Customer Reviews

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Indecision 2004

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was very excited to see that The Daily Show was finally coming to DVD. I understand it's difficult for this type of show to release a Season by Season box set but this seems like a good compromise for fans. It will include:

3 discs

All 4 Democratic National Convention episodes which were taped at Boston university in front of a live audience.

All 4 Republican National Convention episodes which were taped at Daily Show Headquarters in NYC.

The first Bush/Kerry Debate entitled "The Squabble in Coral Gables" Really funny stuff.

The Daily Shows live coverage of Election Night 2004 entitled "Prelude To A Recount"

I can review all of these things honestly having watched the show since it's inception and having seen all of the above mentioned episodes. I've even gone to watch a live taping which I would recommend to anyone who lives within striking distance of NYC. The special pieces they did during the campaigns are truly funny from either side of the fence.

As for special features I really don't know but I hope that some of this information has helped.

If you're a voracious fan of the show don't let my review discourage you (it wouldn't anyway probably . . .):

I love the Daily Show -- have watched it since its inception before Jon Stewart -- been to the tapings , etc. Stewart warns at the beginning of Disc 1 that the material is no longer timely -- I can easily live with that because 2-3 years from now it will still be interesting to recall (with laughter preferably) some moments from that crazed election of 2004.

My complaint is the extra material -- there's just not that much of it. How difficult is it to do commentary over 4 or 5, 3-4 minute long segments? Not very difficult at all.

I guess I hoped for better "extra stuff" in a debut disc from such a talented group of people. It may well have been that Com Central gave them little or no money to do the extras. I feel like it shows.

And I agree with the other reviewer -- don't like the Paramount "bug" in the corner of my screen either -- I payed my good money for these discs and shouldn't have to deal with that kind of perpetual blot on my tv screen.

And one more thing: Just want to make note that before the disc was even released, a few people here decided to celebrate and then rate the quality of the show (number of peabody awards, emmies, etc.) instead of using this space the way it is meant to be used -- as a space to rate THE PRODUCT. nuff said.

I am proud to announce that I am one of those 18-35 year-olds who (nearly) exclusively gets his news from The Daily Show. Jon Stewart and company's critiques of the way the media has slumped into a 24/7 spin machine are both heartbreaking and hysterical.

On to the DVD - I must agree with the other reviewers in that this seems a bit slapped-together. The Comedy Central previews that open up Disc 1 are rather obnoxious, as is the fact that Discs 1 & 2 both have long intro segments (though funny long intro segments) that must be skipped past in order to get to the main menus. Speaking of the menus - the third disc is horribly laid out, with the two live shows buried at the bottom of the screen.

The studio portions of the show are uncensored, meaning that every time Jon Stewart drops the F-bomb you actually get to hear it. Somehow, actually hearing the word instead of the bleep takes something away from the comedy. Most of the pre-taped segments are still censored, however.

While it is nice to have 10 uncut episodes of the show all in one place, I wish that they had removed some of Stewart's more uninteresting interview bits and loaded on more of their election coverage instead.

It has also been noted that the bonus content is rather sparse, and this is true. There are a few commentaries on segments from the third disc - the commentaries heavily feature Samantha Bee, though the other three correspondents drop by as well (including Colbert, even though this is not advertised). Unfortunately, Stewart is not featured in any of the commentaries - though just as well, since they're all fake anyway.

Colbert's studio tour DVD extra is enlightening in that it appears that The Daily Show is produced in the basement of a crack house somewhere - though the Daily Show has moved to a bigger studio, so the segment has become even more irrelevant than it was to begin with.

To sum up - if you're a fan of the show and don't already have these episodes illegally downloaded on your computer, this is worth the purchase just for the historical value. Also, if you don't have cable and have been wondering what all the fuss is about, this is definitely worth a purchase (though if you're at all conservative, prepare to be offended).

So while this is a good first effort at repackaging The Daily Show, I hope that they'll produce a "best of" clip DVD in the future.

I certainly look forward to this release. The Daily Show was one of the few refuges of sanity during the awful election coverage of 2004. Every year I say it can't get any worse, but somehow it does. My hat is off to the team at The Daily Show for not only puncturing the balloons of the political candidates but the inflated egos of the news media as they stumbled over themselves in a pathetic effort to cover the election. Hard to believe that "fake news" sounds more genuine than "real news," but that is too often the case on The Daily Show.

Living in Australia we get a 20 minute Global Edition highlights episode of The Daily Show each week... if they actually screen it (Some weeks they just don't play it!). 20 minutes isn't enough so I ordered this DVD. IT IS BRILLIANT. These guys are frighteningly intelligent. It is gut-bustingly hilarious. The extras are worthy of a mention also (Steve Carrell dancing to "I Feel Good" while interviewing - too funny.)
There is nothing bad about this DVD. There is nothing boring on this DVD. There is nothing on this DVD that won't make you laugh out loud. PLEASE release more episodes of the Daily Show. Anything. Highlights DVD's would be great. Entire series. When will Australia learn that THIS is what comedy is all about.

Being a fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for many years, I was ecstatic to hear that, finally, a DVD would be released, and what better material to release than their Emmy-award-winning coverage of the 2004 election. Throughout 2004, I found most of my news from The Daily Show. For those who are interested in politics and need a good laugh will find all they need in this awesome three-disc collection. The package is a box that contains three thinpaks. The first disc, "The Race from the White House," contains all four episodes of coverage from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, just as the second disc, "Target New York," contains all four epiodes of coverage from the Republican National convention. These episodes are hosted by Jon Stewart and supported by Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, Samantha Bee, and Lewis Black. Each disc contains hilarious intros by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The third disc is filled with bonus material. Bonus episodes include their coverage of the first presidential debate "The Squabble in Coral Gables" and their live election coverage "Prelude to a Recount". There also is John Edwards declaring his presidential candidacy live on The Daily Show, an animated short "Daily Show Rock!", a parody of the Swift Boat effort "Continental Skiff Boat Oarsmen for Veracity", and the National Anthem sung by correspondents Bee, Colbert, Corddry, and Helms. Also on the bonus disc are pieces from each correspondent. There are reports by Bee, Colbert, Corddry, Helms, Steve Carell, and Bob Wiltfong. Worth noting is audio commentary on Bee's and Corddry's reports, which rarely comment on the piece while the correspondents just have crazy conversation.

Some people may believe that this is dated material that isn't as funny now or the future as it was when it actually occurred, but for those of you who paid close attention to the election year of 2004 will never forget the craziness that happened, and also should never forget the even crazier intepretation that The Daily Show gave. And for those of you new to The Daily Show, I highly recommend it, weeknights on Comedy Central.

This DVD set is fantastic. It includes all the shows aired during the DNC and RNC conventions, and the extras include many of the funniest election-related featurettes done by the correspondants. Jon Stewart is my hero, and it's great to be able to turn him on whenever I feel like it!

The best thing about "The Daily Show" is its ability to poke fun at blowhards on the left and right of the spectrum. Watching Jon Stewart's spectacular takedown of the people who marginalized Al Sharpton after his electrifying convention speech is truly a thing of beauty. Not even frequent "Daily Show" guest Brian Williams was safe. However, Stewart's liberal leanings are not easy to hide, especially when you compare his treatment of the Sharpton speech to his treatment of Zell Miller's similarly electrifying oration at the RNC. Both men have been guests of his on the show. (Well, Sharpton was actually Colbert's guest, and that hilarious interview is included in the extas.)

Also among the extras are the broadcasts of the election night coverage and the show they did after the first debate, an animated "School House Rock"-style demo of mid-term elections, John Edwards' announcement of his presidential candidacy, and commentary on select features. The set is well worth the money because it's chock-full of funny tidbits. And just like "America: The Book", every single part of it is funny, including the blurbs on the packaging.

My favorite extra by far is the rendition of the National Anthem that Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry and Ed Helms do in harmony. It's funny, because everything they do seems to be funny, but it actually is an honest-to-goodness performance not meant to be humorous per se. Who knew they could sing? Maybe the next "Daily Show" project will be a CD!

Indecision 2004 is the Daily Show's hiarious take on the whole mess that took place in mid to late 2004. With Ed Helms, Steven Colbert, Rob Corddry, and Stewart himself taking us to levels which we might not find funny on a regular news channel, this is definately worth seeing.

This set comes with three disks with 10 episodes full of laughs. I especially liked the election night itself, with the title, "Prelude to a Recount." John Stewart's remark on how the blue and red states have turned into a Blood and Crip gang war had me in tears.

Thats just one of the reasons why The Daily Show is so great, Stewart always comes back with a great joke or a wide eyed expression on just how stupid the polliticians can really get. He never fails to make people laugh and if he says a joke that might go too far for some people, he just smiles and says, "Sorry, too harsh?"

The disks themselves have some good guests on them as well, with guys like Ted koppell, Al Sharpton [Who is always good for a laugh on The Daily Show] and John McCain. Some may not be as good interviews as others, but I reccomend Sharpton's interview, very good and humorous.

Other things you will see will be eight episodes with each of the four Democratic and Republican National Conventions. {I liked the Republican episodes better just to hear Stewart's George Bush impression.]

If you are a fan of the Daily Show, you should really give this a look at. Sure some of you might have already seen all the episodes on Tv, but get the DvD to remember them for the laughs....

Having only recently been fully introduced to The Daily Show and the Colbert report on Comedy Central (I have no idea how I havent been watching sooner) I didnt know what to expect from this set, but being a big fan of politics, and especially shows that satire the subject, I had high hopes and wasn't disappointed. While the segments that didnt contain Jon Stewart or Steve Colbert (and Steve Carrell pre-superstardom) sometimes fell flat, the rest was pure magic. Watching Steve Colbert make Don King make a fool of himself was classic, and not to mention the irony of what actually ended up happening in the election and the continuing war in Iraq makes it an interesting watch. If you love political comedy, or "fake news" as Jon Stewart calls it, then this is the show for you

"The Daily Show's" coverage of the presidential election was awarded the prestigious Peabody Award for media excellence for "Indecision 2004". It was the second Peabody award that the show has won for its election coverage. The Peabody Board cited the show's appeal as, "satire that deflates pomposity on an equal opportunity basis." I was on the screening committee for the Peabody Awards and I highly encourage you to watch this coverage if you missed it. Once you start getting your news from "the Daily Show," you never go back.