After 16 years of taking satirical aim at the hypocrisy of politics and the fatuousness of the news media, Jon Stewart said goodbye to The Daily Show on Thursday evening with a farewell broadcast that mixed wry parting shots with earnest displays of emotion and with a passionate speech urging his audience not to accept falsehoods and misinformation in their lives.
Stewart, 52, who has presided over this Comedy Central news-parody show since 1999, concluded his final episode with a spirited sermon against what he euphemistically described as "social-contract fertiliser." (He also used a familiar and much stronger epithet.)
Blatant mendacity, Stewart said, has become ubiquitous and pernicious. "Whenever something's been titled Freedom Family Fairness Health America, take a good long sniff," he said.
Using a fake news format, Stewart was equally trusted and distrusted, polls showed, and viewer numbers fell in recent years.
The only way to combat the relentless intrusions of dishonest people, Stewart said, was through vigilance. "Their work is easily detected, and looking for it is kind of a pleasant way to pass the time," he said.
"So if you smell something, say something," Stewart added.
The broadcast began with what appeared to be a traditional opening act in which Stewart poked fun at a current event - in this case, the Republican presidential debates in Cleveland. But this was simply a setup for the many on-air correspondents and contributors who have passed through The Daily Show during Stewart's time on the show to pay their final tributes.
Among the celebrated alumni who gave their testimonials, Steve Carell, who went on to become the star of NBC's The Office and films like Foxcatcher, joked that he had never really left The Daily Show. "Becoming an international superstar is just something I did while waiting for my next assignment," Carell said.
There were further cameos from John Oliver, Kristen Schaal and Samantha Bee, as well as Stewart's Daily Show successor, Trevor Noah, who wandered onto the set with a tape measure. ("Could you give me like 20 more minutes?" Stewart asked him.)
In a taped montage, several of Stewart's past targets of ridicule, including Chris Christie, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill O'Reilly and John Kerry, fired back good-natured ripostes at him. "So long, jackass," John McCain declared at the end of the segment.
And, of course there was a visit from Stephen Colbert, the former Daily Show correspondent and star of Comedy Central's Colbert Report, who is about to succeed David Letterman as the host of CBS's Late Show. In a sincere and seemingly unscripted speech, Colbert told Stewart that, though Stewart had previously told his staff members "never to thank you because we owe you nothing," this was "one of the few times I have known you to be dead wrong." Stewart first disclosed on a Daily Show broadcast in February that he intended to leave the program. Since then, Stewart, whose handful of extracurricular activities include writing and directing the 2014 drama Rosewater, has kept relatively quiet about his future plans, except to say that he intends to spend more time with his family.
In his final weeks in the anchor chair, Stewart largely resisted any impulses toward self-congratulation or gauzy nostalgia: Most nights found him inveighing against favourite nemeses, like the Koch brothers or his critics at the Fox News Channel. He played a few retrospective montages that emphasised his shortcomings, spotlighting awkward highlights from his celebrity interviews, his dissonant singing voice and his inability to make an impact on news events.
None of this discouraged some of Stewart's final guests from pleading with him to stick around a little longer. When President Obama appeared on The Daily Show in July, he jokingly told Stewart: "I'm issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show. It's being challenged in the courts."
While interviewing his friend and fellow comedian Denis Leary on Wednesday, Stewart said he was comfortable with his decision to step down. "When you do something that you know you will never be as good at something as you were at this, you have to make peace with it," Stewart said. "And I've made peace with it."
In his final remarks to his audience, Stewart thanked his wife and children "for teaching me what joy looks like," and told his viewers that he was not leaving their lives for good.
"Nothing ends," Stewart said. "It's just a continuation. It's a pause in the conversation. So rather than saying goodbye or good night, I'm just going to say: I'm going to go get a drink. And I'm sure I'll see you guys before I leave."
Stewart, 52, who has presided over this Comedy Central news-parody show since 1999, concluded his final episode with a spirited sermon against what he euphemistically described as "social-contract fertiliser." (He also used a familiar and much stronger epithet.)
Blatant mendacity, Stewart said, has become ubiquitous and pernicious. "Whenever something's been titled Freedom Family Fairness Health America, take a good long sniff," he said.
Using a fake news format, Stewart was equally trusted and distrusted, polls showed, and viewer numbers fell in recent years.
The only way to combat the relentless intrusions of dishonest people, Stewart said, was through vigilance. "Their work is easily detected, and looking for it is kind of a pleasant way to pass the time," he said.
"So if you smell something, say something," Stewart added.
The broadcast began with what appeared to be a traditional opening act in which Stewart poked fun at a current event - in this case, the Republican presidential debates in Cleveland. But this was simply a setup for the many on-air correspondents and contributors who have passed through The Daily Show during Stewart's time on the show to pay their final tributes.
Among the celebrated alumni who gave their testimonials, Steve Carell, who went on to become the star of NBC's The Office and films like Foxcatcher, joked that he had never really left The Daily Show. "Becoming an international superstar is just something I did while waiting for my next assignment," Carell said.
There were further cameos from John Oliver, Kristen Schaal and Samantha Bee, as well as Stewart's Daily Show successor, Trevor Noah, who wandered onto the set with a tape measure. ("Could you give me like 20 more minutes?" Stewart asked him.)
In a taped montage, several of Stewart's past targets of ridicule, including Chris Christie, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill O'Reilly and John Kerry, fired back good-natured ripostes at him. "So long, jackass," John McCain declared at the end of the segment.
And, of course there was a visit from Stephen Colbert, the former Daily Show correspondent and star of Comedy Central's Colbert Report, who is about to succeed David Letterman as the host of CBS's Late Show. In a sincere and seemingly unscripted speech, Colbert told Stewart that, though Stewart had previously told his staff members "never to thank you because we owe you nothing," this was "one of the few times I have known you to be dead wrong." Stewart first disclosed on a Daily Show broadcast in February that he intended to leave the program. Since then, Stewart, whose handful of extracurricular activities include writing and directing the 2014 drama Rosewater, has kept relatively quiet about his future plans, except to say that he intends to spend more time with his family.
In his final weeks in the anchor chair, Stewart largely resisted any impulses toward self-congratulation or gauzy nostalgia: Most nights found him inveighing against favourite nemeses, like the Koch brothers or his critics at the Fox News Channel. He played a few retrospective montages that emphasised his shortcomings, spotlighting awkward highlights from his celebrity interviews, his dissonant singing voice and his inability to make an impact on news events.
None of this discouraged some of Stewart's final guests from pleading with him to stick around a little longer. When President Obama appeared on The Daily Show in July, he jokingly told Stewart: "I'm issuing a new executive order that Jon Stewart cannot leave the show. It's being challenged in the courts."
While interviewing his friend and fellow comedian Denis Leary on Wednesday, Stewart said he was comfortable with his decision to step down. "When you do something that you know you will never be as good at something as you were at this, you have to make peace with it," Stewart said. "And I've made peace with it."
In his final remarks to his audience, Stewart thanked his wife and children "for teaching me what joy looks like," and told his viewers that he was not leaving their lives for good.
"Nothing ends," Stewart said. "It's just a continuation. It's a pause in the conversation. So rather than saying goodbye or good night, I'm just going to say: I'm going to go get a drink. And I'm sure I'll see you guys before I leave."
© 2015 The New York Times