The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Indecision 2004

From its earliest days with original host Craig Kilborn, Comedy Central's The Daily Show has provided a snarky perspective on current events and contemporary pop culture, but since being taken over by Jon Stewart this frequently brilliant spoof news program has become a breakout success. The Daily Show really hit pay dirt with its satiric coverage of the 2004 presidential race, beginning with the spring primaries and following with scathingly funny reports on both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and the November election itself. This three-disc boxed set, compiling material mapping the road to the White House, features the trademark mixture of tongue-in-cheek “reportage” and barbed commentary that has earned the show numerous Emmy awards for comedy writing. The best stuff comes from the often scabrous remarks of host Stewart and “senior correspondent” Stephen Colbert, and--not surprisingly--the Republicans receive much worse drubbing than the Democrats, with whom Stewart clearly sympathizes. But there's also a fair amount of disarmingly self-deprecating humor here, which offsets the partisan nature of the material. DVD extras include disc intros, commentaries, and the national anthem, sung in "four correspondent harmony." Recommended. (E. Hulse)