“The Problem With Jon Stewart” has abruptly ended planning for its third season on Apple, just weeks prior to taping, due to what anonymous sources with knowledge of the decision are calling "creative differences."
According to a New York Times article that broke the news, "Mr. Stewart told members of his staff on Thursday that potential show topics related to China and artificial intelligence were causing concern among Apple executives," per intel from a person with knowledge of that meeting. Another unnamed source further highlights that "as the 2024 presidential campaign begins to heat up, there was potential for further creative disagreements."
In Salon's coverage of the show's first and second season, TV Critic Melanie McFarland points out that the second half of Season 1 "represents an improvement over the lackluster if well-meaning opening," and that the second season got even sharper, "pressing more forcefully into its confrontations with elected officials who other interviewers would allow to spew utterly false nonsense without confronting them on it." Stewart has made a reputation for himself as a host who asks hard questions, calls out bad answers and doesn't shy away from tense conversations. In cutting ties with Apple, it seems as though he doesn't plan to stop doing that any time soon, he'll just be doing it elsewhere.
