Come Back Jonee

 Jon Stewart is coming back to television. Well, to be precise, he is coming back to Apple TV. Jon his bringing his new show, The Problem With Jon Stewart, to a streaming service that requires a separate subscription to whatever service you may be getting your television from in the first place. It's a leap up from the basic cable show he grew into a phenomenon way back when. 

And then he left. In the middle of one of the most contentious periods in recent history, Jon Stewart took his ball and went home. Perhaps he felt that the comedy garden he had tended for so long had borne fruit like Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, and John Oliver who could take over for him. Or maybe the thought of doing a Daily Show in which he would be reporting on the slime and vitriol spouted by the eventual winner of the election of 2016 would simply be too draining. 

Recently, Mister Stewart apologized for having misjudged the dangers of one Donald "Jiggy" Trump. He said of 45's buffoonery, “certainty, his ridiculousness, his shamelessness is what made him dangerous.” He continued, “You have to be shameless to do shameful things.” Even more shameful than eating pizza with a fork. 

Which may be why, on occasion, Jon would rise up from beneath friend Stephen Colbert's desk to address what he felt were the moments most in need of his vent. Certainly, between those periodic rants, he has stayed busy. He wrote and directed the film Irresistible. He continued his tireless campaign on behalf of the first responders of 9/11. And he got that prime piece of TV real estate underneath Colbert's desk in part because of his being producer of that show. 

And maybe the past six years haven't been that funny. And maybe tragedy plus time really does generate comedy. And maybe making that pain into sausage for all of us to savor was just too arduous a task. I would like to point out that I stayed at my post during those trying times and even though I may not be considered the comic genius that Jon Stewart is, at least I was there.

Now he's back. But you're going to have to pay for it. Tragedy plus time makes a new subscription? We'll see.