Jon Stewart's Oscar Performance

Jon Stewart did something yesterday that most people thought he would never do...he was the host of the oscars.

For most people, they probably had no idea who he was. I mean he hosts a late night cable television show...CABLE! I'm not quite sure why but cable television and network television in the States seem to be so different...almost like cable television is a swear word. Apparently he only averages about one million and a half viewers a night...but he easily passes that hosting the Oscars.

His normal show, The Daily Show, is a spoof news show. It's surprisingly full of news content if you never read the newspaper but he does editorialize. He has many correspondants that have come and gone such as Steve Carrell.

Anyway that was my preamble for those who have never heard of him previous to the oscars.

Last night I didn't know what to expect from him. As he constantly reminds other people, he hasn't had a big part in any good movies...He was the fourth leading male in Death to Smoochy and was in Big Daddy, not particularly stellar movies to make a career of. So, his lack of acting skills did make me wonder if he was going to connect with the audience. I think that his opening monologue was a little weak. Perhaps a bit of nerves, or perhaps the realization that compared to the people in the television audience, that he was a much smaller fish.

Regardless though, he seemed to get better as the evening wore on. He seemed excited to be there. BIlly Crystal does stupendous opening monologues but fades as the evenings wears on.

Finally I have to say that fans of Jon Stewart were likely to be disappointed if they expected him to just host the Daily Show at the Oscars. He's got more talent than that. This was a way to show people that he has more skills (to use a napoleon dynamite'ism) than to just sit behind a desk and make jokes about Dick Cheney or Washington's 'taint'. I think that he wasn't exactly sure of what his audience was. Normally he panders to the intelligent left side on his television show. With his jokes, he was more careful, so as to not offend many poeple. For his hardcore fans that might have not have been enough to satisfy them.

I think that he did something totally different from what he's used to and I thought that he did a decent job.