JON STEWART - CRAMER LAYS AN EGG

CRAMER LAYS AN EGG

CNBC commentator Jim Cramer, in what he himself later acknowledged was a humiliating experience, received an unrelenting tongue-lashing from The Daily Show host Jon Stewart Thursday night, who accused him and his network of being cheerleaders for Wall Street and the banking industry in the lead-up to the recent market downturn. Cramer's response was that he and his network were not the only ones who made mistakes. USA Today TV critic Robert Bianco commented, "If Cramer were a stock, the best advice today would be 'sell.'" The TVNewser website reported that producers at CNBC's corporate sibling MSNBC were asked not to use any part of the interview in their shows the following day. Even, Cramer himself on Friday did not refer to his appearance with Stewart the previous day. (He did show a clip of an appearance with Martha Stewart in which the TV home adviser commented that he was "doing a very good job" preparing a pie.) Cramer did receive a vote of support from conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who, appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources , remarked that Jon Stewart "is a political player. He's a partisan. He is speaking on behalf of the Democratic Party. ... He's becoming so self-serious and sanctimonious, that it's just a matter of time before it becomes unfunny. I mean, this is the fate of all kinds of comedians. This is the fate of Lenny Bruce." And New York Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley commented that Stewart treated Cramer "like a CEO subpoenaed to testify before Congress his point was not to hear Mr. Cramer out, but to act out a cathartic ritual of indignation and castigation."

16/03/2009