THE DAILY SHOW (THE BOOK)

Reviewed by Steven H Silver

Jon Stewart hosted his final episode of The Daily Show on August 6, 2015. The following year, Chris Smith published The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History, which explored Stewart’s tenure on the show through the eyes of the writers, correspondents, directors, producers, and guests who made the show what it was. The book glances at the pre-Stewart days under Craig Kilborn, but the primary focus is on the years when Stewart remade the show in his own image, with plenty of help and support.

Smith clearly has interviewed scores of people for this book and his woven their comments into a mostly chronological account of the show, discussing the show’s origins as well as the work Stewart was doing prior to being invited to host The Daily Show. Where the interviews don’t tell the full story, Smith interjects with the background necessary for the reader to make the necessary leaps to get a full picture of what is happening.

While most of the interviewers seem to only have positive things to say, there are negative comments woven throughout. Dan Bakkedahl’s tenure on the show was less successful, although Bakkedahl also makes it clear that he was as much to blame as anything else with incorrect expectations. Many of the writers who came over from the Kilborn version of the show were less than thrilled with the transition, and, of course, some of those who were the target of the show’s satire, even if they understood where it was coming from, were less than thrilled. Smith isn’t shy about exploring the controversies in the way the show did business and spends a reasonable amount of time discussing the flare up between Stewart and correspondent Wyatt Cenac. Similar time is spent on the question of whether The Daily Show was a good place for women.

What stands out most in the book is the fact that Stewart’s The Daily Show was a gradual process. Smith traces the changes the show underwent as they realized the impact they were having, not just on public discourse, but on the technology that allowed the show to be made. Their use of DVRs and later transcription services is a focus of the book as they went from making do with what they had to defining the process and tools that could be used.

The Daily Show (The Book) is also an exercise in nostalgia. More than anything else, The Daily Show is ephemeral, exploring political and social issues specific to the times in which they were covered, even if the topics may be enduring. Unlike other television shows, the episodes are not aired in re-runs and very few have been released on DVD/BluRay, relying on Youtube and other on-line clips for their longevity. Nevertheless, when Smith and his interview subjects describe interviews or sketches they participated in, those bits come immediately to memory.

The interviews cover all aspects of the show, from the hiring process to the way stories were pitched, written, and filmed. Watching a field piece on television, it often appears that the crew had to conduct multiple interviews in order to get the sorts of responses and almost conversation between their interview topics, but this volume explains not only how that was done, but how the show’s correspondents come up with the techniques used. In this area, Stephen Colbert appears as almost a patron saint of the correspondents who followed him.

Smith manages to capture the innovative feel of the show, the sense of humor, and the idea that the show was producing intelligent and important commentary, even as the show’s creators were trying to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer merely producing a half hour comedy show. With a few sidetracks to discuss the creation of The Colbert Report, Jon Stewart’s film Rosewater, and to make note of the activities of so many of the show’s alumni, from Steve Carell to John Oliver to Ed Helms, Jason Jones, Olivia Munn, and Samantha Bee, Smith presents a training ground that will have a long-term on the state of comedy, political satire, and even public discourse for many years to come.

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