Tuesday night's Daily Show was a shout-out to fans of C-SPAN. To critique the train wreck in the Senate over a human sex trafficking law both parties support, Jon Stewart previewed his imaginary post-Comedy Central show, Hatewatch, on C-SPAN 2. It's all there — the soothing narrator (a pitch-perfect Samantha Bee), the "unapologetically racist" caller (Jordan Klepper), the lingering shot of an empty podium, and the host trying to keep it blandly together.
Stewart, of course, can't keep it together, especially after "turtle man" Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, blames "left-wing special interest groups" for holding up the bill. If you watched Stewart's heartfelt announcement last month that he is leaving The Daily Show, the final part of this creative look at our legislative gridlock will look delightfully familiar. —Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
China’s burgeoning coffee cultureUnder The Radar Local chains are thriving as young middle-class consumers turn away from tea
-
Obamacare: Why premiums are rocketingFeature The rise is largely due to the Dec. 31 expiration of pandemic-era ‘enhanced’ premium subsidies, which are at the heart of the government shutdown
-
Ultra-processed AmericaFeature Highly processed foods make up most of our diet. Is that so bad?
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
