Late Night: Jon Stewart slams NBC for cutting tribute to terror victims

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July 31, 2012 12 AM PT

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Add &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PECLB004184”&amp;gt;Jon Stewart&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt; to the growing chorus of critics &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0731-olympics-nbc-20120731,0,166521.story”&amp;gt;displeased with NBC’s coverage of the London Olympic games&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;. He opened Monday night’s “Daily Show” with a segment blasting the network’s decision to edit a moving tribute to the victims of the 7/7 London bombings out of the opening ceremony, only to replace it with Ryan Seacrest’s singularly pointless interview with swimming champ &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PESPT008491”&amp;gt;Michael Phelps&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt;.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Stewart praised the ceremonies, conceived by Oscar-winning director &amp;lt;runtime:topic id=”PECLB000624”&amp;gt;Danny Boyle&amp;lt;/runtime:topic&amp;gt;, as an “incredible, cheeky at times, poignant spectacle,” but was infuriated by NBC’s insensitive editing of them. Noting that the network commemorates 9/11 by actually replaying its own coverage of the attack, Stewart expressed dismay: “You wouldn’t air a six-minute tribute to the &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;rest&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; of the world’s terrorist victims because the world’s most overexposed land mammal had a chance to speak to the world’s most overexposed water-based mammal. Why would you do that?”&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;NBC issued a meek defense, saying that “our program is tailored for the U.S. television audience,” prompting Stewart to joke that the chronically ratings-challenged network doesn’t actually know how to tailor programming to an American audience. (Cue logos of struggling or canceled shows like “Smash” and “Harry’s Law.”)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Stewart also offered some suggestions to NBC in their ongoing efforts to Americanize the games. “Why not just go all the way?” he wondered. “Just give us the all-LeBron parade.” And that sequence with James Bond and the queen? Why not trade 007 for Rambo and replace her majesty with “American royalty,” like Ronald McDonald?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Please, Jon. Don’t give NBC any more ideas.&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;RELATED&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-stephen-colbert-mitt-romney-london-olympics-20120727,0,618412.story”&amp;gt;Stephen Colbert mocks Mitt’s London Olympics gaffe&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-olympic-ratings-20120730,0,1565984.story”&amp;gt;London 2012: NBC breaks TV ratings records, irritates fans&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0731-olympics-nbc-20120731,0,166521.story”&amp;gt;NBC sets London Olympics record despite angry tweets&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Follow Meredith Blake on Twitter&amp;lt;a href=”twitter.com/MeredithBlake”&amp;gt; @MeredithBlake&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- BEGIN EDITING STORY RUN TIME HERE --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;div class=”ent-must-reads”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Title of your runtime --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;h2&amp;gt;MORE OLYMPICS NEWS&amp;lt;/h2&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- First story --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;div class=”ent-pick”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Image and image link--&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-a-century-of-olympic-posters-pictures,0,4287550.photogallery”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Headline and headline link --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-a-century-of-olympic-posters-pictures,0,4287550.photogallery”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;PHOTOS: ‘A Century of Olympic Posters’&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Second story --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;div class=”ent-pick”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Image and image link--&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/ca-olympics-moments-pictures,0,4933047.photogallery”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Headline and headline link --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/ca-olympics-moments-pictures,0,4933047.photogallery”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;PHOTOS: Olympic Games TV moments worth remembering&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Third story --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;div class=”ent-pick”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Image and image link--&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://graphics.latimes.com/towergraphic-london-olympics-your-tv-guide/”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; &amp;lt;!-- Headline and headline link --&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=”https://graphics.latimes.com/towergraphic-london-olympics-your-tv-guide/”&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;London Olympics: Your TV-watching guide | &amp;lt;a href=”https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-2012-london-olympics-on-tv-20120719,0,6393329.story”&amp;gt;Schedule&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!--/.ent-must-reads --&amp;gt;.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p style=”text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 4px; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;”&amp;gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

Late Night: Jon Stewart slams NBC for cutting tribute to terror victims

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