Jon Stewart announced on Monday night’s “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central that his final night as host will be Aug. 6. Over on CBS, we’ve already been on Dave Watch, knowing David Letterman steps down as host of the “Late Show” on May 20.
So over the course of just a few months, we are saying goodbye to two of the three most influential, revered and popular figures in the history of late-night television. The third towering late-night presence was Johnny Carson.
I’ve got no Letterman-style Top 10 list to share to explain why the departures of these two personalities from their shows matter so much, but as a kind of missing-man formation tribute, here are several paragraphs of praise for Letterman and Stewart, each responsible for giving us the most valuable gift in the history of the world: the gift of satire.
Letterman means the most. He revolutionized the identity of “talk show host,” an occupation that was, before Letterman, mostly as banal as it sounds (Merv Griffin, anybody?). Letterman, with his acerbic, absurd wit, brought irony and irascibility to the masses from his start in the early 1980s, back when “new” in television meant strange, mostly awful, unironic music videos on MTV.
Before the Internet reduced so much commentary and comedy to bite-sized, Twitterish pieces, Letterman invented the hilarious, concise Top 10 list. Two favorites from the 1980s: Campbell’s Top 10 Least Popular Soups (No. 2: Sideburns ‘n’ Barley) and Top 10 Expressions that Sound Dirty but Really Aren’t (No. 2: Shaking hands with Abraham Lincoln). Comedy genius, my friends.
Stewart either saved television news, or destroyed it. There were mock TV news shows and bits before his “Daily Show”, going back to the earliest days of television. And comedy has always had the power to influence events and public opinion. “Saturday Night Live,” for example, could take down a political figure through satire.
Stewart’s incredible gift is/was his ability to blend comedy, sharp commentary and real research to become an important political figure in his own right. When the show called itself “the most trusted name in fake news,” Stewart was responsible for the greatest meta-joke of all time.
Now we’re all meta as a society 24/7. All irony, all the time. Jaundiced, skeptical, and on Twitter if you look around for a moment, we’re pretty freakin’ funny as humans.
And now you know who to blame.
On behalf of Letterman and Stewart, you’re welcome.
Michael Lev is a member of the baiduhai Editorial Board. The views reflected here are his own.
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