DonRocks Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 My brief, initial impressions of replacing Stuart with Noah: risky, but potentially brilliant. Risky, because the American audience - though it *thinks* it was hungering for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire, was possibly hungering merely for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire from an *American point-of-view*, and Noah's much-more-global perspective might be a little *too* educated for the American mass viewership. I'm pretty sure it's what *I* want (Hell, take Jon Stewart, and throw several languages and ethnicities into the mix, and blend it all with Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and POW! You have the perfect satire, if, if, if, Trevor Noah can pull this off with the fearless bravado that the great Jon Stewart so masterfully did for 16+ years - oh my goodness Stewart was excellent in this role!) I have two polar-opposite scenarios in my mind: 1) Trevor Noah raising American audiences up to his level. Viewership will sink at first, simply because there is nothing like this on television. If Comedy Central can withstand the pressure of declining ratings (and if Noah sticks to his guns, ratings *will* decline in the short-, perhaps medium-term), this could be looked upon as one of the most brilliant moves in the history of television, and The Educating Of America. 2) Trevor Noah dumbing down his routine to conform with the current level of American viewership, which may result in an *increased* audience at first, mainly due to curiosity, but will ultimately die a slow death because this will be going against Noah's grain, and he won't be able to pull it off. If this show is to be a long-term success with Noah as host, American viewers will need to raise their game - and you know what? It's the same way I feel about this website, because I refuse to dumb it down to pander to boneheads just so I can get a larger audience. *The audience can educate themselves and come up to our level*, or they can go read Eater and The Washington Post. We have the chance to become the world's leader in political satire; not just for American politics, but for World politics. Let's do it, Damn It! Why shouldn't we better ourselves? Stewart was awesome, but I have to think that even *he* would be in favor of this as a long-term strategy. I'm as excited about this visionary selection as I am the Nationals signing Max Scherzer. Yes, it's one hell of a gamble, but what truly great thing isn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Risky, because the American audience - though it *thinks* it was hungering for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire, was possibly hungering merely for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire from an *American point-of-view*, and Noah's much-more-global perspective might be a little *too* educated for the American mass viewership. Interesting point. Too many of the various new media are so Murica-centric. It's always refreshing to hear how the rest of the world views us. Well, refreshing to those with more of a big picture world view and some intellectual curiosity anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Uh oh... Trouble brewing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Uh oh... Trouble brewing... Man, he's being vetted more than Obama was - he'll survive unless there are undiscovered jokes a lot worse than this. Obviously, he'll change his material going forward; I'll be *very* surprised if he's uprooted by what we've seen thus far. I'm also rather enjoying seeing all these politically correct pundits being irritated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I have to say that this could hardly be outbidden for fatuity: Writing in Vox, Kelsey McKinney said: "A Daily Show host should be held to a higher standard than other comedians." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think the host should be held to a higher standard. Sure, it's satire, but it's also journalism to a degree. Stewart is a remarkably knowledgeable comedian in terms of politics and world events. I don't see how the great majority of comedians could pull off what he does-- especially with such eloquence. Louis CK is one of the funniest comedians I can think of, but I wouldn't want him in that chair. That said, there are entire news networks devoted to both low standards and fatuity. Vulpestically, Al 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think the host should be held to a higher standard. Sure, it's satire, but it's also journalism to a degree. Stewart is a remarkably knowledgeable comedian in terms of politics and world events. I don't see how the great majority of comedians could pull off what he does-- especially with such eloquence. Louis CK is one of the funniest comedians I can think of, but I wouldn't want him in that chair. Thinking about this some more, I don't think it's going to be the tweets that bring him down; I'm just not sure Americans are going to want to hear non-Americans (from any continent; not just Africa) constantly criticizing their country. This could be an interesting scenario that unfolds - it's certainly a high-stakes gamble, and I hope American put-downs won't be Noah's only shtick. He'll have writers that constantly monitor public response, so it could be a very dynamic act at first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 I think the host should be held to a higher standard. Sure, it's satire, but it's also journalism to a degree. Stewart is a remarkably knowledgeable comedian in terms of politics and world events. I don't see how the great majority of comedians could pull off what he does-- especially with such eloquence. If you mean that a new host of The Daily Show has to be spectacularly good on multiple levels to succeed in that role, sure, I agree. That's not what the fatuous writer I quoted was talking about. Ms McKinney was saying that a host of The Daily Show shouldn't have told allegedly offensive jokes in the past, which I think is a remarkably stupid opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkstar965 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Gosh, was really hoping for Oliver or Fey. Hopefully this works out. Then again, no one ever replaced Seinfeld so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Gosh, was really hoping for Oliver or Fey. Hopefully this works out. Then again, no one ever replaced Seinfeld so... No one has ever really succeeded in replacing Johnny Carson. No one has ever even tried to replace Dick Cavett. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Patton Oswalt Tweets for Trevor. Read the entire series of tweets for some laughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 "The Trevor Noah Phenomenon: Young, Black South Africans are Standing Up" by Lyn Snodgrass on mg.co.za Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted October 18, 2016 Author Share Posted October 18, 2016 On 3/31/2015 at 3:32 PM, DonRocks said: Man, he's being vetted more than Obama was - he'll survive unless there are undiscovered jokes a lot worse than this. Obviously, he'll change his material going forward; I'll be *very* surprised if he's uprooted by what we've seen thus far. I'm also rather enjoying seeing all these politically correct pundits being irritated. I must pat myself on the back for calling this one: I *really* like Trevor Noah, and I think others do, too - that little scandal 18 months ago is a forgotten memory, and he's doing just well as Jon Stewart did, at least to my eyes. Granted, Jon Stewart didn't have Jon Stewart to draw on as a role model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Act now to download a browser extension that'll give some tweets the style they deserve! MakeTrumpTweetsEightAgain.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 This is an hour-long video of Noah being interviewed at Northwestern University about race, South Africa, and his identity in America. I'd heard thatTrevor doesn't "Noah lot" about American politics, and in this video, you can see why - he is South African, through-and-through, and his take on "race and identity" is absolutely fascinating. "Trevor Noah Speaks with the Times Tonight about Race and Identity" on nytimes.com On 2/15/2017 at 2:44 PM, Al Dente said: Act now to download a browser extension that'll give some tweets the style they deserve! MakeTrumpTweetsEightAgain.com I just did this (using Chromebook, it took about 20 seconds to download and activate the extension). It isn't so much about "the style they deserve"; it's about preserving my own sanity, and now being able to look at things through a lens of humor - it's really very funny, and can be removed at any time. Highly recommended, and has the same, calming effect as blocking an annoying person on Facebook or Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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