Last Thursday night when I watched Jon Stewart's final Daily Show, I was disappointed. It had for me the same problem as Colbert's last Colbert Report, being the kind of self-congratulatory tribute that seemed excessive given that the host is not dying or going away forever. The opening segment felt bloated and padded…though props to Comedy Central for letting the first act go 25 minutes and 30 seconds without a commercial. They made up for it later but still…25:30? Nice.
The video tour of the office and staff was well-done but long and I really didn't get any sense of who all those people were. Stewart's final "rant" — to alert us there was bullshit in the world — seemed obvious and not the way to end a series that was so often able to surprise us and by going where no show had gone before. And then it ended with Springsteen, who of course had zero to do with the program. I guess I'd hoped for something less predictable.
Ah, but that was the first time I watched it. Prepping to write something here, I gave it a second look a day later and this time, it struck me quite differently. What I glommed onto in that viewing was the incredible love and respect those people have for each other and for Jon Stewart in particular. It was there in almost every moment of the show but especially in the last shot of Act One when Colbert and Stewart embraced and then all the other correspondents came rushing in for a group hug.
If you looked closely, you could see how genuinely happy they were for being on the show and for having had Jon Stewart in their lives. Even Wyatt Cenac — who had some harsh words for Stewart in a recent interview and who played it cool in his segment — seemed overjoyed to be there, at least in that shot. He was hopping up and down with the rest of them.
If you missed it and you still have the show on your DVR or want to go check it out again at this link, take a look. Samantha Bee looked a little uncertain as to why she was there but everyone else there and in the dance party at the end was real, real happy to be a part of it all and to have had Jon Stewart in their lives. I'm trying to think of another person on television who evoked that much respect and love from darn near everyone who worked with them and I can't.
Viewed that way, I liked the last episode. Sometimes, you have to look at these things twice to see what's really going on.