Inspired by NFL refs, ‘Daily Show’ correspondents go on strike
In solidarity with their brothers working for the NFL, on Wednesday the “Daily Show” correspondents decided to go on strike.
The action caught Jon Stewart by surprise. After a segment about the replacement referees’ disastrous call that finally got Americans up in arms about a labor dispute, the host threw to correspondent John Oliver -- or so he thought.
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In his place was a man who wore glasses and spoke with a British accent, like Oliver, but who was noticably more grandiloquent. “Two families, both alike in dignity,” he began, launching into a Shakespearean monologue about the clash between the referees and the NFL.
Stewart was bowled over by the new-and-improved “Oliver.” “You have almost overnight improved exponentially .... You moved me,” he said, also noting the change in Oliver’s appearance. “Your complexion has lost its deathly pallor.”
It was then that the scab correspondent removed his wig and glasses to reveal his true identity: He was not John Oliver, but Patrick Stewart.
“Your correspondents, emboldened by the NFL labor dispute, have also gone on strike,” Patrick Stewart explained. “Until then, we replacement correspondents -- myself, [Al] Pacino, Glenn Close, and as always the incomparable Mandy Patinkin (as Aasif Mandvi) -- will attempt to hold down the fort.”
Noting that the replacement correspondents, unlike the replacement NFL referees, actually represented a step up in terms of quality, Jon Stewart described the strike as “the least effective industrial action in history.”
Football fans should be happy the NFL’s lockout, at least, has finally found a successful conclusion.
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Photos: Was it a touchdown or interception?
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