In Defense of Olivia Munn

Jezebel wrote an a big article recently criticizing Jon Stewart's THE DAILY SHOW of being an exclusive boys' club and pointedly attacking new (trial-run) correspondent Olivia Munn (of G4's Attack of the Show) as being cast solely on the basis of eye candy.

In this SLATE article, Emily Gould criticizes the Jezebel article:

Jezebel writer Irin Carmon's argument is essentially this: "Former videogame show host" Olivia Munn may soon become the show's first new female correspondent in seven years, but her potential hiring is nothing to celebrate, because, while she's a woman, she's not the right kind of woman. She has hosted G4's Attack of the Show for four years, and she has written a book. But, per Carmon, "her previous career path has led some"—meaning, I guess, Carmon and Jezebel commenters—"to criticize The Daily Show for hiring someone better known for suggestively putting things in her mouth on a video game show … and being on the covers of Playboy and Maxim than for her comedic chops."

As someone who's actually watched Munn on Attack of the Show for years, I think she's got excellent comedic chops. More than enough to hold her own amidst some of the people they've had on TDS for a while now.

I'm actually more disappointed at the possibility of her leaving AOTS because she brought a lot more to that show than mere eye candy. I wouldn't have kept watching for years if she were just something pretty reading lines from a prompter.