Jon Stewart: A man who took no BS

     For my first post in 2019 and starting off one of my goals of 2019 to talk about topics outside of politics (sort of), I going to talk about Jon Stewart who was the Daily Show host from 1999-2015. He was the voice of a generation. I wish I didn't use Jon Stewart in past tense. I wanted to title this Jon Stewart: the Pioneer of Fake News or Fake News of Comedy but for starters, he wasn't the original host of the Daily Show (shocking but true) and no one does fake news better than Fox News (unless your a Republican and Trump who thinks anyone against Trump is fake news, I think you're idiots but I can't change people's minds). Nothing against Trevor Noah, I do like him and he's the same age as me but Jon Stewart was the guy that made the show his own. Before Trump called CNN "fake news", The Daily Show with Jon Stewart were self-proclaimed leaders of fake news and wore it as a badge of honor though at times it seemed that the Daily Show actually did real news. You can also make a case the show actually does real news but they just add jokes to the stories and that's true. They do tell REAL STORIES, they just add a humorous twist to it. Also, it seems like they do more investigations than the 24 hours cable news networks. Fox News is basically an extension of the Republican Party and refuses to do news (well actual news), CNN got rid of their Special Investigation Unit for some reason(s), and unsure about MSNBC.  Believe or not, Jon Stewart wasn't the original host of the Daily Show. The original show was Craig Kilborn who was a one-time anchor on ESPN'S Sportscenter. I think I might have seen an episode or two with Kilborn but remember him more as a Sportscenter Anchor than the Daily Show host. Kilborn left the Daily Show in 1999 to host the show after Letterman (which is now hosted by James Corden) and Stewart took over for Kilborn. The Irony was Jon Stewart had a show on MTV called the Jon Stewart show and later syndicate to fill-in for the Arsenio Hall show after that show was canceled but Stewart's show was canceled a year later because of ratings. However, David Letterman signed him to his (Letterman's) production company Worldwide Pants where he was a frequent guest show of the Late Late Show with Tom Synder. Letterman was actually the last guest on The Jon Stewart Show and told Stewart "do not mistake cancellation with failure," Good advice and also, I should point out Letterman knew full well because he was in some shows there ended less than a year including a morning talk show he hosted but less than two years had his late show after Johnny Carson and the rest is history. There's was talk Stewart was going to replace Synder however that job went to Kilborn. Also, has Craig Kilborn done anything after that Adam Sandler produced movie "The Benchwarmers"? Well CBS' lost was Comedy Central gain really (OK more like a trade really) as Jon Stewart took over for the Daily Show for the next 16 years. The biggest moment of his Daily Show tenure has to be the first show after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I suggest you check it his opening monologue, google it it's about nine minutes long. Sadly it wasn't his last opening monologue after tragedies with all these mass shooting that happened during his tenure. That and the wars of Afghanistan and Iraq, he emerged as a trusted national figure (which I doubt you can say about anyone from the 24-hour News Networks). Also, on the 9/11 front, he continued to fight for the first responders who responded after the attack and those who dealt with the aftermath/clean up fighting to get them better health coverage. Stewart took no BS from no one regardless of party or network. Yes, he came after Fox News and the Republicans but he wasn't afraid to go after CNN, MSNBC, CNBC especially Jim Cramer and Democrat. Even after leaving the Daily Show in a CNN interview with his Half-Baked co-star (and another Comedy Central alum) Dave Chappelle spoken out against the media and their coverage of Trump.  Heck, his last monologue of the Daily Show was to tell us to lookout for Bullshit. There are people including myself wished that he stayed on at least until the end of 2016 and we would have been President Hillary Clinton. Unsure if more people would have listened to Stewart than did to Noah but fun to think of plus can you imagine the Trump jokes. Stewart came after Trump (before he ran as President) for eating pizza with a fork and for taking Sarah Palin to a crappy pizza place (according to Stewart though he did say he did eat there a lot mostly because it was nearby the comedy club he worked) and later came after Mayor Bill De Blasio (a Democrat) for the same pizza with a fork offense. Also, what helps Jon Stewart's legacy is the people who were correspondence during Stewart's tenure like Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Samantha Bee, Steve Carell, Trevor Noah who was a special correspondent for the Daily Show before taking over the Daily Show, Ed Helms, Larry Wilmore, among others. Especially Colbert who did the Colbert Report for nine years before taking over David Letterman for the Late Show executive produced by Stewart, Oliver who took over for Stewart in the summer of 2013 when Stewart left to direct Rosewater. Rosewater was about a journalist who was arrested in Iran after giving an interview to Jason Jones for the Daily Show. Now Oliver host Last Week Tonight and marry couple Samantha Bee and Jason Jones have shows on TBS including Sam's Full Frontal. Also, you can probably give Stewart credit for some of the segments like the Check-In and A Closer Look from Late Night with Seth Meyers. I'm sure there are people including myself that would love for him to come back to TV in some form or another however I think he's happy in the farm he lives now. Plus, again he's one of the executive producers of the Late Show and does pop in every once in a while. I only thing I can said is never said never.