The beginning of fall means getting back into certain routines around the homestead. Homework after school. Theater tickets. Public drinking. And more TV watching. After going cold turkey from TV for at least two months, the chance to catch up on old movies, “30 Rock” and The Simpsons is a vegetative delight.
But it also causes me to worry about “The Daily Show.” I thought the writing was getting a little weak in the spring. Jokes just didn’t have that certain “snap” they needed, and things didn’t build during their segments. “Colbert Report” has changed almost completely into a personality-driven show. I still love it, but don’t feel the need to catch it every single day. Now, I’m starting to think if I have to choose between the two, “Daily Show” might be more topical, but “Colbert” is always funnier.
Even the asides of wackiness are stronger on “Colbert”. Take last night, for instance. Colbert’s assertion that Kanye West was really out to pick a fight with him at the Video Music Awards? Weird, funny, psychologically dead-on.
Jon Stewart in a fat suit? Edging very close to Steve Allen.
I’d hate to think they can’t bring the show back to its former state, but maybe in our new era of earnestness, they’re feeling an urge to educate and not mock. Just because some flawed surveys say that young people get the majority of their news from “The Daily Show” doesn’t mean it should become the slacker version of “Grammar Rock.”