Our Dancing Monkey

Here's an interesting Boston Globe article on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

For better or worse, "The Daily Show" may be on its way to respectability -- which may be fine for Sunday school teachers, but not for a smart, subversive program featuring such segments as "This Week in God."

It's all a bit unnerving for longtime fans (myself included), who liked it just fine when we felt like one of a handful of people tuning in. (The show averages about 1 million viewers per night.)

Even if no one else knew it, we thought of ourselves as the cool kids, happy with Our Thing, which we've tried to guard as selfishly as if it were an underground band or hidden cafe. . . .

It's tough to begrudge Stewart his newfound success. He's smart and very good at what he does, which puts him well above most of the people on television. Without trying, he's become culturally important, and even politically influential. Yet somehow, I already miss the days when he truly was just our dancing monkey.

I've been a fan of the show since Day One. I never thought of myself as "a cool kid" keeping "Our Thing" a secret.......I think that says more about the writer than the show or its fans. I'm happy the show is more successful. They had Bill Clinton on there recently, for God's sake!

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