THE ATLANTIC: Jon Stewart’s new show takes the clown nose off, ‘he’s not even trying to be funny.’

There’s long been a criticism of Jon Stewart during his heyday on the Daily Show he would raise serious topics and usually attempt to skewer the right but then if you pointed out he hadn’t treated the issue very fairly he’d retreat into the role of comedian. Hey guys, I’m just doing jokes. This clown nose on, clown nose off act served him well for many years and helped make him a big star.

A few weeks ago I pointed out that Stewart’s new show seemed less humorous and more dishonest than his old one. And it appears I wasn’t the only person who noticed the change because ratings for the show dropped substantially over just a few months. Then yesterday the Atlantic published a piece titled “What Happened to Jon Stewart?” which does actually try to answer the question of why his show isn’t so funny or compelling as it used to be even for fans. And though the author doesn’t use this language, his conclusion is that Stewart has more or less taken his clown nose off and the results are a show that’s not funny or thought provoking.

Of course, there’s another reason why Stewart isn’t very funny these days: