While Jon Stewart and I would likely differ on 90% of political issues, I can’t say it doesn’t hurt to see him go. After explaining his upcoming retirement to the audience on The Daily Show, news spread quicker than you may expect. It became breaking news for most outlets, and fans like myself couldn’t believe that after 16 years he’s calling it quits.
This was an announcement that many saw coming. His desire to not renew his contract was somewhat obvious, but I think many refused to believe it. He’s the face we grew to trust, and we couldn’t picture an 11:00pm time slot without him.
Political satire is one of the things that saves us from taking each other too seriously. I remember the first time I saw an episode, and I immediately connected with the show. It’s obvious his show is a Liberal one, but before that, came the comedy. Laughing through partisanship was something he managed to achieve every night.
Me like many others enjoyed the times he’d debate Bill O’reilly, or when he picked fights with politicians, and while his point of view was known to everyone who watched, it rarely bothered me. That’s not to say Stewart wasn’t offensive at times, but his standard of comedy was much higher than you’d expect from a late night show on Comedy Central (The Comedy Network here in Canada).
If you were a liberal, you openly adored him. If you were a conservative like me, you secretly watched his show every night, laughing along with imitations he got popular doing.
While it remains unclear when his last day on the show will be, everyone will be counting down the days until his finale. Unlike the sad loss of Stephen Colbert last year, we’re unsure where Stewart will end up. But I’m sure wherever he goes, he’ll stay genuine.
The Conservative Canadian 