Jon Stewart’s ‘The Problem’ Not Moving Forward at Apple Amid Creative Differences

Lesley Goldberg
·2 min read
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Jon Stewart is making an early exit from Apple.

The former Daily Show host’s return to the talk show space has ended prematurely as Apple has abandoned plans for an eight-episode third season of the Stewart-hosted series The Problem, sources confirm to The Hollywood Reporter.

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According to the New York Times, which first reported the news, the cancellation came after creative differences between the iPhone maker and Stewart over potential topics and guests for The Problem. The NYT reported that Stewart informed his staff Thursday that Apple pushed back on topics relating to China and artificial intelligence. Production on season three was already under way, with filming poised to begin shortly.

Apple declined to comment.

Sources tell THR that there had been tension between Apple and Stewart ahead of the show’s third season return over topics featured on The Problem. Those same sources note that Apple approached Stewart and informed the host that both sides needed to be “aligned” regarding topics on the show. Stewart, sources say, balked at the idea of being “hamstrung” by Apple, which threatened to cancel the series. Stewart, sources say, wanted to have full creative control of the series and, after Apple threatened to cancel the series, told the tech company that he was walking away from the show rather than have his hands tied.

The decision to “unrenew” The Problem came after Apple and Stewart shifted The Problem to a weekly release for its second season after the freshman batch of episodes launched every other week in fall 2021.

Stewart signed a multiple-year pact with Apple in 2020 that included the current affairs show that became The Problem and other development projects via his Busboy Productions banner.

Stewart exec produced The Problem with showrunner Brinda Adhikari, James Dixon and former HBO CEO Richard Plepler through the latter’s Eden Productions. Chris McShane was co-EP, Lorrie Baranek was supervising producer and Chelsea Devantez was head writer.

During its two-season run, The Problem earned five Emmy nominations, including for talk series and writing.

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