Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart returns to the mic with this comedic current event series. Fortunately for us Kiwis, we can watch (and hear) this talk show right now.
Jon Stewart knows a thing or two about problems. Especially American problems. His comedic take on such problems drove his Emmy-winning series The Daily Show into the stratosphere and helped popularise a vital TV genre—satirical news.
After handing The Daily Show keys to Trevor Noah in 2014 and making a couple of feature films (Rosewater and Irresistible) during his small screen hiatus, Stewart returns to the mic with The Problem with Jon Stewart. Or, to say it with no ambiguity, The Problem… beat… with Jon Stewart.
The talk show brings together a panel of experts to discuss some of the biggest issues plaguing the world and the systems at play. So far, so Daily. However, while it may borrow from previous Show notes, Stewart is determined to make The Problem a different beast—especially given how much the world’s changed in his small screen absence.
For one, it’s longer. The first episode, which delves into the issues of war both on and off the battlefield, runs around the 40-minute mark. There’s no segment where they chat to a celeb about their upcoming film or a moment of zen. Each episode remains dedicated to a single topic.
For two, Stewart’s now sporting a sweatshirt—a wearable metaphor for the show’s more casual approach to tackling the issues at hand.
In a review of the first two episodes, Variety observed: “Whereas The Daily Show used Stewart’s prickly dissatisfaction as a comedic engine, his new show spotlights it with a more focused determination. It’s almost as he left the “Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear)” he threw years ago with Colbert and realised that such a restoration might require more than pointing out the obvious fact of a world gone mad.”
The first episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart is now streaming on Apple TV+ with new episodes arriving every second week. For the eagre, a companion podcast releases weekly via Apple Podcasts.
