"couch envy" starring jon stewart, with jack black as the couch

Ok, Jon Stewart is listed at 5'7 on the Internet Movie Database...maybe if he's standing on the shoulders of a little person wearing stilletos (the little person is in stilletos, not Stewart, because if Stewart was in stilletos and standing on a little person, the poor guy would be in a world of hurt).

If you're a fan of the show, and I can only assume you are because pretty much everyone is, then you remember the scene repeated nearly every night when Stewart stood to meet a guest as they walked in.

• Jon makes the announcement.
• The camera cuts to the guest walking in.
• The crowd cheers.
• Stewart meets the guest and shakes hands.
  

Now Jon Stewart may be a giant of a man on the inside (where it counts JS, really), but on the outside he isn't exactly as imposing as say...Frankie Muniz circa 2000.














Whenever he met a guest either to the side or directly behind the Couch he was usually getting a fine opportunity to judge how his guest's Panasonic wet-dry lighted ear/nose hair trimmer was working. Now there's nothing wrong with that, and I hear he recently broke off his contract with the electronics giant and is now a spokesman for Braun; but if you get the chance, take a look at what happens when Stewart meets a guest on the new, Couchless set.

Aha! That's right, Stewart meets the guest before they have a chance to walk up the steps to the floor of the raised set, making him literally tower over his guests. You can almost see a little smile on his face too. Could this be it? The reason for the new set? Does Jon Stewart harbor some latent feelings of jealousy against the Couch (when the Couch stood it was measured at an even 8 feet with a long reach and nasty left hook)?

I'm not saying it was Jon Stewart that forced the changes to the set and sent the Couch packing, but...hang on...

Sigmund Freud to the white courtesy phone. Sigmund Freud to the white courtesy phone.

[resume The Girl from Ipanema]