Kristen Schaal throws cold water on the hot 'dad bod' craze, mocks Jon Stewart
Middle-aged men everywhere — including on TV — are reveling in the new celebration of the "dad bod," the allegedly sexy male physique that's pretty much like it sounds: A little flab is fine, six-pack abs need not apply. On Tuesday's Daily Show, Jon Stewart found that refreshing. So did Senior Women's Issue Correspondent Kristen Schaal, kind of.
"It's time society accepted that a man's body changes when he has kids," Schaal said. "He spends nine months eating too much because his pregnant wife is stressing him out, and then there's a screaming baby at home — he has to get out for pizza and beer as much as possible. It's just biology, Jon." When Stewart said maybe the "dad bod" trend will extend to women, she figuratively patted him on the head, explained the fascination with the amazing post-birth "momshell" figure, then made him show off his own "mostly adequate physique." Watch below, unless you want to keep living your "dad bod" fantasy. —Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
A fentanyl vaccine may be on the horizonUnder the radar Taking a serious jab at the opioid epidemic
-
The 8 best comedy TV series of 2025the week recommends From quarterlife crises to Hollywood satires, these were the funniest shows of 2025
-
Codeword: December 16, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
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
