The Oscar show “is not the place for any kind of revolutionary act. We don’t want to do something that feels cheap, like we totally gave up on doing something that makes us laugh, but if we’re doing material that’s political in nature, we want to make sure it’s filtered through the world of movies, not just political for the sake of being political. We’re trying to find that balance. It’s all about being able to beat yourself up in a pure way.” — Ben Karlin, Jon Stewart’s exec producer and co-writer, talking to Robin Finn.