I just watched (on my iPad), the first episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart, which I think is the first thing I've ever watched on AppleTV. As with addictive drugs, the first one's free and then you pay…in this case, $4.95 a month for AppleTV. I shall do this because the show is, as they say, Must See Television. It's worth five bucks a month all by itself and they're only, I believe, doing two a month.
If I were a right-wing guy, I might be suspicious. The problem addressed in this first outing of The Problem is U.S. soldiers suffering from exposure to toxic chemicals from "burn pits." This is one of those issues any human with even a teensy nugget of empathy would be ashamed to not care about. Presumably, future episodes will address more controversial topics. I'd think, "Yeah, he's right about this but he's trying to win my heart over and then he'll hit me with his Liberal Propaganda." Well, maybe. But that doesn't mean he won't be right again.
It's a solid, well-produced show and if you forced me to find a fault in it, it's that it makes its point in a smattering of minutes, then hammers it home over and over. Jon, you had me at "soldiers suffering due to these burn pits." But just when I thought the show was preaching to a choir it had already converted, Stewart gave us an interview with a gentleman in government who's at the heart of this problem and any possible solution…and therefore gave us an insight into why government sometimes doesn't work they way we want it to.
So I'm signing up for AppleTV. The next installment is apparently about why people don't want to wear masks and how foolish that is. And just as Mr. Stewart is frustrated that the solution to the burn pit problem isn't happening A.S.A.P., I'm a little frustrated that we have to wait two weeks for that episode.
Here's a preview of Episode #1. Don't bother watching it. Just pick up any Apple-connected device and watch the entire program…