‘The Drawback With Jon Stewart’ takes a critical leap into advocacy journalism
Nonetheless, Stewart has at all times practiced a type of journalism, utilizing comedy because the supply system. At “The Each day Present,” that meant reaching viewers who won’t in any other case be heavy information customers, dressing up present occasions in a extra attractive bundle.
By shifting to the much less commercially pressured realm of streaming, Stewart has distributed with the pretense of spooning out sugar to assist the messages go down. The not-unreasonable takeaway from that’s having hung out surveying the state of the US and the world, the comedian — who can not help however joke at instances in asides and whereas speaking to company and newsmakers — has decided the stakes are too dire to spend a lot time clowning round.
“We assist our troops, until they really want assist,” Stewart says, continuing to interview struggling navy personnel together with their relations, adopted by a really pointed sit-down with present US Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.
The obvious downside with “The Drawback” is its emphasis on righting and exposing wrongs comes on the expense of being entertaining, no less than in the way in which individuals have come to count on. The general impact brings to thoughts the historic resistance when a comedic actor segues into dramatic roles, and the pushback from components of the viewers figures to be related.
Stewart has anticipated that potential criticism and appears content material to plead responsible to it. Having spent years eliciting laughs, in “The Drawback” Stewart has completely different priorities, embarking, nevertheless lofty it’d sound, on a seek for options.
“The Drawback With Jon Stewart” premieres Sept. 30 on Apple TV+.
