Jon Stewart’s summit with Bill O’Reilly in order to keep the Common controversy going will now be a two-night event. The two gents, who seem to have a genuine if delicate fondness for each other despite their divergent worldviews, recorded their discussion on Friday night, with half of it to air tonight (at 8 p.m. ET) and half tomorrow. (The entire unedited 30-minute conversation will be available online after Tuesday’s show.) Fox News has posted a sneak peek:
Tough to get a read on what’s in store from the tease, but it does show Stewart asking O’Reilly to specify his problem with Common being invited to a White House poetry reading and O’Reilly cannily refusing to be pinned down. When these two get together, I find there’s a lot of circling each other, little clenching, and rarely a clear victor. I expect O’Reilly to bat away Stewart’s arguments and describe The Daily Show‘s viewers as drug-addled pinheads, and I expect Stewart to spare O’Reilly by treating him as the one sane man at the Fox News colossus.
What are you expecting? The Lincoln-Douglas debates, a Crossfire earthquake, or a playful game of political pat-a-cake?
Read more:
Jon Stewart raps Fox News with uncommon beat
Rapper Common’s White House invitation makes Sarah Palin, Fox News go crazy
Bill O’Reilly challenges Jon Stewart to a debate about ‘the Common situation’
This is got draw written all over it. Both are intelligent experienced broadcasters. If anyone, the edge should go to O’Reilly just for home field advantage.
Home field advantage? How does that make a difference? Someone who works for Bill O’Reilly is aiming the camera at them rather than Jon Stewart?
Home field advantage means O’Reilly can cut to commercial or change the segment whenever he wants. Jon and Colbert do it too on their shows sometimes.
Bill O’Reilly is a complete moron who doesn’t even know how gravity and the tides work.
Tides comes in, tide goes out…oh man, that sequence of clips that the Daily show put together of him repeating that phrase on various shows – that was fantastic. Dude. You can believe in God. But you can’t use the inexplicable nature of tides as a reason, because tides are TOTALLY explicable.
But O’Reilly being able to go to commercial is not home field advantage for he will look bad doing so. If he cuts Stewart off, or is dismissive of any of Stewart’s comments, O’Reilly will look bad.
The key difference between these two is that O’Reilly takes himself very seriously, where as Jon Steward does not, and has poked fun of his show in regards to The Daily Show being considered a news source to much of the youth of America.
i think jon gives this guy WAY too much credit sometimes. the dude has said some really, horribly awful things
I completely agree. I don’t understand why Jon doesn’t treat O’Reilly like he did Tucker Carlson. Maybe it’s because O’Reilly doesn’t wear a bow tie…
Stewart generally bows to O’Reilly because 1) it’s part of his wink-wink agreement with the O’pinhead, and 2) because, it’s the only way he’ll ever get on Fox at all. Even when O’Reilly comes on The Daily Show, Jon throws him softballs.
What has O’Reilly said that’s so awful? I mean, he’s been on the air 5x a week for 15 years, so I’m sure there’s something controversial….but nothing “horribly awful” is coming to my mind right now.
I think it’s great that Jon and Bill go on each other’s shows. They both come across well by going into the “lion’s den”. Even though they disagree on many things, I find their mutual respect for each other admirable. You wouldn’t see Keith Olbermann (or Sean Hannity for that matter) going on the show of someone they blatantly disagree with.
if half of the population agrees with someone’s opinions that means you either engage their ideas or you don’t and pat yourselves on the back for doing the less amount possible. At least they are. Think about that.
It is right that people who disagree should discuss the difference and respect each other. To do otherwise is to be a hater and I do not believe either O’Reilly or Stewart are haters. May they be an example to us all.
I agree with you – I find it refreshing.
Oh please. One is not a “hater” (ugh, I loathe that overused and misused word) because they don’t wish to “discuss” their differences with someone, especially when it does no good. And respect is earned, not given, especially to those who haven’t earned it nor care if they get it or not.
Not even 30 minutes of Jon Stewart could make me watch O’Reilly.
how are you going to argue with someone if you don’t even fully understand their position with your head in the sand?
This is what everyone should understand. Plus, you might be surprised at how logical your opponent’s arguments might be. (If O’Reilly would sack up and agree with Stewart’s paraphrasing of his position – that someone who has supported people who are convicted cop killer should not be invited to the White House – I think that’s actually a valid point of debate and I could understand someone feeling that way. I personally think Common’s other actions speak louder and are deserving of the WH invite, but I can see how other people might be of the opposing opinion. O’Reilly just needs to stop waffling around, so hopefully they get his position straightened out in the course of the debate. It should be interesting to watch.
Fox News: Where the Truth Goes to Die ®
You have to remember that Stewart is a comic, who just happens to be intelligent and knowledgeable. You will never see him step on O’Reilly too hard, even though I think it would be a hell of a battle.
Typical anti-Fox bias in your reporting again John…
“I expect O’Reilly to bat away Stewart’s arguments and describe The Daily Show‘s viewers as drug-addled pinheads, and I expect Stewart to spare O’Reilly by treating him as the one sane man at the Fox News colossus”.
You are certainly not an unbiased reporter.
Sorry, I meant to use Jeff, instead of John.
But Bill O’Reilly has pretty much said that already on his show…
You are reading the Popwatch blog. This is a blog and doesn’t claim to be unbiased. This isn’t even reporting really. He’s showing you something, saying a little of what he thinks about it and posting some questions about what everyone else thinks.
Um, he has literally said that phrase word-for-word on visits to the daily show, albiet in a playful manner. Maybe before you start randomly criticizing and screaming “bias” you should know what you’re talking about.
Love Jon, but he usually gives O’Reilly too much of a break when they spar (as well as certain other right-wingers). It’s like he doesn’t want to appear that he REALLY disagrees with them. He should remember the damage that the FOX guys have caused our country, and continue to encourage.
Oh come on. “the damage that the Fox guys have caused our country, and continue to encourage”. So the state of the country is Bill O’Reilly (or Roger Ailes, or Rupert Murdoch)’s fault? It didn’t work out so well for Obama and Anita Dunn when they tried to marginalize and write off Fox and its viewers (far more than MSNBC and CNN). Blaming any one person or group for the problems in the country is just absurd. Stop drinking the Kool Aid.
If Jon Stewart & all the liberal media think fox is illegitimate & not a real news channel, why do they let the FNC control the conversation in the media? As a former democrat, FNC is way more fair than any other station will ever be. Jon Stewart always comes at conservatives tougher than liberals & now even though Stewart has said he thinks the Common thing is stupid, he goes on O’Reilly to debate it! Deep down, these liberals & ultra liberals know they slant the news leftward & nobody listens to them. They also know deep down the FNC is legit.
If you really think Fox News is fair, you have got some serious problems. The fact that you claim to be an ex democrat but then use the whole “liberal this liberal that” phrase that is the mantra of hard core conservatives is funny though. I love when people try to pretend to be one thing so that their argument holds more weight.
Thus the word “former.”
@Kate Middleton, please stop using the phrase “stop drinking the Kool Aid.”
It’s not only incredibly overused, it’s also really sad and gross when you think of the history behind it.
Thanks.
I could not watch this. I like Stewart but O Reilly make me sick just to see him. He just looks at you and all you can see is a lie.
it’s not restoring sanity… it’s do as we tell you and vote democratic.. you don’t want debate.. you don’t want to fix anything.. you are just as much full of yourselves as the next party
Wow James. You must be quite a clairvoyant if you can look at someone and see lies.
@ Lem
I don’t understand what’s wrong with being biased. Biases are based in truth and there is some truth in that.
Of course, you wouldn’t know that though. You’re human. And stupid.
Stupid humans.
I am God.
I am the Eggman.
Jon Stewart calls O’Reilley the most sane man on Fox. That’s like being called the most sane in an insane asylum. You’re still in the asylum.
If Jon Stewart & all the liberal media think fox is illegitimate & not a real news channel, why do they let the FNC control the conversation in the media? As a former democrat, FNC is way more fair than any other station will ever be. Jon Stewart always comes at conservatives tougher than liberals & now even though Stewart has said he thinks the Common thing is stupid, he goes on O’Reilly to debate it! Deep down, these liberals & ultra liberals know they slant the news leftward & nobody listens to them. They also know deep down the FNC is legit.
Ya Jon smoked Carlson, but he was a simple minded geek. So is Multi millionaire O Reilley. It wouldnt be a hell of a battle Jon is just a lot smarter plain and simple.O reilley is a bigoted elitist and loathes the average working guy, which is funny cause they are his main audience, maybe thats why he dosent respect them!
“Loathes the average working guy”?”a bigoted elitist’??? What are you talking about? Do you have anY exampleS?
As much as I love watching Stewart and O’Reilly debate each other, I would rather see Stewart grill Glenn Beck.
That’d be a fun debate to watch, but somehow I don’t think there would be much “grilling,” at least not once they got going. Those two agree on too much (be it their mutual disdain for the Republican party or their desire for the government to get the hell out of our lives). I suspect that, after a few minutes of debate, they would be shocked to find themselves agreeing. But I could be wrong. We’ll likely never know.
Hey Stewart, you wouldn’t know an assault weapon if you saw one. I doubt if you can describe one and I know you have no data about how many police officers have been killed with one. I wish you would stick to something that you know but I’m not sure what that would be.
What does being able to describe an assault rifle have to do with knowing they kill people? I’m pretty sure assault rifles have done a lot more damage to cops than Common’s rapping.