Stewart's 'stoned slackers'? Not quiteOh, and your people at Fox News and the GOP are just an uproarious bunch, Rob! That O'Reilly line about stoned slackers and calling The Daily Show "dopey"? I'm still giggling! "Dopey"! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That's as funny as those wacky pictures of John Kerry windsurfing. Ha ha ha ha! Ha! Ha. ...ha.
Comedy Central defends audience against O'Reilly tease
The folks at Comedy Central were annoyed when Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly kept referring to "The Daily Show" audience as "stoned slackers."
So they did a little research. And guess whose audience is more educated?
Viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch "The O'Reilly Factor," according to Nielsen Media Research.
O'Reilly's teasing came when Stewart appeared on his show earlier this month.
"You know what's really frightening?" O'Reilly said. "You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it's true. You've got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night and they can vote."
Comedy Central executives realized, and O'Reilly acknowledged, that he was poking fun. But they said they didn't want a misconception to persist.
"If the head of General Motors was watching O'Reilly's show, that could be very important to us," said Doug Herzog, Comedy Central president.
"If you listen to O'Reilly, you get the sense that it was crazy longhairs behind the show," he said. "And it's not. It's great, smart television that attracts a well-compensated audience, most of whom are voting age."
Relax, said Fox News Channel spokesman Rob Zimmerman.
"Comedy Central must have lost their sense of humor," Zimmerman said. "Without Jon Stewart, Comedy Central would turn into the Great American Country Channel."
Fox News! Superserving the grade-school educated TV viewer!
