Comments on: Jon Sits Last

Question: Jon Sits Last

parallax7d — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:09:24 -0800

Why does Jon Stewart insist that his guests sit down before he does? He will keep standing no matter what, even if it creates an uncomfortable situation. It's awkward and has always bugged me.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:11:46 -0800

He's being a proper host. I doubt if it's ever an uncomfortable situation for those involved, as they seem to get a kick out of it.

Alternately: it's a Jewish Comedy Conspiracy.

By: luriete

luriete — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:12:54 -0800

simple politeness. it may seem awkward because such politeness is so infrequently seen.

By: Loto

Loto — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:12:58 -0800

beaucoupkevin has it: it is a showng of good manners.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:18:24 -0800

As everyone else has said, simple politeness. i'm pretty sure that TV's Craig Ferguson has this same habit.

By: rabbitsnake

rabbitsnake — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:20:06 -0800

It's like for a man to stand until all the women in his party sit down at a restaurant. Believe me, politeness and manners go a long way.

By: Mr. Six

Mr. Six — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:30:31 -0800

It is ancient custom for television hosts to stand until their guest is seated. Watch Conan, Leno, all the way back to Carson and Steve Allen: they all do it.

By: yellowbkpk

yellowbkpk — Wed, 17 May 2006 16:47:05 -0800

I have a feeling its a running joke in the show, because Stephen Colbert (who used to be a part of The Daily Show) makes a big deal out of it for his guests. He makes them sit and then draws all the attention to himself while he makes his way over to the guest.

By: cribcage

cribcage — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:17:30 -0800

Stephen Colbert's shtick has nothing to do with The Daily Show specifically. Every television talk show introduces guests by having them from walk across the stage to audience applause before sitting down, and Colbert just thought it would be funny to reverse that. It kinda was, at first.

By: ewagoner

ewagoner — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:50:53 -0800

It seemed to me that Colbert's schtick wasn't merely a simple reversal, but (like the rest of the show) a jab at the right-wing TV pundits' shows, where the shows are all about them and rarely about the guests they have on. Colbert just takes it a tiny bit further.

And for the original question... yeah, it's just politeness.

By: purephase

purephase — Wed, 17 May 2006 18:58:21 -0800

The guests make him wait because they find it funny. Pay attention to those who make him do it, they're usually of the comedic persuasion and I think it might be a known quirk of Jons' in the industry and they're playing off of it.

I like it. I think it's polite and funny given some of the content of TDS.

By: jak68

jak68 — Wed, 17 May 2006 21:48:58 -0800

ALL talk show hosts do it. You can often catch Jay leno, David Letterman, even Conan does it (Yup, even Conan). I believe its merely good hosting manners, as people here have said.

By: hooves

hooves — Thu, 18 May 2006 00:22:24 -0800

I agree that Stewart and others are being polite, but it is also a way of asserting control over the situation. Were the host to sit first, the guest basically owns the stage. They could run around and do all of their stupid show biz antics to their heart's content with little pressure to take a seat and get on with it.

By: boosh

boosh — Thu, 18 May 2006 03:39:20 -0800

I'd agree that there's an element of asserting control. High-ranking politicians do something similar when they need to pass through a doorway: it's an assertion of power to be the last man through and paternally guide the others through before you.

When you get several high-ranking politicians together it can get amusing, as they've all clearly been drilled from the same body-language hand-book. A year or so ago, after a press conference between Bush and another head of state (I forget which, might have been Israel's), the two men have to go into a building. Neither wants to be first through, so they end up in a little dance with each trying to guide the other. It goes on for an uncomfortably long time and ends with Bush all but shoving the guy through the door. Something similar happens every time two political big-hitters are in this situation in front of the cameras: if you watch closely, you can see the flash of discomfort on their faces when they realise that one of them is going to have to give way and be first through the door.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Thu, 18 May 2006 06:44:14 -0800

Anyone remember that time at Reagan's funeral that George Bush had the same issue with Bill Clinton where he cut in front of him like a school child in a lunch line? I can't remember the exact circumstance but it really showed that Bush hasn't developed emotionally since childhood.

By: NinjaTadpole

NinjaTadpole — Thu, 18 May 2006 07:11:35 -0800

boosh, you may be thinking of when Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat were meeting with Clinton at Camp David. There was a minor wrestling match before they managed to bundle through the door.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 18 May 2006 10:05:55 -0800

Photo of President Bush squeezing past former President Clinton through the glass doors of the Clinton Presidential Library, at the dedication of the library.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Thu, 18 May 2006 10:55:12 -0800

Wandering a bit -- I've wondered why Conan O'Brien's chair is so much higher than his guest's. He's already taller than most of them, so why add to the height difference? (I'm not saying this keeps me up nights, it's just something I've noticed.)

By: boosh

boosh — Thu, 18 May 2006 13:21:48 -0800

I'd forgotten that one, NinjaTadpole. A true classic of the genre. I've definitely seen W do it too, though (amongst many other politicians in recent years).

And kirkaracha's photo suggests that the opposite is true when leaving a building. The top dog has to be last in and first out.

It's always entertaining seeing those in the public eye desperately trying to follow the rules they've had drummed into them by their party/corporation spin-doctors and body-language experts. Simon Hughes, a Liberal Democrat MP in the UK, used to be (IMO) a fairly natural and down-to-earth sort of politician until a few years ago. Then he ran for London mayor and clearly had a close encounter with the spin machine. You could see an immediate change: he started using different vocal patterns and those odd Tony Blair-style chopping hand gestures while speaking.