'The Problem With Jon Stewart' Trailer: The Former 'Daily Show' Host Is Back, And Jeff Bezos Is In His Crosshairs
Comedian and political commentator Jon Stewart announced that his new Apple series, The Problem with Jon Stewart, will premiere in September. He did this with a three-minute-long mockumentary taking aim at billionaires engaging in a needless space race. The video stars Jason Alexander as Amazon executive Jeff Bezos, Adam Pally as Tesla creator Elon Musk, and a mop and a stray cat as Virgin CEO Richard Branson and Facebook magnate Mark Zuckerberg, respectively.
Tracy Morgan also appears as a "diverse friend who would never hang out with Jeff Bezos in real life".
Stewart dropped the teaser video on his Twitter account, which you can see below. Be warned: the clip also features a whole bunch of rockets shaped like penises.
That's right, space dicks. Space dicks everywhere.
Boldly Going Where We've Been Many, Many Times Before
The teaser absolutely skewers the billionaires it's spoofing and for good reason. It delivers some salient points about their exploits being funded by American taxpayers and the sheer redundancy of another space race. It also has the aforementioned computer-generated intergalactic genitalia. It's silly while also having something to say.
Important sociopolitical commentary explored through the ridiculous is Stewart's wheelhouse. He hosted Comedy Central's The Daily Show for sixteen years, giving viewers international news stories in a way they had never seen before. The Daily Show blended humor and newscasting in a way that made even the most painful topics palatable. For his work on The Daily Show, Stewart won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards and 2 Grammy Awards. The show helped launch the careers of Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver, who all served as correspondents before going on to host their own shows.
Stewart could be brutally tough on his Daily Show guests, some of whom were as high-profile as former presidential nominees John McCain and Hillary Clinton. If the intense skewering in the teaser is any indication, future guests better watch out.
The Problem with Jon Stewart is a one-hour current affairs format show with a single issue explored in each episode. A companion podcast is being developed to "continue the discussion" alongside the TV episodes. The series will not release nightly or weekly, but whenever Stewart chooses.
The series is hosted and executive produced by Stewart through his Busboy Productions, which has a first-look deal with Apple. Former CBS Evening News producer Brinda Adhikari is set as showrunner, with Chelsea Devantez (The Opposition with Jordan Klepper) as head writer.
The Problem with Jon Stewart will premiere in September on AppleTV+.