1. “THIS ONLY HAPPENS
once in a thousand years,”
Jon Stewart tells his studio
audience. “It’s magical.”
The cameras roll as he an-
chors a mock-Nightline panel
discussion about aliens in the go back to living like we did in
next millennium, with three 1980? I’m very disturbed.”
distinguished guests: a “UFO
THAT Ambassador,” an alien JON STEWART has always
WOULD BE abductee/sperm donor and a been funny, but he was never,
JON singing psychic. Afterward, he stresses, the class clown.
STEWART— Stewart happily informs the
segment’s producer that the
In fact, he says, when he grad-
uated from Lawrence High
WHO WENT show’s “being nominated for School in Lawrence, New Jer-
FROM a parallel-universe Emmy!” sey, the yearbook awarded
STRUGGLING If only. “The Greatest Mil- him “Best Sense of Humor.”
STAND-UP lennium,” a special edition of Um—what’s the differ-
TO HIP HOST Comedy Central’s The Daily ence? “Rather than making a
OF THE Show With Jon Stewart, airing ruckus,” Stewart clarifies, “I
December 15, does deserve would sit quietly in the back
DAILY SHOW some kind of award for buck- and make comments.”
WITHOUT ing other channels’ serious At 37, Stewart is still doing
EVER summations as we hurtle to- a running commentary, but
LOSING ward the year 2000. Begin- now he’s moved to the head
HIS COOL ning with the opening mon-
tage, which blends Martin
of the class. Since January,
he’s been delivering his sar-
THE Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a
Dream” speech with “I’ve fallen
and I can’t get up,” Stewart
castic barbs from behind the
anchor desk of The Daily
Show With Jon Stewart, which
CAT and his talented staff of writers
and correspondents treat the
next millennium the same way
gives a wiseacre spin on actual
news items—in the deadpan
style of real news shows.
IN they usually treat the day’s
news: with the gloves off. The
jokes start with the battle of
Originally called The Daily
Show, it was rechristened be-
cause of Stewart’s whopping
THE
Hastings in 1066 and continue $6 million, four-year deal to
into the future: correspondent replace the taller, blonder and
Mo Rocca envisions a “Gov- snider Craig Kilborn (who
H
erntainment” system in which left for CBS’s The Late Late
moviegoers sit in a “Colonic Show). Though Stewart is less
Blaster Chair” and are injected believable an anchor than
with a brew of adrenaline, Kilborn (who had actually
heroin and Raisinets. been a sports anchor for
“I can’t tell you how happy ESPN), he has brought the
this [episode] makes me,” show a sharper verbal wit
Stewart says, after the taping is and a sheepish charm that
A
done. But he reveals that deep helps soften its meaner jibes.
down he does harbor Y2K “The oppositeness of Jon
fears. “The idea that comput- and Craig is astounding,” says
ers will fail, and we’ll have to the show’s cocreator and ex-
ecutive producer, Madeleine
Smithberg. “Craig cared about
‘Five Questions,’ ‘A Moment
T
for Us’ and how he looked.
By David Handelman
123
2. people with respect.”
According to the HEERE’S lege soccer team. He began
bartending and moved to
perennially self-
deprecating Stewart,
he’s still way down on
JONNY!
JANEANE GAROFALO
Trenton, New Jersey, his am-
bitions a muddle. “I was
drawing cartoons, writing
the celebrity totem TELLS US FIVE stories, sending stuff in to
pole. “You’re not go- THINGS WE NEVER National Lampoon on yellow
ing to see me on one KNEW ABOUT HER oak tag.”
of those ‘100 Most FUNNY FRIEND JON Finally, in 1986, a friend
Powerful People in STEWART lent Stewart his New York
Hollywood’ lists,” he City apartment for a few
says, chain-smoking TV GUIDE: Like you, Jon weeks, and while support-
in his dimly lit, spar- wears many hats—TV host, ing himself at a catering ser-
tan office in the Man- stand-up, author, movie vice and doing construction
hattan building that actor. Who is the real Jon? work, Stewart found his way
houses The Daily JANEANE GAROFALO: to the comedy clubs. “The
Show’s studio. “I think The guy who picks up my whole going-to-work-every-
Oprah’s assistants dry cleaning. day thing didn’t seem to be
rank higher than I do.” TVG: What is the secret working out so well for me,
He says that he’s to Jon’s appeal? emotionally,” Stewart says.
also constantly get- JG: Jean Nate body “Somehow the rhythm of
ting wrong the dates splash. stand-up was appealing.”
STEWART WITH V.I.P. GUESTS (FROM and networks of the TVG: What is the funniest His big break came at a
LEFT) MOLLY CULVER, PAMELA
ANDERSON LEE AND NATALIE RAITANO
projects his guests thing you’ve seen Jon do, downtown club called the
are trying to promote. off-camera? Comedy Cellar, where he
When Jon came in, he took “I don’t mind when that JG: Shape shift [an was given the final gig of
all the mirrors down from happens,” he says, “because ancient Indian ritual in the night every Sunday
his office. Jon cares about then [the show] isn’t so which a person can through Thursday.
the whole show, to the buttoned-up. Foibles are become a different “At 1:45 A.M. I’d go on,
point where he makes the interesting.” object]. usually in front of the wait
rest of us care more. It really That’s precisely the atti- TVG: When do you see staff and four Belgians,” he
is inspiring.” tude that made his talk show Jon most impassioned? recalls. “But it was a great
The channel’s faith in The Jon Stewart Show (which JG: In shul. training ground, because it
Stewart has paid off. By premiered on MTV in 1993, TVG: Do you have any got me onstage every night.”
bringing his charm and moved to syndication and memories of Jon from That led to roadwork,
smarts to the topical jokes died in 1995) so watch- his early days in stand-up? some writing gigs and then
and by attracting higher- able—but ultimately too JG: No, sir. I don’t recall cohosting Comedy Central’s
caliber guests—Oscar quirky for a mass audience. him ever having a hard Short Attention Span Theater.
nominees instead of WB Resolutely unpretentious time. He was always at At the time, the channel
comedy costars—he has and playful, Stewart pre- least charming. —D.H. “was delivered to about 18
boosted the show’s visibil- sided over offbeat doings homes in Montana,” he says.
ity and ratings (up 13 per- like Iggy Pop reading from HE WAS BORN Jon Stewart “The great part was, you felt
cent since November 1998). the teen coming-of-age Leibowitz in Lawrence, New like you could try anything.
The anchor gig is only the novel Are You There God? It’s Jersey; his parents, Marian, a The bad part was, if you
latest step in Stewart’s devel- Me, Margaret. teacher, and Donald, a physi- went to your high-school re-
opment as something of a When the talk show was cist, divorced when Jon was union and told them you
comedy renaissance man: floundering in the ratings, 10. (He has an older brother were on a TV show, they’d
stand-up, talk-show host, Stewart recalls, he had a rev- and two half brothers.) In be like, ‘Yeah, right!’ ”
author (last year’s collection elation about show business. 1984, Stewart graduated from He quit after a year and
of essays, Naked Pictures of “I was miserable. I had in- Virginia’s William and Mary went back to stand-up.
Famous People) and movie somnia. And I remember ly- College with a bachelor’s de- Then MTV hired him to
actor (he’s appeared in such ing in bed thinking, ‘This is gree in psychology. “It was host You Wrote It, You Watch
films as “The Faculty,” “Play- gonna get canceled, and easier than chemistry,” he ex- It, which enacted viewer
ing by Heart” and “Big they’re gonna say, “Did he at plains. “You didn’t have to submissions. When that was
Daddy”). “Jon’s intelli-
gent and complex,” THE least I’ll say,doing Iit?”
And
enjoy
“No,
know the exact right answer.”
After graduation, when
canceled, Stewart brain-
stormed with MTV brass
says his longtime
CAT didn’t.” ’ And I thought all his friends went back- and “after a couple of beers I
friend Janeane Garo-
IN
THE how ridiculousshow,was.that packing in Europe, Stewart pitched them three ideas:
H
falo. “He’s as neurotic I had my own stayed behind and had oper- ‘Beverly Hills, 90210 meets
as the next guy, but such a rare opportunity. ations on a hernia and on his Star Trek, a crappy high
AL LEVINE
he’s extremely nice If I don’t go out and en- knee, both due to injuries school in space?’ ‘No.’ ‘A
and normal. He treats
20 AS
T
joy it, I’m an idiot!” sustained playing for his col- travel show with me and a
3. MEN AT
dog?’ ‘No.’ ‘Okay, how about Despite his talk-show- her to get off the phone.” (Sorry, As for his own term of of-
WORK: a talk show?’ It was a total hosting aversion, he has done ladies, she said yes.) The cou- fice, although he’s locked into
STEWART crapshoot.” well as a talk-show guest. In ple live in a Greenwich Village The Daily Show until 2003, he
AND After The Jon Stewart Show fact, it was an appearance on apartment with their cat, says, “Anything can happen
SANDLER got canceled, Stewart signed Late Night With Conan O’Brien Stanley, and pit bull, Shamsky, in show business. I can be
IN THE
HIT a deal with David Letter- that helped Stewart propose named after the Jewish mem- out of it tomorrow, or Rupert
COMEDY man’s Worldwide Pants and to his girlfriend of three years, ber of the 1969 Miracle Mets. Murdoch can suddenly de-
“BIG subbed for Tom Snyder (and Tracey McShane, 32, a veteri- Along with his upcoming cide to let me pitch for the
DADDY” on HBO’s The Larry Sanders nary student. In the green- nuptials (no date has been Dodgers. I’ve long since given
FILM
Show he played himself as room, a fellow guest, New set), Stewart is looking for- up making predictions.”
the network’s replacement York Times crossword editor ward to The Daily Show’s cov- But he did learn an impor-
for Larry). But he realized he Will Shortz, gave Stewart the erage of the presidential race. tant lesson when he saw
didn’t want to do a talk name of someone who com- “Any time you have a domi- Fortune’s report that Jerry
show anymore, and hun- posed puzzles, and Stewart nant story that’s not horrify- Seinfeld and Larry David had
COMMEN-
kered down to write his commissioned a personalized ing, it provides a lot of grist,” earned more money last year
book. Taking a loftier tack one that popped the question he says. In terms of joke fod- than Steven Spielberg. “That
than the quickie, shticky to McShane as she filled it out. der, he sees George W Bush
. says to me, stop making war
MAX SMITH/RETNA
best-sellers by Jerry Seinfeld “Before telling me the an- as an early front-runner. “He SO HAPPY TOGETHER: STEWART movies and start making hu-
Though he’s compiled a fairly extensive movie résumé, Jon Stewart says acting remains a hobby and Paul Reiser, Stewart swer,” he says, “she called her seems the least, what’s the AND MCSHANE IN NEW YORK morous asides—that’s where
more than a career: “[Acting] keeps things interesting, but it’s not like I’m doing ‘The Deer hoped to write a collection parents, so I had to wait for word—studied?” CITY LAST DECEMBER the money is!” E
Hunter’ or anything. It’s within the bounds of what I’m able to pull off. My next role, however, is of the kind of essays by
as an autistic Vietnam veteran.” Here, Stewart reflects on some of his past performances. Woody Allen that he’d read
out? That stuff burns. growing up.
“MIXED NUTS” (1994) “SINCE YOU’VE BEEN “It was more interesting
I was Rollerblader Number GONE” (1998) That was “PLAYING BY HEART” for me, and more fun to
One, and Parker Posey was originally called “Stepping (1998) That was write, than just writing down
Number Two. I had one line. in Dogwater.” It was a trip originally called “Dancing my stand-up material,” Stew-
We had to rollerblade with a to Chicago—I only worked About Architecture.” And art says. “And, I might add,
Christmas tree and smash
into Steve Martin and
a couple of days. “Mixed Nuts” was
originally called “Dancing
far less successful. But out of
everything I’ve done, it’s what
“B-BOOK”
Anthony LaPaglia. And me, “ELMOPALOOZA!” About Christmas.” I’m in I’m most satisfied with.”
with my improv background, (1998, VIDEO) My singing
I shouted, “Hey, look out,” debut. The premise was
all the “Dancing” series—
it’s like Hope and
But he got lonely writing.
“When you’re alone and it’s
2/3 PAGE HORIZONTAL
and [director] Nora Ephron Elmo had locked me in a Crosby’s road pictures. four o’clock in the morning,
really dug that. So we room by mistake and I how many times can you
went with that. couldn’t get out to host the “BIG DADDY” (1999) wake up your girlfriend and
show, so the Muppets had I play Adam Sandler’s make her read a paragraph?”
“THE FIRST WIVES to host it. And Elmo and I best friend/roommate. So when Comedy Central
CLUB” (1996) I played and the whole cast busted I’m the guy they need at approached him about taking
Goldie Hawn’s boyfriend, a serious song out: the beginning to start over for Kilborn, it didn’t take
but my whole part was “Songs, How Do We Get the story and they need at him long to accept their offer.
cut. The best moment in Along Without Them?” the end to help finish it. In (In the intervening years,
the film was in the trailer the middle, I think I literally South Park had helped lift the
anyway: Goldie puts her “HALF BAKED” (1998) disappear to China. cable network’s penetration
foot on a man’s butt and I played the character to more than 62 million
kicks. That’s my ass. I do known as “On Weed Guy.” “COMMITTED” (1999) homes.) Stewart has been
my own stunts. Me, Gibson, Basically my job was to go, I did scenes with Heather comedically invigorated by
Cruise. By the way, you can “Did you ever look at a Graham and Summer the Daily Show’s writerly for-
download it on the Internet. $20 bill? Did you ever look Phoenix. I played a lounge mat. “It’s almost the inverse of
Heel-and-ass dot com. at it on weed?” lizardy kind of guy. About the talk show,” he says. “My
the only memorable thing old show was 40 minutes of
“WISHFUL THINKING” “THE FACULTY” (1998) about my performance is guests, three monologue jokes
(1997) Three people, none The first time I played a that I didn’t have to shave. and me dressed up like Anna
of whom are me, are in a character with a name, Nicole Smith for four min-
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
love triangle, and the film and he didn’t even have a “THE ADVENTURES utes; then we go to the
looks at it from each of their first name—he was “Mr. OF TOM THUMB AND THE band. Here, the guest
perspectives. In each [scene], Furlong.” The main thing it THUMBELINA” (2000- CAT is on for four minutes,
IN
I’d walk in at some point and taught me about acting ANIMATED)
THE andnews. I can watch
the real fuel is
H
say, “I’m gonna make this go was: You know the stuff There’s a skinny mole and a the
EVERETT COLLECTION
straight to video, you hear special-effects people jam chubby mole, and I believe something happen,
me?” and then I’d walk out. in your eye to make it look I’m the voice of the skinny come in and write an
AS
It’s a big hit in Belgium. like your brains are coming one. My agent’s trying to editorial—boom!”
22
T 123 TV GUIDE JANUARY 18, 1998