Channel Flipping: Stewart's Return, The 'True Detective' Culture War, and More

Brief thoughts on some of the TV-adjacent things in my head this week.

Rather than go long on one topic, this week’s TV Plus takes a look at a few relevant shows and stories. Welcome to the first edition of Channel Flipping.

Jon Stewart can still cook, as weird as it feels

I thought Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show would suck. Stewart’s post-TDS turn as a more sober interviewer and Man About To Cry didn’t do much for me. But my skepticism mostly centered on Comedy Central’s bizarre botched search for Trevor Noah’s replacement. The search involved likely Noah successor Hasan Minajh getting juked out of contention via a New Yorker interview, Roy Wood Jr. seemingly quitting in frustration, and the network concluding a rotating newsroom approach best served its biggest property on January 22 before announcing Stewart’s return on January 24. Stewart’s return felt desperate for all involved.

However, Stewart’s first two Mondays in the chair have been good. Stewart’s brief moments of self-reflection about his “both sides are bad” perspective illustrate a modicum of growth, but his visible aging and exasperation at returning to this political environment landed particularly hard on me as a 30-something. Democrats getting mad about Stewart’s jokes about President Joe Biden are embarrassing and indicative of the braindead environment in which Stewart is so successful at critiquing.

Still, as someone who “predicted” that Stewart’s initial TDS departure would only inspire a greater focus on politics in late-night TV, his return leaves a weird taste in my mouth. I don’t hate it, but I can’t bring myself to love it either.

Last Week Tonight, a few days from now

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is the rightful villain of the post-streaming boom era of Hollywood. Nearly every report about his vision for streaming platforms, relationships with creatives, and ideas on how to salvage projects with allegedly limited commercial prospectives positions him as the real-life Al-G Rhythm. Stories that try to humanize him are worse.

But I’ll admit that I respect WBD and HBO’s recent decision to delay the YouTube distribution of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver from Monday to Thursday. Last Week Tonight segments do great on YouTube and, in theory, function as a loss leader that convinces people to eventually subscribe to HBO HBO Max Max. But the show is one of HBO’s most valuable properties and media companies with teetering streaming products need all the help they can get. Experimenting with a delay of a few days when LWT often covers stories outside of the immediate news cycle is worth the risk. There’s even a chance that a decent number of people who pay for an HBO product watch Oliver’s lead segment on YouTube as part of their regular Monday routine on that platform. Perhaps there’s some value in pushing those folks deeper into the Max ecosystem, too.

True Detective and HBO’s endless franchise era

Credit: HBO

In other HBO news, True Detective: Night Country accomplished everything HBO and WBD executives could have ever wanted from the franchise’s first entry in five years. The Issa López-helmed Night Country gained viewers each of its six weeks on the air and now stands as the most-watched of the franchise’s four seasons. While the critical and fan response grew more mixed as the story unfolded, Night Country accomplished what so few shows do in 2024: it got, and kept, people talking from week to week. Not too long ago, HBO executives were caught trying to use burner accounts and bots to counteract bad reviews on social media. Now they’re probably pumped that True D creator and infamous model Nic Pizzolatto couldn’t stop hating on López’s story on social media.

I’ll be the first to celebrate an achievement in event television, but Night Country signals that HBO has now, more than ever, embraced the endless franchising that plagues most of Hollywood decision-making. Every season of Pizzolatto’s True Detective is flawed and it’s fascinating to watch a very different storytelling reinforce and subvert some of the conventions of the franchise.

Still, I’ve had trouble generating consistent interest in Night Country. Slapping the True Detective title on López’s original pitch helped draw people in this time, but I wonder about the consequences of continuing the franchise now that it’s ensnarled in predictable culture war bullshit. Is that actually fair to López? I’m not sure.

Apple’s Sports app is a sign of things to come

Credit: Apple

Every few weeks, I ask aloud, to no one in particular, “Why is ESPN’s smartphone app so terrible?” The same question could be asked of ESPN.com. In a world where ESPN synchronizes and synergizes each piece of content it produces, it’s a shame that sports fans are stuck with the garbage user design and experience the company gives us on the internet.

You can then count me as one of the big fans of Apple’s new Sports app. The simple and beautiful app features everything I want from a sports product in this category: scores, stats, viewing integration. The app was inspired by the Apple TV sports tab, my go-to tool to navigate games across leagues, time zones, and streaming platforms.

I respect criticisms of the app’s betting features, but for now, I reserve the right to trust that Apple won’t go as far as ESPN, which now runs a branded sportsbook that it promotes with on-screen talent.

This is TV Plus, a newsletter about television written by Cory Barker, a media studies professor and veteran blogger. Readers can expect dispatches on industry trends, overlooked shows, and historical antecedents to current events.

You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky, or email me at barkerc65[at]gmail.com. Thanks for tuning in.