posted October 13, 2004 12:46 PM
This was in the living section of the Oregonian yesterday, and I thought all you Daily Show fans might appreciate...Hot 'n' snarky
Not only has "The Daily Show" become a blistering success, but host Jon Stewart polls the highest swoon factor, too
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
KRISTI TURNQUIST
He may not be the tallest individual. Or rival Brad Pitt in the ripped-abs department. But for lots of women, the host of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is a sweet, sweet, slice of yummy on wry. Just check out the blush-worthy comments steaming up the Internet about late night's hostest with the mostest:
"I love Jon Stewart so much. Too bad he's not single. He is the perfect man. Funny, smart, cute . . ."
"I'm 18, I thought he was fine since '00, when I started watching (The) Daily Show. Very fine. SOOO FINE!!! . . ."
Ladies! Cool your engines.
It's no secret that "The Daily Show" -- Comedy Central's satirical news broadcast that skewers politicians, pundits and the absurd side of current events -- has become blistering hot this campaign season. For the second season, it has taken home Emmy awards. And politicians from both sides of the aisle, including John Kerry and John McCain, have happily appeared as guests. But Stewart is even hotter than his show.
Plenty of guys on TV can make sarcastic remarks about our mixed-up world. Some, like Stewart's "Daily Show" predecessor, Craig Kilborn, are pretty easy on the eyes. So how did Stewart wind up a lust object? Is it that sexy way he says "Mess O'Potamia?" The manly honk of his laughter during Lewis Black's rants?
"We'll give him a 9 (on a scale of 10) because he's so funny," says Cathy Jardee, 31, who works at Rich's Cigar Store in downtown Portland. "If he wasn't so funny, he'd be a 7."
"If he wasn't funny, he'd be a 4," says her co-worker, Megan Douglas, 23.
Stewart inspires heavier breathing on, natch, the Internet. On the "Jon Stewart Estrogen Brigade" site, Jon worshippers compose fan fiction, poetry and essays "about what a hot dish Jon is." Sample prose: "There he was. Jon Stewart . . . the one, the only, Jon Stewart. He was beautiful, even more beautiful than I had thought he would be . . ." Elsewhere, fans are snapping up "Jon Stewart for President" T-shirts from MissWit.net.
Stewart, 41, has conquered the 18-29, college-educated, left-leaning female demographic the way Colin Farrell conquers Appletini-sipping starlets. Portland, with its sizable population of young people, certainly isn't immune to the lure of The Jon. Consider the recently released "America (the Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction" (Warner Books, $24.95, 240 pages.)
Created by Stewart and his "Daily Show" writers, the book is a clever parody of middle-school civic textbooks ("Were You Aware? Plato did not originally want to call the Athenian form of citizen-government 'Democracy,' but rather, 'Plato 'n' Friends' .")
Locally, "America" quickly rose to No. 2 on the Powell's Books Portland best-seller list.
As Stewart's cult grows, his appeal becomes more clear. It's not just that Stewart is clever and does insightful political humor. Lines aren't forming to join Internet estrogen brigades for "Daily Show" correspondents Stephen "elf ears" Colbert or Rob "the balding guy" Corddry, hilarious though they are. HBO's Bill Maher has female fans, but all his "Hey, babys" and "Hello there, gorgeous" flirting with female guests still hasn't upped his hotness level.
What endears Stewart to his female fans is an original three-spice blend of smart/serious/funny -- and a lack of the smarmy arrogance that hovers like musk after-shave around Maher and, say, Dennis Miller. A grad of the College of William & Mary, Stewart can hold his own with guests ranging from Ted Koppel to Bishop Desmond Tutu. He takes politics seriously but doesn't turn the program into a personal soapbox, instead noting that "The Daily Show" has gone from a relatively obscure cable show "to a more mildly obscure cable show."
Stewart represents a hybrid of old-school showbiz (note the Johnny Carson impressions almost nightly) and postmodern hipster; he's less overgrown class clown than classy snark dispenser. Many fans believe that he's one of the few honest political brokers out there in the media.
"I am a tiny neurotic man standing in the back of the room throwing tomatoes at the chalkboard," Stewart told Larry King.
And he flings those tomatoes with perfect aim, at the political right ("If the events of September 11, 2001, have proven anything, it's that the terrorists can attack us, but they can't take away what makes us American -- our freedom, our liberty, our civil rights. No, only Attorney General John Ashcroft can do that.") and at the left ("I heard Dennis Kucinich say in a debate, 'When I'm president . . .' and I just wanted to stop him and say . . . 'Dude.' ")
No wonder Stewart gets the educated youth vote. During lunch break on the Portland State University campus, friends Emily Keane, 20, and Danielle Lewis, 18, take time to gush. "I love Jon Stewart, I think he's really sexy," says Keane, a freckle-nosed blonde. "He's clever. He's witty."
"I just think that clever boys are sexy," agrees Lewis, who wears her long dark hair in a ponytail.
But wait, we have a breaking story -- despite all this, Stewart actually has competition.
"I have to say," Lewis says, dropping her voice a little, "I really like Peter Jennings. I'm excited when bad things happen, because I get to see (more of) Peter Jennings on the news. He's a handsome, handsome man."
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posted October 13, 2004 12:46 PM