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Jon Stewart's return to TV will be on HBO's streaming TV services
Even after leaving the Daily Show behind, apparently Jon Stewart just couldn't stay away. HBO just announced it has signed a four year production deal with the TV host that will kick off with "short form digital content." He's apparently working with the graphics company OTOY on new technology that will allow him to create and post digital content "multiple times throughout the day" (we're going to guess that means Snapchats, Periscopes and vines, but who knows) on HBO Now. We contacted the network and confirmed that it will be on HBO Go as well for cable customers. According to Stewart "Appearing on television 22 minutes a night clearly broke me. I'm pretty sure I can produce a few minutes of content every now and again." [Image credit: Phil McCarten/Associated Press]
YouTube now has unreleased stand-up from Dave Chappelle, Louis CK and more
Stand-up comedians don't get to just walk onto the set of Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show and start telling jokes. Nope, like just about every other creative field, they start small and work their way up -- often for free at first. Yes, even the likes of Tracy Morgan and Sarah Silverman. The Just For Laughs (JFL) comedy festival in Montreal has filmed the countless names that've graced its stage since 1987 and has teamed with YouTube juggernaut Maker Studios to start releasing unseen footage from the fest's archives, according to Variety. Right now its channel only has a handful of clips (including Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock [above] and Bill Hicks), but JFL promises three-time-per-week updates are en route. All told, there'll be some 500 hours of performances and when that well runs dry, the outfit plans to add footage from more recent shows. For now, at least, you'll have something funny to sprinkle between Woodstock clips.
Jon Stewart covers Tim Cook and Apple's tax issue
On The Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart covered, in typically hilarious fashion, Apple's recent trip to Washington D.C. to defend its tax practices. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook Funny stuff, per usual. My favorite moment was Stewart's sarcastic take on various senators heaping praise upon Apple. How about we pay you?! How about that? For the inconvenience of you having to keep your money overseas. I mean, the upkeep must be unbelievable, like having a pony. The Tax Code nano bit is also great.
Jon Stewart interviews Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson recently appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his biography of Steve Jobs. In the seven-minute interview (embedded below), Stewart and Isaacson discuss the the process of writing the biography while trying to stay objective about its subject -- a task Isaacson admits was difficult, especially in the face of Jobs's long illness. The two men discuss something I also found fascinating about Jobs when I read the book: his extremely emotional nature. Stewart: The really interesting thing in the book is how often Steve Jobs cries. Isaacson: He's a very emotional person. That was the biggest surprise to me. Stewart: He is a weeper. They go on a bit of a tangent after that, but eventually Isaacson gets to the core of both Jobs himself and public opinion of him. "He connected emotion to technology. This is why the outpouring of grief at his death was beyond what most may have expected," Isaacson says. "I think that emotionalism came from a deep passion for artistic things." The real gem of the interview comes at the end, when Isaacson describes the difference between Jobs and Bill Gates. "In the end, [Bill Gates] makes the Zune and Steve makes the iPod." Stewart busts out laughing, along with the audience, and responds, "That is the best eulogy I have ever heard in my life." The full video's embedded below (sorry iOS users, Comedy Central doesn't offer a non-Flash version and there's nothing we can do about it), and it's definitely worth watching. If you're looking for a more comprehensive review of the biography itself, we just happen to have one right here at TUAW. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
Jon Stewart kombats mortally with Supreme Court decision
Mortal Kombat makes Jon Stewart uncomfortable, and not in the good, pants-region way. Last night on The Daily Show, Stewart dissected the finer points of the United States Supreme Court's recent decision to allow the sale of violent video games to minors, using Noob's ripping-fun fatality on Sonya Blade as a demonstration of Mature material. Stewart noted the courts may regulate sexual material, while extreme violence can now terrorize our children's minds all the legal-long day. Stewart generally offers an open-minded comedic spin to the news, but at the end of the day he's still a middle-aged American man on television, and the sight of a woman's internal organs spilling from her gaping torso never seems to sit well with their kind. But good of him for showing it on basic cable and posting it for free online, where every child with thumbs can now access the gruesome slaughter of a busty blonde woman by two men in black masks. As long as her shirt stays on. [Thanks, Ben!]
The Daily Show takes on the Verizon iPhone
While the tech world debates both the merits and the shortcomings of the Verizon iPhone, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart and John Oliver used the occasion to do some good ol' AT&T bashing. They celebrated the announcement of the Verizon iPhone with a rousing chant of "Freedom!" and poked fun at the dropped calls that plague iPhone owners on AT&T. The pinnacle of the seven-minute skit occurred when a band of frustrated iPhone owners trampled an AT&T sign. You can enjoy watching the segment in its entirety after the break. The video comes straight from The Daily Show's website, which uses Flash; sorry!
The Daily Show reacts to Verizon iPhone, Jon Stewart gets a little excited (video)
Were you excited about yesterday's iPhone announcement? Not so much as The Daily Show, which spent a whole seven minutes and 18 seconds out of its 30 minutes of programming to celebrate the announcement -- and certainly not sparing the whip when it comes to AT&T. Jon Stewart appeared to be somewhat excited, screaming in excitement at being able to use "the world's most popular almost phone" as, well, an actual phone. See it for yourself below.
Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear app now available
MTV Networks has released the official Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear app for this Saturday's Jon Stewart rally and Stephen Colbert march. The app features a map of the rally site, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare integration, a portal to upload photos to the official rally photostream, news updates, and an exclusive message from the master satirists themselves. The app also features a complete FAQ about the rally including directions on how to get there, accessibility for the disabled, the average weather forecast, and what you are and are not allowed to bring to rallies in the National Mall. The Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear takes place on Saturday, October 30 at the National Mall in Washington D.C. from noon to 3pm. The app is available now as a free download. [via Obamapacman]
Found Footage: Jon Stewart scolds Apple over the Gizmodo stolen iPhone fracas
Leave it to Jon Stewart to put things into perspective. In this segment from The Daily Show, Jon satirically cops to being an Apple user since the 80s and takes Apple to task for stealing the evil empire crown from Microsoft in their handling of the Gizmodo lost iPhone incident. After Giz gave back the iPhone, the cops busted down its editor, Jason Chen's door. "Don't they know there's an app for that?" Say what you will, I think Jon nailed it. Watch the full clip after the break. [via iPhone Savior]
Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert begin HDTV broadcasts January 4
Cross another one off the "waiting for them to go HD" list, as Comedy Central is upgrading The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report to 1080i. What caused the wait until 2010? Apparently that's how long it took to upgrade the control room for these shows that are continuously in production, but at least we'll get to see how many CNBC thumbnails Stewart can squeeze into a 16x9 frame before the Mayan calendar runs out.
Jeff Bezos chats up the Kindle 2 with Jon Stewart
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos showed up at Jon Stewart's pad the other day to discuss the Kindle 2, and Jon seemed fairly unimpressed. They were just finally getting into a groove when Bezos dropped the price bomb, and then their fleeting segment was over. It's embedded after the break. Amazon VP Ian Freed has also been chatting up the device, but in a more technical nature. On designing the Kindle he reiterates the "invisibility" design ethic surrounding the device, about making it "disappear" for the user. They also improved the cellular modem for improved reception, and also fended off features like a color screen that would shorten battery life, up the price and cause the device to generate more heat and make its presence known. As far as text to speech goes, he thinks it's good for short stretches of reading, and notes that it covers the vast majority of titles that aren't available in an audio format, but didn't speak specifically to the possible infringement of author rights. Read - Jeff Bezos on The Daily ShowRead - Designing the Kindle 2
Comedy Central HD launches today on Cablevision
Comedy Central HD launches today, and Cablevision iO TV subscribers will be the first to see it. According to Multichannel News we can expect 200 hours or so of native HD programming to start, including about 30 episodes of South Park, The Sarah Silverman Program, plus loads of archived stand up and films. Coming up fresh and new for your HDTV is season 13 of South Park, Reno 911, The Flaming Sward of Fire and Krod Mandoon, while The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,and The Colbert Report will get an HD upgrade at a later date. Besides nabbing the exclusive, Cablevision's trumpeting its numbers showing HD penetration is up to nearly 50 percent of iO TV subs, with 69 HD channels available. Otherwise, DirecTV and Cox will be adding later this month with more launches due later in the year -- hopefully Time Warner worked that into the latest deal with Viacom.[Via Multichannel News]
Screen Grabs: the Daily Show's Jon Stewart grabs a Centro for some speech critique
Our latest micro-series, Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and occasional misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with a screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com. We're not sure how this came to be, but when Jon Stewart needs to make a real / fake call to Democratic governor Mark Warner to let him know how bad his speech at the DNC "suuuuuuucked," he reaches for a Centro. Check the read link to watch the full episode, and if you don't enjoy comedy, you can just skip to about 3:29 in to see Palm's cheapo smartphone get some face-time.
Wii Tennis makes surprise appearance at the Oscars
There was no saucy saunter down the red carpet, but Nintendo's casual darling Wii Sports did manage to surprise gamers with a guest-spot at the 2008 Academy Awards. In one of the night's many gags, host Jon Stewart gets caught off guard when the show returns from commercial break, to find him using one of the event's gigantic projection screens to play a quick round of Wii Tennis.The entire segment lasts only thirty seconds, but it's chuckle-worthy, to be sure. Check out the video after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
iPhone, Wii guests on stage at this year's Oscars
We keep on telling people that the iPhone and Wii are like totally going to be huge, but maybe they'll finally believe us now that Jon Stewart trotted both out on stage during the Oscars this year. Oh, and perhaps now would be a good time to remind everyone that voting is still open on the 2007 Engadget Awards. (Wii shots after the break.)
Eight years of games on The Daily Show
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Eight_years_of_games_on_The_Daily_Show '; Now that Viacom has decided to post the full archives of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart online, we thought it was a good opportunity to look back at the many game-related stories and conversations covered in the eight years since Stewart took over the satirical news show. Read on for a trip down memory lane that includes Pac-Man, Grand Theft Auto and a much younger-looking Stewart (just look at that hair! It's huge!).
"I'm a PC." "And I'm also a PC.": Gates vs. Hodgman on Daily Show tomorrow?
Turns out our old friend Bill Gates is going to be making an appearance on the Daily Show tomorrow evening to promote the launch of Windows Vista, an event which is interesting in and of itself, but which also raises the tantalizing prospect of him finally coming face to face with John Hodgman (AKA "PC" from those "Mac vs. PC" ads). As far as we know Bill's only there for a straightforward sit down with Jon Stewart, but nevertheless we'll be filling the next 35 hours or so with plenty of geek fantasies about what could potentially be some hot PC vs. PC action.
Bill Gates headed for Daily Show on Monday
Just in time for the launch of Microsoft's new game enabled operating system, Windows Vista, Bill Gates will be on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Monday. We imagine Billy boy will take a little time to tout the success of the Xbox 360 as well. Who knows, if we're lucky, we might even get to hear a little corporate mudslinging. That's always fun. We have to wonder if Bill will have a few choice words for John Hodgman though.Check out the show (or set your TiVo) Monday 11:00/10:00 Central on Comedy Central.[Via Digg]
The Political Game: Who will save gamers? [update 1]
Each week Dennis McCauley contributes The Political Game, a column on the collision of politics and video games:Despite an uninterrupted string of constitutional defeats, politicians continue to seek ways to legislate video games. In state capitals from Salt Lake City to Albany, political Captain Ahabs are poring over court opinions, seeking the Great White Legal Loophole. Elected officials and culture cops are tweaking the legalese and experimenting with new tactics – such as equating violent games with pornography. For all their bluster, however, they haven't yet been able to pass even a single law that has survived judicial review.And they probably never will. The First Amendment, it's a powerful thing.
Jon Stewart blasts Congress' ignorance towards video games
Wednesday's episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart featured a long segment based around Congress' recent hearing on the topic of the video game ratings system, which brilliantly highlights how many Congressmen and women sound like out-of-touch jackasses when it comes to discussing the topic that "anybody in any party can grandstand about".One of the most poignant parts of the show is where Jon responds to a clip of a seemingly helpless Lee Terry pleading to the hearing that "as a father of three young boys... who are avid gamers, I am very concerned about the content included in the games" by deadpanning "and as I stand there, watching them play these violent games, helpless to do anything about it, I can't help but wonder where the system has failed". Also worth a look is the end of the segment interview with Samantha Bee, a Senior PlayStationologist, from within San Andreas.It's the typical Daily Show mix of poking fun at the ignorance of people with power, coupled with an "OMG the 'House of Representatives filled with insane jackasses' might screw up my favorite past-time" hangover.
