If it all sounds a bit like a grad school lecture delivered by the hippest and funniest prof on campus, well, that’s kind of what we’re getting, and it’s vintage Jon Stewart: thought-provoking, laugh-out-loud funny, insightful, clever, occasionally a bit too pleased with itself but on balance, pretty flippin’ great.
We felt a whole lot better about The Problem With Jon Stewart after watching the second episode. What we saw was a show feeling its way, but with the steady hand of Stewart at the helm, even the bumpier, less funny episodes will be informative about issues that are pretty damned serious.
The two episodes made available to reviewers are fascinatingly unpolished. ... The [War] episode suffers a little bit from his overfamiliarity. The veterans and spouses he interviews speak well, but some are naturally nervous, and Stewart doesn’t direct the conversation as much as he could.
As a programme it is righteously furious about a worthy subject and, as a result, just a little dull. The second episode, Freedom, finds its groove and works much better.
There are filmed bits of varying effectiveness. ... As panel discussions go, these are a lot more productive than a Bill Maher roundtable or the dueling banjos of cable news. If they are earnest, even a little sentimental at times, that only helps to put the seal on their sincerity. ... “The Problem With Jon Stewart” does feel a little new-colt wobbly, and the host spends some time searching for his old rhythm.
The problem here is material, not money. The pilot suggested that Stewart would be shining a light on a major problem each episode, with a targeted solution that he was in a unique position to address. But how many problems are there actually like that? Judging by the glacially boring second episode, not that many. ... He drips with sanctimony toward anyone who doesn’t share his point of view.