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| The Daily Show | |
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 The Daily Show with Jon Stewart logo |
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| Genre | Comedy Satire News parody |
| Format | late night talk show |
| Created by | Madeleine Smithberg Lizz Winstead |
| Presented by | Craig Kilborn (1996–1998) Jon Stewart (1999–present) |
| Starring | Correspondents Guests |
| Opening theme | Bob Mould, "Dog On Fire" (performed by They Might Be Giants) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 1,570 (as of July 6, 2008) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Comedy Central |
| Original run | July 22, 1996 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Colbert Report |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Daily Show is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning American satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on Monday, July 22, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn, who acted as its anchorman until his departure in December 1998. Jon Stewart took over as host in January 1999, bringing a number of changes to the show's content. Under Stewart The Daily Show has become more strongly focused around politics and the national media, in contrast with the more character-driven focus during Kilborn's tenure.
Describing itself as a "fake news" program, The Daily Show draws its comedy from recent news stories, satirizing political figures and media organizations. The show typically opens with a monologue from the host relating to recent headlines and frequently features exchanges with one or more of several correspondents, who adopt absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against Stewart's straight man persona. The final act is reserved for a celebrity interview, with guests ranging from actors and musicians to nonfiction authors and political figures.
The program has increasingly grown in popularity since Stewart took over hosting with organizations such as the Pew Research Center claiming that it has become a primary source of news for many young people, an assertion the show's staff have repeatedly denied. Some, including series co-creator Lizz Winstead, have chastised Stewart for not conducting hard-hitting enough interviews with his political guests, some of whom he may have previously lampooned in other segments; while others have criticized the show as having a liberal bias.[1] Stewart and other Daily Show writers have responded to both criticisms by saying that they do not have any journalistic responsibility and that as comedians their only duty is to provide entertainment.[2]
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The Daily Show's format has remained relatively stable throughout the years. Each episode opens with a deep or low voice stating the date and the introduction, "From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." This was previously followed by the statement "The most important television program... ever," but this line was eliminated from the introduction on September 20, 2001, the show's first episode following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The show begins with the host's monologue of news headlines. This is often followed by an exchange with a correspondent - typically introduced as the show's "senior" specialist in the subject at hand - either at the anchor desk with Stewart or reporting from a false location in front of a green screen. Their stated areas of expertise vary depending on the news story that is being discussed, and can range from relatively general (such as "Senior Political Analyst") to absurdly specific (such as "Senior Child Molestation Expert" or "Senior Subterranean Structure Analyst"). The correspondents typically present absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against Stewart's straight man.
Previously, the show divided its news commentary into various segments known as "Headlines," "Other News," and "This Just In," though these titles were dropped sometime around 2003. Stewart and company rely on a technique of intercutting footage with commentary, in which they stop the action at a telling moment so as to leave political clichés, dud imagery, or self-contradictory statements hanging in the air, to which the host or correspondent then registers skeptical reserve or pained dismay.
The news portion is often followed by correspondent field pieces and interviews, the order of which varies from episode to episode. These field segments feature a rotating supporting cast, and involve the show's members traveling to various location to file comedic reports on current news stories and frequently involve interviews with people related to the featured issue. Topics have varied widely; during the early years of the show they tended toward character-driven human interest stories such as Bigfoot enthusiasts, however as the focus of the show has become more political the field pieces have come to closer reflect current issues and debates.[3] During the week of August 20, 2007 the show aired a series of segments called "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq" in which correspondent Rob Riggle reported from Iraq.
Some segments recur periodically, such as "Back in Black" with Lewis Black, "This Week in God," "Trendspotting" with Demetri Martin, "Are You Prepared?!?," "Wilmore-Oliver Investigates," and "You Don't Know Dick" (a segment centered on Vice President Dick Cheney). Since the early days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a common part of the show has been "Mess O' Potamia," focusing on the troubles in the Middle East, especially Iraq. Since the beginning of the 2008 presidential race the upcoming election has become a primary focus, with the show's coverage often being referred to as Indecision 2008.
In the show's third act, an interview is conducted by the host with a celebrity guest. Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources, and frequently include actors, musicians, authors, pundits and political figures. A light tone is generally established by the host, but if the topic demands serious consideration, the interview may veer from comedy.
In a closing segment sometimes referred to as the "toss," host Jon Stewart checks in with "our good friend, Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report." This check-in was done daily in an initial period of The Colbert Report but in 2007 was cut back to twice per week. After a brief exchange, there is a segue to the closing credits in the form of "Your Moment of Zen", a surreal piece of video footage that has been part of the show's wrap-up since the series began in 1996.
The program features Stewart sitting at his desk on an elevated island stage in a "theatre in the round" type studio. On July 11, 2005, the show moved to a new studio in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood at 733 11th Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, a few blocks west of its former location. The original studio is now used for The Colbert Report, a spin-off of the Daily Show starring former correspondent Stephen Colbert.
The new set was given a sleeker, more formal look, including a backdrop of three large projection screens. The traditional guests' couch was also done away with in favor of simple upright chairs. The change was initially not well-received, spawning a backlash among some fans and prompting a "Bring Back the Couch Campaign". The campaign was subsequently mentioned on the show by Stewart and supported by Daily Show contributor Bob Wiltfong.[4][5] The couch was eventually made the prize in a Daily Show sweepstakes in which the winner received the couch, round trip tickets to New York, tickets to the show and a small sum of money.[6]
On April 9, 2007 the show debuted a new set. The projection screens were revamped (with one large screen behind Stewart, while the smaller one behind the interview subject remained the same), a large, global map with certain points glowing directly behind Stewart, a more open studio floor, and a J-shaped desk (with the show's logo on the front) with a globe serving as a de facto leg on one end. The intro was changed as well; the flag graphic, and the display names, dates, and logos were all streamlined.[7] For the first two shows after the new set was introduced, live staff were visible through a window into a "control room" set directly behind Stewart, in emulation of network newscasts. However, the movement of the people proved a distraction, and they were removed.
According to a 2003 USA Today article, the show's researchers scan major newspapers, the Associated Press and cable news channels for material while the writers meet to discuss headline material for the lead news segment. By 11:15 AM they meet with Jon Stewart, and by 12:30 PM they have written the jokes for the day's show. After a rehearsal, the show tapes at 6:30 PM in front of a live audience.[8] While the studio capacity is limited, tickets to attend tapings are free and can be obtained if requested far enough in advance.
The Daily Show typically tapes four new episodes a week, Monday through Thursday, forty-two weeks a year.[9] The show is broadcast at 11 PM Eastern/10 PM Central, a time when local television stations show their real news reports and about half an hour before most other late-night comedy programs begin to go on the air. The program is rerun several times the next day, including an 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central primetime broadcast.
The Daily Show was created by Lizz Winstead and Madeline Smithberg and premiered on Comedy Central in the summer of 1996, having been marketed as a replacement for Politically Incorrect (a successful Comedy Central program that had recently moved to ABC).[10] Aimed to parody conventional newscasts, it featured a comedic monologue of the day's headlines, mockumentary style on-location reports, in-studio segments, guest commentary, and debates. Parodying the habit of entertainment news programs to lead out to commercials with trivia such as celebrity birthdays, the show featured such segments as "This Day in Hasselhoff History" and "Last Weekend's Top-Grossing Films, Converted into Lira".[11] In each show Kilborn would conduct celebrity interviews, ending with a segment called "Five Questions", in which the guest was made to answer a series of questions that were typically a combination of obscure fact and subjective opinion.[12] Each show was capped off with a segment called "Your Moment of Zen" that showed random video clips of humorous and sometimes morbid interest such as a snake charmer pulling a snake out of his throat via his nostril. Originally the show was recorded without a studio audience, featuring only the laughter of its own off-camera staff members. A studio audience was incorporated into the show for its second season, and has remained since.
Regular correspondents included Brian Unger, Beth Littleford, and A. Whitney Brown. Stephen Colbert joined the cast a year after it premiered and was referred to as "The New Guy" for the remainder of Kilborn's three year tenure. Lizz Winstead herself acted as a contributor as well as a writer in a weekly spot called "He Said, Winstead" in which she and Kilborn would ad lib a point-counterpoint style argument.
The show was much less politically-focused than it later became under Jon Stewart, having what Colbert described as a "local news" feel and involving more character-driven humor as opposed to news-driven humor.[3] It was slammed by some reviewers as being too mean-spirited, particularly towards the interview subjects of field pieces; a fact acknowledged by some of the show's cast. Describing his time as a correspondent under Kilborn, Colbert says, "You wanted to take your soul off, put it on a wire hanger, and leave it in the closet before you got on the plane to do one of these pieces."[13] One New York Times reviewer criticized the show for being too cruel and for lacking a central editorial vision or ideology, describing it as "bereft of an ideological or artistic center... precocious but empty."[14]
There were numerous reports of backstage friction between Kilborn and female cast, particularly the show's co-creator Lizz Winstead. Winstead had not been involved in the hiring of Kilborn, and disagreed with him over what the focus of the show should be. "I spent eight months developing and staffing a show and seeking a tone with producers and writers. Somebody else put him in place. There were bound to be problems. I viewed the show as content-driven; he viewed it as host-driven," she said.[15] In a 1997 Esquire magazine interview, Kilborn made offensive comments about his female coworkers, describing them as "emotional people" and "bitches" and making a sexually explicit remark about Winstead. Comedy Central responded by suspending Kilborn without pay for one week, and Winstead quit soon after.[16]
In 1998 Kilborn left The Daily Show in order to replace Tom Snyder on CBS's The Late Late Show. He was able to claim the "Five Questions" interview segment as intellectual property, disallowing any future Daily Show hosts from using it in their interviews.[17] Correspondents Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown left the show shortly before him. Kilborn's last show as host was aired on December 17, 1998. Reruns were shown until Jon Stewart's debut four weeks later.
A book released by Comedy Central titled The Daily Show: Five Questions (ISBN 0-8362-5325-6) was released in 1998 and highlights many of the best interview moments from Craig Kilborn's stint as host.
Comedian Jon Stewart took over as host on Monday, January 11, 1999. Stewart had previously hosted two shows on MTV (You Wrote It, You Watch It and an eponymous talk show), as well as a syndicated late-night talk show, and had been cast in films and television. His first guest was Spin City's Michael J. Fox, who quipped, "I've been on The Daily Show more than you have!"
In taking over hosting from Kilborn, Stewart retained much of the same staff and on-air talent, allowing many pieces to transition without much trouble, while other features like "God Stuff", with John Bloom presenting an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists, and "Backfire", an in-studio debate between Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown, evolved into the similar pieces of Stephen Colbert's "This Week in God" and Colbert and Steve Carell's "Even Stephven". Since the change, a number of new features have been, and continue to be, developed as well. The ending segment "Your Moment of Zen" developed from a random selection of humorous videos to often being recaps or extended versions of news clips shown earlier in the show (though sometimes are completely unrelated to any previous segment). The show's theme music, "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould, was re-recorded by They Might Be Giants.
Unlike Kilborn, whose dialogue and character were written entirely by others, Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and co-executive producer of the series. Instrumental in shaping the voice of the show under Stewart was former editor of The Onion Ben Karlin who, along with fellow Onion writer David Javerbaum, joined the staff in 1999 as head writer and was later promoted to executive producer. Their experience in writing for the satirical newspaper, which uses fake stories to mock real print journalism and current events, would influence the comedic direction of the show; Stewart recalls the hiring of Karlin as the point at which things "[started] to take shape". Describing his approach to the show, Karlin said, "The main thing, for me, is seeing hypocrisy. People who know better saying things that you know they don't believe."[18]
Under Stewart and Karlin The Daily Show developed a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than the show previously exhibited. Former correspondent Stephen Colbert says that whereas under Kilborn the focus was on "human interest-y" pieces, with Stewart as host the show's content became more "issues and news driven", particularly after the beginning of the 2000 election campaign with which the show dealt in its "Indecision 2000" coverage.[19][3] Colbert recalls that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow that his passion for issues carry through into his comedy.[20]
During Stewart's tenure, the role of the correspondent has broadened to encompass not only field segments but also frequent in-studio exchanges. Under Kilborn, Colbert says that his work as a correspondent primarily involved "character driven [field] pieces - like, you know, guys who believe in Bigfoot." However, as the focus of the show has become more news-driven, correspondents have increasingly been used in studio pieces, either as "experts" discussing issues at the anchor desk or as field journalists reporting from false locations in front of a green screen. Colbert says that this change has allowed correspondents to be more involved with the show, as it has permitted them to work more closely with the host and writers.[3]
The show's 2000 and 2004 election coverage, combined with a new satirical edge, helped to catapult Stewart and The Daily Show to new levels of popularity and critical respect. Since Stewart became host, the show has won ten Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards, and its ratings have dramatically increased. In 2003, the show was averaging nearly a million viewers a year, an increase of nearly threefold since Stewart replaced Kilborn as host.[21] By 2004, the show had emerged into a pop culture hit and one of the most popular programs on cable television.
Due to the writers' strike, the show went on hiatus on November 5, 2007. Although the strike continued until February, 2008, the show returned to air on January 7, 2008, with neither the show's writers nor Stewart performing their normal writing duties. In solidarity with the writers, the show was referred to as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart rather than The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, until the end of the strike.[22] Stewart largely ad-libbed the show around preplanned topics while the show was aired without writers.[23] As a member of the Writers Guild of America, Stewart was barred from writing any material for the show himself which his writers would ordinarily write.[24] The strike was officially ended on February 12, 2008, with the show's writers returning to work the following day, at which point the title of The Daily Show was restored.
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In addition to news stories, The Daily Show includes interviews with celebrities of various degrees of notoriety and fame, authors, musicians, and political figures. The political interviews have featured many prominent guests, including former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bolivian President Evo Morales, U.S. Vice President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore and Second Lady of the United States Lynne Cheney. The show has also played host to various former and current members of the Administration and Cabinet as well as members of Congress and a number of presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, John McCain, Zell Miller, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Howard Dean, Ron Paul and Ralph Nader have each appeared on the show while running for president.
Through Kilborn's run and the early years of Stewart's, the celebrity interviews would most often take place midway through the program. In recent years this has changed, with the interviews typically occurring near the end of the show. Recent years have seen the show's guest list tend away from celebrities and more towards non-fiction book authors and various political pundits, as well as many prominent elected officials. An October 2006 cover story in Rolling Stone describes The Daily Show under Stewart as "the hot destination for anyone who wants to sell books or seem hip, from presidential candidates to military dictators."[25] On September 13, 2006, a new portion of the interview segment began called "The Seat of Heat", wherein the host would ask a guest one challenging or bizarre question to be answered. On September 18, 2006, for example, former United States President Bill Clinton was asked how Hillary Clinton could be defeated should she run for president. The segment was short-lived, however, and by the end of 2006 it had been discontinued.
The show has only rarely featured musical guests. While They Might Be Giants made an appearance on the December 15, 1999 special "The Greatest Millennium", the first musical performance on a regular episode of the show was made by the White Stripes on December 1, 2005. In a press release on the subject, Stewart said, "We've never had a musical performance on the show before — not because we haven't wanted one — but because we were holding out for a reunited Spandau Ballet. This will have to suffice." The November 28, 2006 show — also Stewart's birthday — featured a live performance by guest Tom Waits, who played his song "Day After Tomorrow" during the closing credits. On June 25, 2008, Coldplay appeared as a musical guest and performed two songs from their new album Viva la Vida.
Television ratings show that the program generally has 1.45 to 1.6 million viewers nightly,[26] a high figure for cable television. In demographic terms, the viewership is skewed to a relatively young audience compared to traditional news shows. A 2004 Nielsen Media Research study commissioned by Comedy Central put the median age at 35. In fact, during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the show received more male viewers in the 18-34 year old age demographic than Nightline, Meet the Press, Hannity & Colmes and all of the evening news broadcasts.[27] Because of this, Howard Dean posits that Stewart and Bill Maher serve as a real source of news for young people, regardless of their intentions. Nightline anchor Ted Koppel has said that "A lot of television viewers — more, quite frankly, than I'm comfortable with — get their news from the Comedy Channel on a program called The Daily Show."[28]
The show's writers frequently reject the idea that The Daily Show has become a source of news for young people. Stewart argues that Americans are living in an "age of information osmosis" in which it is close to impossible to gain one's news from any single source, and says that his show succeeds comedically because the viewers already have some knowledge about current events. "Our show would not be valuable to people who didn't understand the news because it wouldn't make sense." He argues. "We make assumptions about your level of knowledge that... if we were your only source of news, you would just watch our show and think, 'I don't know what's happening.'"[29]
In late 2004, the National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania ran a study of American television viewers and found that fans of The Daily Show had a more accurate idea of the facts behind the 2004 presidential election than most others, including those who primarily got their news through the national network evening newscasts and through reading newspapers.[30] A more recent survey, released by the Pew Research Center on April 15, 2007, indicates that regular viewers of The Daily Show tend to be more knowledgeable about news than audiences of other news sources. Approximately 54% of The Daily Show viewers scored in the high knowledge range in comparison to 34% of network morning shows viewers who scored in the same range. The survey shows that changing news formats have not made much difference on how much the public knows about national and international affairs; however, it notes that there is no clear connection between news formats and what audiences know.[31] The Project for Excellence in Journalism also released a content analysis report suggesting that The Daily Show comes close to providing the complete daily news.[32]
On the other hand, in a 2004 campaign survey conducted by the Pew Research Center those who cited comedy shows such as The Daily Show as a source for news were among the least informed on campaign events and key aspects of the candidates' backgrounds while those who cited the Internet, National Public Radio, and news magazines were the most informed. People who cited newspapers, public news TV shows, and talk radio were also nearly as knowledgeable as people who used the Internet as a source. Even when age and education were taken into account, the people who learned about the campaigns through the Internet were still found to be the most informed, while those who learned from comedy shows were the least informed.[33]
A 2006 study published by Indiana University tried to compare the substantive amount of information of The Daily Show against prime time network news broadcasts, and concluded that when it comes to substance, there is little difference between the Daily Show and other news outlets. The study contended that, since both programs are more focused on the nature of "infotainment" and ratings than on the dissemination of information, both are broadly "equal" in terms of the amount of substantial news coverage they offer.[34][35]
Conservatives, including Bill O'Reilly and Bill Kristol, have argued that The Daily Show has a liberal bias, although in a 2004 interview with Stewart on The O'Reilly Factor O'Reilly made it clear that he thought the show "[made] fun of everybody", regardless of political affiliation.[36] Stewart says that while the show does have a more liberal point of view, it is not "a liberal organization" with a political agenda and its duty first and foremost is to be funny. He acknowledged that the show is not necessarily an "equal opportunity offender", explaining that Republicans tended to provide more comedic fodder because "I think we consider those with power and influence targets and those without it, not."[2] In an interview in 2005, when asked how he responded to critics claiming that The Daily Show is overly liberal, Stephen Colbert said likewise. "We are liberal, but Jon's very respectful of the Republican guests, and, listen, if liberals were in power it would be easier to attack them, but Republicans have the executive, legislative and judicial branches, so making fun of Democrats is like kicking a child, so it’s just not worth it."[37]
Stewart is often critical of Democratic politicians for being weak, timid, or ineffective. He said in an interview with Larry King, prior to the 2006 elections, "I honestly don't feel that [the Democrats] make an impact. They have 49 percent of the vote and three percent of the power. At a certain point you go, 'Guys, pick up your game.'"[38] He has targeted them for failing to effectively stand on some issues, such as their stance on the war in Iraq. For instance, regarding Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller's criticism of exaggerated intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Stewart said, "Democrats: always standing up for what they later realized they should've believed in."
Ben Karlin, then the show's executive producer, said in a 2004 interview, "If you're asking whether we require a loyalty oath, the answer is perhaps. There is a collective sensibility that, when filtered through Jon and the correspondents, feels uniform. But hey, if you have a legitimately funny joke in support of the notion that gay people are an affront to God, we'll put that motherfucker on!"[39]
When asked, Jon Stewart and others connected with the show describe it as an entertainment program dealing in "fake news" and reject the idea that they are a news show that undertakes any kind of journalism. Stewart has said that he does not think of himself as a social or media critic.[40] Critics, including Tucker Carlson and Lizz Winstead, one of The Daily Show's creators, have chastised Stewart for criticizing politicians and newspeople in his solo segments and then, in interviews with the same people, rarely taking them to task face-to-face. Winstead has expressed a desire for Stewart to ask harder satirical questions, saying, "When you are interviewing a Richard Perle or a Kissinger, if you give them a pass, then you become what you are satirizing."[1]
During Stewart's appearance on CNN's Crossfire, Stewart criticized that show and said that it was "hurting America" by reducing issues to a left vs. right screaming match and enabling political spin. When co-host Carlson argued that Stewart himself had not asked John Kerry substantial questions when Kerry appeared on The Daily Show, Stewart countered that it was not his job to give hard-hitting interviews. Maintaining that a "fake news" comedy program should not be held to the same standards as real journalists, Stewart said, "You're on CNN! The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls! What is wrong with you?"[41] However media critic Dan Kennedy claims that Stewart came off as disingenuous in this exchange, stating that "you can't interview Bill Clinton, Richard Clarke, Bill O'Reilly, Bob Dole, etc., etc., and still say you're just a comedian."[42]
In a March 4, 2006, article in The Boston Globe, "Why Jon Stewart Isn't Funny", Michael Kalin argued that Jon Stewart's laughs come at the expense of idealism and too easily enables American college students to adopt a self-righteous attitude toward politics, ultimately rendering them complacent and apathetic.
"Stewart...leads to a "holier than art thou" attitude [among students] toward our national leaders. People who possess the wit, intelligence, and self-awareness of viewers of The Daily Show would never choose to enter the political fray full of "buffoons and idiots." Content to remain perched atop their Olympian ivory towers, these bright leaders head straight for the private sector."[43]
A Daily Reflector article about The Daily Show viewers concluded that they trust their own knowledge in politics, rather than the news media or the elites who run the political-media system. The article suggests that citizens who believe they understand politics may be more active in the system than those who do not. Yet the article also points out that cynicism can be a voter turnoff.[44]
There are those who do not agree that watching The Daily Show is harmful to the youth or a cause of apathy in young voters.[45] Defenders of the show point out that Stewart is putting a humorous spin on a faulty system. They contend that as long as Stewart's jokes are factually correct, then responsibility for increased cynicism should belong to the political and media figures themselves, not the comedian who makes fun of them.[46]
Stewart has said that he does not take any joy in the failings of American government. "We're not the guys at the craps table betting against the line," he said on Larry King Live. "We'd make fun of something else," Stewart said, "if government suddenly became inspiring...we would be the happiest people in the world to turn our attention to idiots like, you know, media people, no offense."[38]
An edited version of the show, called The Daily Show — Global Edition, is run outside of the U.S. on CNN International once a week on several weekend time slots. This edition is prefaced by the following announcement, which is also displayed in written form against a Daily Show background:
However the announcement is not used by all other international broadcasters. Viewers are invited to send comments regarding the show to CNN by email.
For the Global Edition, Stewart provides an exclusive introductory monologue in front of an audience, usually about the week's prevalent international news story, and closing comments without an audience present. The segments for the Global Edition are usually culled from Monday and Tuesday's episodes. Strong language is often censored on CNN, even if it means losing a punch line.
Westwood One had broadcast small portions of the show to many radio stations across America. This ended, unannounced, in 2006.
A spin-off, The Colbert Report, was announced in early May 2005. The show stars Stephen Colbert, and serves as Comedy Central's answer to the programs of media pundits such as Bill O'Reilly. The word "Report" in the show's title, like "Colbert", is pronounced with a silent "t". Colbert, Stewart, and Ben Karlin pitched the idea of the show to Comedy Central chief Doug Herzog, who agreed to run the show for eight weeks without first creating a pilot. The Colbert Report first aired on October 17, 2005, and takes up the 11:30PM ET/PT slot following The Daily Show. Initial ratings satisfied Comedy Central and the show was renewed for a year.
The Colbert Report is produced by Jon Stewart's production company, Busboy Productions. Comedy Central announced in October 2007 that it had picked up another series from Busboy. Important Things with Demetri Martin features the Daily Show contributor but is not a spin-off.[47]
The show's correspondents normally have two roles: "experts" with satirical "senior" titles that Stewart interviews about certain issues, or hosts of original reporting segments which often showcase interviews of serious political figures. The current team of correspondents includes Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Aasif Mandvi and Wyatt Cenac. Contributers such as Lewis Black, Demetri Martin, John Hodgman, Larry Wilmore and Kristen Schaal tend to appear on a less frequent basis, often with their own unique recurring segment or character.
Bill Clarey (1982 - December 10, 2005),a 23-year-old staff member who worked as an intern for The Daily Show and receptionist for Comedy Central, committed suicide on December 10, 2005, prompting the network to suspend production of its show[48] the following Monday night. That Monday's episode was to have Howard Stern as a guest, but after Clarey's death, Comedy Central aired a repeat. On Tuesday, December 13, 2005, Stern appeared as the guest, and the Moment of Zen was dedicated to Clarey, with a short clip from his favorite show, Dynasty.
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