Jon Stewart: Chris Wallace, you've got to bring more to the table than cheap shots

Okay I'm a little late but I have to weigh in on the Chris Wallace/Jon Stewart brouhaha. My big ol' brother beat me to it over at FishbowlDC, and credits Wallace with being "an adept interviewer" on the Daily Show, "grilling" our Jon about the success of 40-Year-Old Virgin Steve Carrell . This is the thing: Chris Wallace came on with an agenda to needle Jon about Carrell. Repeatedly. Which was not only an unpopular move, as I saw it, it was downright rude; if you are a guest on a show, don't insult your host (the biggest problem I had with Jon's appearance on Crossfire, by the way). If you are a guest, behave like one. Or don't, but then be prepared for an uptight Canadian chick to write a really critical blog post about you. Wallace: "Before you start with me....I wanna ask you a question. So you're sitting in the Stewart household this morning with your wife, and your little boy, and you open the paper and you see that Steve Carrell, who used to be on your show -- who used to be kind of an underling, on your show...and you see that his movie, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, has opened up as the number-one movie in America, 20.6 million dollars." Jon (immediately): "And my heart grows three sizes, and I'll tell you why: I know how untalented he is." Laughter, applause. Jon says Steve's a very nice man and it's well-earned. And you'd think that's it, right? The matter hath been dispensed with gracefully, Wallace's point made (guess someone has issues with the whole "getting out from under a giant looming shadow" thing, but whatever). But no, he continues on: "Have you ever been the star of a movie that has opened number one in the country, 20.6 million dollars?" I think this is the point when I actually exclaimed out loud, "Wow, what an asshole." More evidence why a dainty young Canadian lass would use such language after the jump. Wallace, clearly hoping Stewart will throttle a Desdemona later: "Was there a pang of envy, the green-eyed monster, jealousy, when you saw that Steve Carrell--" "No," Jon breaks in. "The entertainment business is not like the news busienss." Ha -- laughter, resolution, and a segue for Jon to talk about The Situation Room, and shine the light of mockery elsewhere, deftly saving the interview from topics unbecoming to serious newsmen (besides, he and Carrell already did their post-modern meta-interview segment, and did it better). The interview becomes a discussion about Cindy Sheehan, Bush, and the Iraqi constitution. We have moved on. But noooooo, Wallace has to get in a final dig: when Jon asks him what's coming up on his show, he proudly announces that Steve Carrell is on deck. Jon says great - he's a very funny guest. Saith Wallace, with a smug little smile: "Do you realize that could be your claim to fame in your career, that you discovered Steve Carrell?" The audience hates this and boos and hisses accordingly; they're no longer interested in giving Wallace even a minute of their time, let alone 60. Jon can finally be smug: "Do you realize you're surrounded by my audience?" he asks. His audience, in the studio and at home, 1.4 million fans from a primo demographic. It is an audience that loves the Daily Show, loves Jon, loves the couch, will tolerate umpteen ads for Indecision 2004 and draws the line at Expedia - but still loves Expedia more than will ever love Chris Wallace, because for one half-hour that mattered, we thought he was a dick. And if you think that doesn't matter, try asking Tucker Carlson.

Fishbowl

Jon Stewart: Chris Wallace, you've got to bring more to the table than cheap shots

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