Jon Stewart hopes that television isn’t dying.
The “Daily Show” took viewers behind the scenes, explaining a comment Stewart made opening the show Monday night in an off-air clip released Friday. Before he sat down at his desk, an audience member asked Stewart for his thoughts about young people today getting “all of their information and entertainment from social media.” In a conversation spurred on by Stewart, the viewer then argued that “TV is dying.”
“Don’t, what? No!” Stewart said in response. “Well, sir, let me ask you a question. In your mind, seeing as I work in television — will I die first? Because if that’s the case, I don’t mind.”
After joking about not caring, Stewart asked a more serious question: “But don’t you still watch TV, but you just watch it on your computer?”
The audience member answered, “On TikTok, on your phone.”
“Right, but you understand… that that’s still TV. It’s just you’re watching it in a different delivery service,” Stewart added. “It’s like, heroin is heroin, whether you snort it or shoot it. It’s still an opiate for the masses, as is television. You’re just getting it in smaller bites. It’s still TV. I– We make it.”
Stewart took the look on the viewer’s face as one of skepticism, still.
“You have a look on your face like, ‘This poor boy. If he only knew the business he was in,’” Stewart said, returning to his broad address of the audience. “Well, I hope we don’t die quickly and stay. And you’re here! And we’re making TV for you, tonight!”
Two minutes later, the comedian had processed the interaction and had it ready to use when he opened the show — which he will host Monday nights through the 2024 election.
“Welcome to ‘The Daily Show.’ I’m your host Jon Stewart, captain of this dying medium,” he opened, pulling a confused face. “Why would you even say that to me? I had a gentleman tell me tonight. He said ‘Oh, I’m so happy to be here. You know, television is dying.’”
“I said, ‘I’m aware, and in fact, I’m contributing to it,’” Stewart concluded, making a chef’s kiss gesture to the crowd. “You’re welcome.”
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