Last night “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” coined a new term for the swine flu hopefully-not-a-pandemic, “Snoutbreak ‘09.” Plus: fake reportage from Atlanta’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
Last year, pundits and TV critics speculated that “The Daily Show” would have nothing to talk or joke about once the George W. Bush presidency gave way to Barack Obama. One of the few silver linings of the economic meltdown is Jon Stewart has found a fresh target in financial chicanery. Stewart’s withering takedowns of CNBC culminated last night when “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer visited the show as its sole guest. Stewart has some laugh-out quips about Cramer’s visit to Martha Stewart’s show, but throughout the actual interview, proves well-informed, angry and fiercely articulate. He serves as a genuinely passionate advocate for his audience (and not just comedy fans) and doesn’t let Cramer off the hook for a second:
Perhaps the most fraught and exciting public spectacle of 2009 so far is the feud between Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” and CNBC, particularly the sniping between Jon Stewart and “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer. It’s not exactly a fair fight — it’s kind of like the old Looney Tunes cartoon with Bugs Bunny as the unflappable matador, taking on an increasingly outraged bull. Perhaps it’s not fair to emphasize “The Daily Show’s” coverage, but the clips tend to speak for themselves. “The Daily Show” fired the opening shot on March 4, with a much-posted takedown of CNBC’s failures to anticipate the stock market crash:
Continue reading “Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer: ‘Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish’” »
