The Daily Show Struggles To Be Funny With Pre-Taped Iran Segments

The Daily Show sent correspondent Jason Jones to Iran for a series of tongue-in-cheek segments that aired last week and last night. Then, things got real. During last week’s segments, the “aged” feel was apparent, if not entirely disclosed. But last night, the tone changed a bit.

Host Jon Stewart introduced last night’s clips by stating the obvious: “Obviously the situation in Iran is fluid, and very dangerous, and much more fluid and dangerous than we thought it was going to be when we sent Jason Jones there. So, while he had gone to Iran in pursuit of a comedy piece, he met some people who were in pursuit of there of much more.”

The segment featured pre-taped interviews with three Iranians who have been arrested since, some who are currently detained, and the parody played up the “danger” of these peaceful individuals:

After the segment, Stewart attempted some tongue-in-cheek comedic questions with the son of one of the men in the piece, Ebrahim Yazdi, who is still in jail. It didn’t play. And then it got serious:

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