The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I've always liked the Daily Show. They act like real people. Screw "the show must go on." When something bad happens you have to stop and deal with it. Certainly you remember Jon's speech after 9/11. And the fact that it didn't happen until 9/20. Jon knows that when tragedy strikes there is nothing to joke about. That's why there was no new Daily Show on Monday. Since I had to go to bed early Monday night and didn't get home tonight until AFTER the 8pm rerun I didn't realize it until the Tuesday episode.

If you caught the Tuesday night show you may have noticed that at the end Jon dedicated the "Moment of Zen" to someone named Billy Clarey. Jon seemed pretty choked up about it so I was suspicious it was someone from the cast and crew. Then they ran a photo of Bill Clarey with dates 1982-2005. I started digging in IMDBPro and found a Hollywood Reporter article that gave me the scoop.

Billy Clarey was a staff member of the Daily Show. He had been an intern and then a receptionist. Everyone was shocked when they came in this Monday to find out that he had committed suicide over the weekend. Instead of pressing on to film their Monday show the staff halted production. The company even brought in grief counselors.

I'm sorry that Mr. Clarey felt that he needed to take his life, and I'm sorry for what his friends and family are going through. But I'm glad that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is demonstrating again that they are people to admire. That is something so rare on the national stage that it requires comment. On so many levels they always seem to "get it."
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Update: StealthBadger also posted about this.