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| The Jon Stewart Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Talk show Variety show |
| Created by | Jon Stewart |
| Presented by | Jon Stewart |
| Narrated by | Howard Feller |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 160 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jeff Ross, Lorne Michaels, Jon Stewart, Barry Secunda |
| Production locations | Chelsea Television Studios New York, New York |
| Running time | 30 minutes(MTV) 60 minutes(syndication) |
| Production companies | Busboy Productions MTV Productions Paramount Domestic Television (1994–1995) (season 2) |
| Original release | |
| Network | MTV(1993–1994) Syndicated(1994–1995) |
| Release | October 25, 1993 (1993-10-25) – June 23, 1995 (1995-06-23) |
The Jon Stewart Show is an American late nighttalk show that was hosted bycomedianJon Stewart. The program premiered onMTV in 1993 as a 30-minute daily offering and became one of the network's more popular shows.
Through a series of events that began withArsenio Hall stepping down fromhis late-night talk show and the acquisition ofParamount Communications byViacom, the parent company of MTV at the time,The Jon Stewart Show was retooled and launched in dailysyndication for the 1994–1995 season as a 60-minute program with the first episode airing on September 12, 1994.[1] It was canceled at the end of the season by distributorParamount Domestic Television and aired its final episode on June 23, 1995.
Celebrity guests who made appearances on the show includedHoward Stern,David Letterman,Quentin Tarantino,Jonathan Brandis,Courteney Cox,Sherry Stringfield,Lorenzo Lamas,Bronson Pinchot,Conan O'Brien,Alicia Silverstone andWilliam Shatner. The show was also popular for showcasing the type of musical guests that usually were not seen on other talk shows, such asSinéad O'Connor,The Breeders,King's X,Quicksand,Blind Melon,Killing Joke,Buffalo Tom,The Figgs,Diamanda Galás,Megadeth,Van Halen,Extreme,Peter Murphy,Sunny Day Real Estate,Bad Religion,Naughty by Nature,White Zombie,Marilyn Manson,Redd Kross,Gin Blossoms, Dom Pachino,Faith No More,Rocket from the Crypt,Ol' Dirty Bastard,Belly,American Music Club,Fossil,Letters to Cleo, theCrash Test Dummies,"Weird Al" Yankovic,The Afghan Whigs,The Notorious B.I.G.,Guided by Voices,Samiam,Warren Zevon,Mike Watt,Body Count,Danzig,Face to Face,Helmet, andPop Will Eat Itself, as well as fringe sub-culture guests such as Rev.Ivan Stang of theChurch of the SubGenius, and the Gloo Girls.
The show was produced byMadeleine Smithberg, the co-creator ofThe Daily Show.
One of the more memorable episodes, on June 22, 1995, featured a live performance by the Americanrock bandMarilyn Manson of their songs "Lunchbox" and "Dope Hat" from their debut album 1994'sPortrait of an American Family. The episode sparked nationwide controversy after theirfront man,Marilyn Manson, set aBible ablaze onstage (which later was revealed to be a lunchbox), which elicited public outcry ofblasphemy. The band finished their set by throwing instruments around the stage, and ended with apiggyback ride offstage on Jon Stewart. Stewart later recalled the episode in hismemoirAngry Optimist: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart, "The next night, Marilyn Manson was on, and they ended up lighting the stage on fire. I really thought somebody was going to be killed that week."[2][3]
The eleven members of (then-upcoming) MTV sketch showThe State appeared as the last guests on the final episode of the half-hour version of the show, andThe State cast members received Stewart's permission to "trash" the set with various implements of destruction.
One night after the Marilyn Manson incident,David Letterman appeared in what was to be the final episode of the syndicated series. This was a rarity, as Letterman was not known to appear on many talk shows at the time as a guest. Before the show, Stewart had been told to "get (his) shit and get out" by the production company, and during the interview, Letterman advised Stewart "cancellation should not be confused with failure."[4]