Jon Stewart Was Fine ... He Just Didn't Kill



Not since we poked fun at Dakota Fanning has The Corsair had to explain himself as when we wrote that Jon Stewart's appearance was "Mixed" yesterday. At the neighborhood bar last night as we tried to get "our drink-on" we were assailed on all sides and asked to explain why -- why? -- were down on Jon Stewart. Allow us here and now to clarify.

The Corsair loves Jon Stewart. We recognize: That being Oscar host is a thankless job, that's why so many comedians say "Thanks, but no thanks" when offered the job, which those not in-the-know might consider the opportunity of a lifetime. One must be somewhat tart, but not alienating of Hollywood -- who sits in Supreme Judgement of the host -- and, of course, one must not alienate the global audience. How does one be entertaining, witty, tart -- but not play to the cheap seats?

What we said yesterday is that Jon Stewart did not kill. That does not mean that we think in any way that Jon Stewart stunk up the joint. (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) Quite the contrary. He far surpassed Chris Rock and Billy Crystal and David Letterman and Whoopie. Stewart was marginally better than Steve Martin, which we mean as a compliment, as Steve Martin was pretty damn good. Jon Stewart did a fine, competent job; he is the best presenter in recent memory. Stewart just did not kill. And we respect Jon Stewart -- a straight shooter is there ever was one -- too much to kiss his ass like everyone in the goddam media appears to be doing. Stewart is strong enough to withstand a clear assessment of his performance. Our judgement stands and -- we believe -- will stand the test of time.

It confounds us -- confounds us! -- when people say, blindly, that Jon Stewart KILLED at the Oscars. He quite simply did not. He hit a inside-the-park triple (much better than a double), which is wonderful, a real achievement, but not a homer. A home run would be met with unanimous media acclaim.

Here's some of the MIXED comments on Stewart (which sort of nullifies all the ass kissing in the New York media, no? From Marksfriggin:

"Howard (Stern) said he just watched The Academy Awards last night. He noticed that Tom Hanks is looking kind of odd these days with that strange hair. Robin said that's for the part he's playing in the Da Vinci Code movie he's doing. Howard also said that he thought Jon Stewart was very good on the show even though the show had it's lowest ratings in a long time. Howard figures that Jon will get his hits for that but he survives that kind of stuff.

"Howard said he thought that Jon was good as the show went along because he came in with comments about what was going on. He went on to talk about how someone must really hate Jay Leno at the Academy because he's never asked to do the show. Howard said there must be some kind of story there because he's the kind of guy you'd expect to see on a show like that.

"Letterman was asked to do it and did it one year. Leno hasn't done it. Howard said that Leno has a huge audience with his show and yet he's not being asked to do the show. Jon Stewart doesn't have as big of an audience as Leno or Letterman but he was asked to do it."

Says the CBC (which agrees with our MIXED assessment):

"Stewart, host of TV's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, got a mixed bag of reviews for his first gig hosting the Oscars.

"While film critic duo Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper raved about Stewart's 'smart' performance and likened him to past Oscar host Johnny Carson, others, including the New York Post and MSNBC, judged him to be dull and noted the lukewarm reception he received from the Hollywood insider audience at the Kodak Center."

Those alliterative Jesse's at Gawker report on the temperature at Elaines:

"But the truth is that notwithstanding the not-quite-living-up-to-the-hype part, the absence of big-deal celebrities made the New York night � dare we say it? � awfully fun. It was a Jewier-than-average, gayer-than-average, nerdier-than-average crowd of New Yorkers gathered to watch the New York Jew host Oscar�s big gay night. The wine flowed freely, as did the shmooze, and everyone thought Jon Stewart�s monologue was fantastic. ('The best in years,' we heard someone � we think it was On the Media host Brooke Gladstone � say as he finished, and we were shocked, shocked, to discover Stewart killed in this room.)"

From the BBC, the land where satire began:

"... despite a few killer one-liners, Stewart began little better.
A joke about Dick Cheney shooting Bjork's dress - a reference to her swan creation from a few years back - brought the house down.

"...But still, this was hardly biting stuff, and everything - Stewart, the presenters, the awards themselves - soon began to be submerged beneath the seemingly endless blizzard of "isn't-cinema-great?" montages.

"There seemed to be no let-up."

We stick to our assessment. And, we cannot fail to note, we still love Jon Stewart.