About the whole construct of the Stewart Show and Obama's visit . . . . .

[Stinky The Clown]

This post is not about the content or how either man "did" or who is on who's side, or anything else. It is narrowly about the show itself.

John Stewart is known to use biting phraseology and ask edgy questions. He is a comedian and a skilled satirist, but he also clearly understands he plays a very real role in the American Discourse. He's very intelligent.

He also has writers.

Barack Obama is known to think well on his feet and consistently looks good when answering questions extemporaneously. He is known to be quick with an appropriately literate, biting, or humorous quip. He's very intelligent.

He, too, has writers. He also has handlers.

Was the show last night scripted? (I don't think it was.) If not strictly scripted, might it have been at least played to an agreed-to outline or framework? (I think that's likely.) Or, perhaps it was as it was intended to appear, purely spontaneous.

I have to think at least the questions (if not the snark) were shared ahead of time and a show outline was preapproved as part of agreeing to do the show in the first place.

This is not to suggest that would be wrong or to suggest it cuts down Obama in some way. It just seems to me that handlers, at such a critical time - a week before the election - would be guilty of malpractice if they allowed Obama to go out unprepared on a show where snappy repartee is the main goal, but where one little slip-up innocently caused by something Stewart said or asked could be disastrous.

[tabatha]

1. One thing Jon Stewart had to avoid doing

and that is pandering.

[tridim]

2. I think the President is a little tired.

He's working harder and longer than any other Democrat on the national stage these days, and all this on top of his normal duties (which are anything but "normal").

I'm proud of him.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Not sure of your point?

Do you think he was unscripted and completely extemporaneous on the show?

Not looking to argue, just wanting to see what people think. Is this show, and others like it, totally spontaneous? I'm thinking they're not, at least not for Obama (or any other person of serious stature).

[tridim]

5. I don't have a clue how it was set up. Nobody does except Jon and his staff.

Jon was kind of an ass, but that's not unusual at all.

I don't really have a point except to observe that Obama wasn't completely on his game. He'd probadbly agree.

[Taverner]

6. I thought Obama did great

And yes, Stewart was HARD on him. And yes, he should have been.

That's how our MSM SHOULD have been behaving, um, since 1995...

But unfortunately, they haven't

[emulatorloo]

3. I imagine Obama's handlers had complete confidence in Obama. No need to "pre-agree"

Pretty sure the White House saw Tim Kaine's appearance there, so they knew what kind of questions might be coming their way.

As to Stewart he asked tough questions, and gave Obama ample time to present his answers.

[cleanhippie]

7. I thought it was distgusting

that it took a fucking comedian with a political comedy show to ask the President the questions WE REALLY WANTED ANSWERS TO! If the "liberal" media was in any way "liberal", these questions would have been asked a long time ago.

All that watching the Daily Show did was make me more disgusted at the MSM.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. That's a very fair assessment of the US media

Do you think any of the show was prearranged?

[cleanhippie]

14. Not sure. There were moments I thought that maybe, yes, it was, but others that seemed

too genuine. For example, when the Prez told John "I don't want to lump you in with other pundits..." and John responded with "I don't want to lump you in with other Presidents...", that seemed like classic Stewart. I only got to see the first 30 min as the DVR only recorded "The Daily Show" as advertised on the on-screen guide. I will watch the rest today.

DO you think it was pre-arranged? I don't think it was...

[Stinky The Clown]

16. I don't think it was rehearsed, or even scripted.

I think the question topics were shared in advance. I think there may have been a scripted laugh line or two. Beyond that, the actuality of the dialogue was spontaneous.

[cleanhippie]

17. I would have to agree.

[Dappleganger]

18. Quite true.

But that is a good description of today's news, anyway.

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. You said it. They're both smart.

Smart people avoid unpleasant surprises.

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it was subject to a prearranged framework.

[blondeatlast]

10. I'm pretty certain that prepping occurs with any guest on TDS to some degree.

I mean, they can manage to find a joke for the lamest TV/movie/music stars. The writers must love it when there's someone intelligent and interesting to prep for.

Yes, I think the questions are to some degree prearranged but he came off as very natural, so I'm guessing the NATURE of the questions were discussed but no the actual answers.

The President is smart enough to know that prepping is smart, rehearsal is a bad idea.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. I pretty much agree with your view

Being a cynic of the first order, I initially thought "Heck of a job, Larry" was prepped. On watching clips of it again, O changed my view. Obama realized what he said (and regretted it) before the words were fully spoken. Stewart picked up the cue from Obama's body language and went with it. No harm, no foul on that one.

[cleanhippie]

15. When he said that, I cringed.....

knowing that unless he and Stewart managed to diffuse that comment, and quick, that it would be all over the place today.

[Spike89]

11. My guess, a broad agreement on topic

In other words, I doubt that questions were shared, but the format (full show interview, no video clip humor bits) was certainly negotiated. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out the topic was agreed to be the upcoming election--John never really veered from that.

[arcane1]

12. I would think that's the case with pretty much every guest on the show

At the very least, having a general outline of how the interview will go :shrug: