It was all a lot of fun. And yet, one couldn't help feeling that ''The Daily Show'' wasn't slinging incisive arrows at the political establishment. This is nothing new. The earlier political comics were more opinionated and less indiscriminately and bitterly dismissive,'' says Todd Gitlin, professor of sociology at New York University. The '60s were also halcyon years for political comedy, marked by such performers as Sahl, Lenny Bruce, and Dick Gregory, who busted through taboos about race, sex, and politics - outsiders attacking the establishment from several angles.
Nobody can expect the same of a late-night comedian today.
You cannot expect to be a fantastic political humorist and have a broad audience. Look how many times Mark Twain went broke,'' says Gregory, who turned racial stereotypes and prejudice into comedic weapons three decades ago, paving the way for Richard Pryor and Chris Rock. Maybe, as some people suggest, we simply live in satirically moribund times. Bruce went to the mat over the First Amendment, taking his comedy into both the clubs and the courtroom. Today, some political satirists have found their pulpit on the fringes of the entertainment scene.