daily Show is the longest running program on Comedy Central and has won over 20 Primetime Emmy Awards.
I thought the clip from Late Night the Daily show were the closest to what I’d expect from a more conventional news show. Colbert and SNL’s shows both contained very little actual news, while Late Night and the Daily show both moved from news story to news story. Oliver’s show had an overarching thesis which was being pushed down the viewer’s throat while neither Late Night nor the Daily show had a single overarching purpose. That being said, Late Night contained a lot more accusatory-commentary on the news than what I’d expect from an outlet like the Washington Post. Late Night, the Daily Show, and SNL all had their anchors mimic Trump.
Timing is critical in relation to these shows because if the hosts and producers of the shows miss a current event, the point they are trying to get across would no longer be funny. The more relevant the topic, the more on point the timing must be. The Daily Show recently a show on an apology Mark Zuckerberg released concerning a data firm who accessed the Facebook accounts of over fifty million Americans without their knowledge (CNN.com). CNN reported this happened on March 21st, 2018 and The Daily Show has a clip on the Comedy Central website which has the date March 22nd, 2018 posted along side of the video clip. They had worked on making this writing as relevant as possible.
From the beginning days of the printing press to the always evolving internet of present day, the media has greatly evolved and changed over the years. No one can possibly overstate the influential power of the new media of television on the rest of the industry. Television continues to influence the media, which recently an era of comedic television shows that specialize in providing “fake news” has captivated. The groundbreaking The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and its spin-off The Colbert Report have successfully attracted the youth demographic and have become the new era’s leading political news source. By parodying news companies and satirizing the government, “fake news” has affected the media, the government, and its audience in such a way that Bill Moyers has claimed “you simply can’t understand American politics in the new millennium without The Daily Show,” that started it all (PBS).