The Daily Show

Notable stories and events

"Are you OK?"

There have been many memorable moments on the Daily Show, though a few stand out. One of the most requested clips among Daily Show fans is the opening monologue that Stewart spoke on the first new episode after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In it, he conveyed his best wishes to viewers and quickly lampooned the fact that he was one of the last TV personalities to make such a speech, saying:

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:I'm sorry to do this to you. It's another entertainment show beginning with an overwrought speech of a shaken host. TV is nothing, if not redundant. … I'm sure we're getting in right under the wire before the cast of Survivor offers their insight into what to do in these situations.

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Stewart reminded his audience that the United States had gone through troublesome times before, and he related a story from his youth. He said that when riots broke out after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., the administrators of his elementary school "shut the lights off and we got to sit under our desks and we thought that was really cool and they gave us cottage cheese." He also pulled other light moments out of that dark period by saying the view had changed at his apartment:

Related Topics:
Riot - Martin Luther King, Jr. - Elementary school - Cottage cheese

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:The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center and now it's gone. They attacked it. This symbol of American ingenuity and strength and labor and imagination and commerce and it is gone. But you know what the view is now? (fighting tears) ... The Statue of Liberty. … You can't beat that.

Related Topics:
World Trade Center - Statue of Liberty

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Innuendo schminnuendo

Of course, most memorable times from the show are less poignant and more absurdist or simply funny. For years, Stewart and the correspondents of The Daily Show have crafted a unique form of humor around sexual innuendo. An image that commonly appears when magazines review the show comes from a 2003 reporthttp://anitasdailyshowpage.tripod.com/transcripts/2003bananas.htm by Stephen Colbert about a purported sexual scandal involving Prince Charles. The Daily Show was lampooning the fact that British news outlets had to resort to using innuendo to be able to report on the situation at all due to the strict libel laws in the United Kingdom. Colbert reported, with emphasis:

Related Topics:
Stephen Colbert - Prince Charles - Innuendo - Libel - United Kingdom

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"This is a story I could really wrap my hands around. I mean, I'd love to grab this story by the hilt and work this story long and hard, maybe teasing you with a few details. Make you beg for the story until it builds into a huge climax and explodes all over the front pages."

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A moment later, he proceeded to wolf down most of a banana and tried to continue reporting, but soon totally lost his composure and could hardly stop laughing—a rare occurrence on the program. However, he succeeded in wrapping up the piece with his trademark stone-faced signoff (which is, simply, "Jon?").

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Douchebags

Stewart has gained notoriety in some circles for his use of the insult "douchebag" along with some invented phrases based on that word. Perhaps the most famous instance is the labeling of conservative pundit Robert Novak as a "Douchebag of Liberty." Novak's label came in a roundabout fashion, initially based on the testimony of United States Attorney General John Ashcroft in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ashcroft refused to turn over an important memo to the members of the committee, though he did not invoke executive privilege or anything else. The dialogue from a clip of Senate proceedings aired was:

Related Topics:
Douchebag - Conservative - Robert Novak - United States Attorney General - John Ashcroft - Senate Judiciary Committee - Executive privilege

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:Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass): "Do you mean you are invoking executive privilege?"

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:Ashcroft: "No, I am not invoking executive privilege".

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:Sen. Kennedy: "Then...what...are you invoking?"

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:Ashcroft: "I am not invoking anything!"

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After the clip ended, Jon Stewart remarked: "Dude, I'm no lawyer, but you gotta invoke something: the Fifth Amendment, executive privilege, writ of douchebaggery—something..." Stewart also referred at a later time to a "Congressional Medal of Douchebaggery."

Related Topics:
Fifth Amendment - Writ

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Robert Novak was going through a series of controversies around this time. He had revealed in 2003 that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent, and in March 2004, he insinuated on CNN's Crossfire that Richard Clarke had revealed government mistakes in his book dealing with the war against terrorism because he resented Condoleezza Rice's position as a black woman on the cabinet. Novak also asserted that Senator John Kerry should be assumed guilty until proven innocent of the accusations made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Upon seeing these statements, Stewart labeled Novak "a Douchebag of Liberty," and continued to repeat the phrase several times afterward whenever Novak did something he considered foolish or hypocritical. In July of 2005, at the height of the Valerie Plame/Karl Rove situation, a clip of a suited Novak entering a courthouse was shown, to which Stewart remarked " seen here seething at the lack of fresh puppy blood in his mini-fridge." Stewart proceeded to ridicule a still shot of Novak, saying "Who's my little Douchebag of Liberty?" as if talking to a puppy.

Related Topics:
Valerie Plame - CIA - Richard Clarke - War against terrorism - Condoleezza Rice - Senator - Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - Karl Rove

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NAMBLA

A running gag is the insertion of the phrase "...or NAMBLA" (an acronym for the North American Man Boy Love Association) instead of stating a proper abbreviation or acronym after mentioning a long or convoluted name, such as Republican National Convention or Federal Bureau of Investigation. Similarly, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was dubbed "NAMBL-OPEC" and the National Rifle Association was dubbed "BLAMBLA." The International Atomic Energy Agency was termed IAEA-BLA. An advocacy group concerned about alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests was termed "Anti-NAMBLA". In August of 2005, Stewart renamed NARAL Pro-Choice America "NAR-AMBLA".

Related Topics:
NAMBLA - Abbreviation - Acronym - Republican National Convention - Federal Bureau of Investigation - Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - National Rifle Association - NARAL Pro-Choice America

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In June of 2005, Jon Stewart played on the gag while criticizing a lucrative acronym-within-an-acronym for the word "oil" stated in Congress, responding with "That is no NAMBLA, my friend."

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2004 presidential election

While most of the networks were there to cover every step of the way, Stewart and his team were busy satirizing it all. In an election watched intently not only by domestic eyes but international eyes as well, Stewart and his team were on the beat, doing what they do best from the nomination process through the party conventions, the campaign trail, the debates (one aptly headlined as "Squabble in Coral Gables") and finally to Election Night (aptly headlined as "Prelude to a Recount", a knock at the events of the 2000 presidential election). All of this has been preserved in the Daily Show "Indecision 2004" DVD set.

Related Topics:
Coral Gables - 2000 presidential election

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On August 9, 2005, Stewart officially kicked off the show's "Indecision 2008" campaign.

Related Topics:
August 9 - 2005

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Not so much

The show sometimes makes use of sardonic understatement for humorous purposes, as evidenced by the frequent use of the phrase "not so much." The phrase can be used to indicate bittersweet vindication in a downplayed fashion. Specifically, it is frequently uttered by Jon Stewart in response to a person's (especially a public figure's) prior assertions, after they have been dramatically demonstrated to be false. One such example came in response to a government-released report indicating the failure of pre-Iraq War intelligence:

Related Topics:
Sardonic - Understatement - Iraq War

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:Jon Stewart: "The official CIA report, the Duelfer Report, has come out. The one that they've been working on for the past two years that will be the definitive answer on the weapons of mass destruction programs in Iraq, and it turns out, ehh... not so much."

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The government's response to...

Another recent memorable quote was by correspondent Ed Helms, criticizing and satirizing the slow federal response to Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

Related Topics:
Ed Helms - Hurricane Katrina

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:Jon Stewart: Alright, Ed. As best as you can Ed, talk about the most recent developments in this terrible disaster.Ed Helms: Jon, today finally, a ray of hope. Eight days after Katrina came ashore, the federal government has gotten its act together, marshalling all of its resources in a desperate effort to save this beloved and now beleaguered ... president.Jon Stewart: I'm sorry, I thought we were talking about New Orleans.Ed Helms: Oh no, that place is fucked. But many here believe with quick action George W. Bush's reputation can still be saved!

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Later on the show satirized the response of Michael Brown, the Director of FEMA, and other federal officials:

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:Stewart: So no one's going to be held accountable for any of this?Ed Helms: Ah, no. In fact, if history is any indication, they'll be hard-pressed finding enough medals to pin on these guys. My sources tell me the head of FEMA may actually be dipped in bronze and turned into an award, which will then be given to other officials!

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