Sense or Censorship?
Leave it to Stewart to make a political statement that was funny yet inoffensive. In a pre-taped sketch aired during 2005's ceremony, the Daily Show host delivered a seemingly profane rant about the government response to Hurricane Katrina, which was supposed to appear doctored by CBS censors. Deliberately obvious editing, redubbing, or superimposition of benign images (pictures of a puppy and a kitten masked Stewart's upturned middle fingers) muzzled his supposedly inflammatory remarks. Still, Stewart made a point: that the networks' post-Janet Jackson fear of government intervention has led to self-censorship of political speech as well as profanity. — Gary Susman