“War” presents a group of veteran-activists working to bring attention to, and to get the Veterans Administration to recognize and treat, the toxic and carcinogenic effects of the open “ burn pits” the military routinely used during various Gulf wars to destroy everything from armaments to uniforms to amputated body parts to feces by dousing them in jet fuel and setting it alight. There are filmed bits of varying effectiveness in one, “Ken Burns presents Ken’s Burns,” the documentary filmmaker quips, “The government’s treatment of vets is so bad it makes my friend Werner Herzog’s film ‘Meeting Gorbachev’ look like his film ‘Cave of Forgotten Dreams.’” You are not supposed to understand it - that’s the joke - but congratulations if you do. Each episode is organized around a big theme (“War” and “Freedom” are the two made available for review) refracted through an opening monologue, panel discussions, short filmed comedy bits and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the producers’ meeting, which illustrates the diversity of Stewart’s younger-ish staff - with the sound down you might almost be watching a graduate seminar - but also feels more staged than it probably is. It is a current affairs show, but does not play off breaking news. It incorporates a little of “The Daily Show,” in that for some portion of the hourlong program Stewart sits at a desk (though not dressed like a news anchor, as before, and not on a set dressed like a news show) and says hopefully funny things to a briefly glimpsed live audience. “The Problem With Jon Stewart” - you see what they did there - premieres Thursday on Apple TV+, with new episodes scheduled to arrive every two weeks.
Jon Stewart, who left “The Daily Show” in 2015, has officially returned to television.
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