The Paley Center for Media, which has locations in both New York and LA, dedicates itself to the preservation of television and radio history. Inside their vast archives of more than 120,000 television shows, commercials, and radio programs, there are thousands of important and funny programs waiting to be rediscovered by comedy nerds like you and me. Each week, this column will highlight a new gem waiting for you at the Paley Library to quietly laugh at. (Seriously, it’s a library, so keep it down.)
In terms of modern poltical satire, there’s no better source than the double-punch of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. From their recent skewereing of the SuperPAC system through creating their own to their massive Washington DC Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, over the years The Daily Show and its spin-off, have had deep impacts on the modern popular culture. But where did it begin? Let’s take a look an episode of the prequel to Jon Stewart’s Daily Show: The Jon Stewart Show.
In 1992, MTV was in that transitional period that everyone likes to complain about, in which the 24-hour music video channel was beginning to introduce non-music video programming. First among these were The Real World, Liquid Telelvision, and then a little thing called You Wrote It, You Watch It , hosted by a young stand up named Jon Stewart, in which sketch ideas submitted by viewers were acted out by members of The State. It was cancelled after one season, but the following year, in 1993, The Jon Stewart Show premiered as a nightly talk show and became the network’s second highest rated program, right behind Beavis and Butt-Head. READ MORE
Another Day, Another Picture of Ricky Gervais Dressed as Hitler
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