NEW YORK  One of the most intriguing, and potentially important, interviews of the week will take place Thursday night without either a journalist or a newsmaker. Fans of finance and entertainment are salivating to see how CNBC's Jim Cramer holds up when he appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The host of Mad Money likely will have to provide the No. 1 business news network's most pointed defense yet against criticisms that, during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, it has been too hard on President Obama's stimulus package and too soft on CEOs.

Cramer also will have to answer for misguided stock predictions — including some last year urging investors to buy and hold Bear Stearns just before the investment bank collapsed.

"Here's a guy who may have his career on the line," says Bob Gold of public relations firm Bob Gold & Associates. "His credibility has been brought into question. NBC Universal (CNBC's parent) will have to draw a line. Trust is at stake."

CNBC, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on April 17, says that its journalism has held up well. "I don't think we've pitched a perfect game," President Mark Hoffman says. "But it's a one-hitter or two-hitter." Cramer and Stewart declined to be interviewed for this story.

Stewart has used comedy to lead the charge against CNBC following a fiery Feb. 19 on-air attack on Obama's stimulus package by On-Air Editor Rick Santelli. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs kicked things off by chiding Santelli, who referred to people who can't pay their mortgages as "losers." Santelli's performance surprised some business news veterans.

"An opinionated outburst by a presumably objective reporter is out of place in a news context," says former CNN analyst Myron Kandel.

Hoffman, however, says, "That is Rick. The only thing that's new is that it was noticed in a more profound way."

Stewart's toughest attack came on March 4, after Santelli canceled a scheduled appearance on the show. An 8½ minute segment stitched together clips showing CNBC personalities, including Cramer, dismissing problems at AIG and the market, and listening to CEO assurances that things were just fine. That included an interview with Allen Stanford, who federal officials allege ran a Ponzi scheme.

Cramer later dismissed Stewart on the Today show. "Oh, oh, a comedian is attacking me!" he said. "Wow! He runs a variety show!"

But some media critics say that Stewart has earned the right to be taken seriously.

"Stewart is a comedian who does some press criticism and does it pretty well," says Columbia Journalism Review Executive Editor Mike Hoyt.

Andrew Leckey, president of the National Center for Business Journalism at Arizona State University, says that while CNBC wants to be seen as serious, "The best ratings go to a wacky guy." Cramer often bellows and uses sound effects to highlight his stock picks.

The passion on CNBC also may reflect the discomfort some commentators feel as Obama's policies challenge long-held beliefs.

"There's something serious going on at CNBC," says independent news analyst Andrew Tyndall. "It's not just show."

The controversy comes at an uncomfortable moment for the channel.

Ad revenue, which leapt 24% to $261 million in 2008, will fall 9% this year, SNL Kagan's Derek Baine forecasts. CNBC's audience also likely will fall from its 2008 average of 229,000 homes — its best performance in years.