In case you needed a reminder that all good things must come to an end, Jon Stewart will announce tonight that he is leaving The Daily Show. According to a statement from Comedy Central, the change will occur “later this year.” There is no word on if a successor is already in mind or if The Daily Show, which Stewart inherited from Craig Kilborn in 1999, will continue without his guiding hand. Here’s the statement from Comedy Central.
https://twitter.com/ComedyCentral/status/565296357792284676
Though this announcement may strike some as surprising, Stewart (who took a break last summer to direct Rosewater) sounded like a man mulling a change when he spoke to NPR’s Fresh Air back in November. In that interview, Stewart said that there would never be anything that he was as well suited for as his job on The Daily Show before adding, “I think there are moments when you realize that that’s not enough anymore, or maybe it’s time for some discomfort.” And apparently that time has come… for all of us.
You’re going to find a mountain of words and clips retrospectives about Stewart’s impact and his legacy over the next few days and it’s justified. But right now, all I can think is that when times were tough and when we couldn’t make sense of the evil, the hypocrisy, and the injustice in the world, Jon Stewart always had the right words and the right response. It’s not that he made us feel better — the calming father figure coddling us to calmness is obsolete in an era where information and imagery is all around us — but he allowed us to feel like somebody else was as shocked, as scared, and as angry as we were. And then he turned around and he made us laugh at the absurdity of the world. Jon Stewart helped, is what I’m saying.
Comedy Central has some great in-house talent that could certainly take on the 11 o’clock timeslot and maybe even The Daily Show desk. Jason Jones and Jessica Williams immediately jump to mind, but whoever comes next will face, quite possibly, the biggest challenge in the history of late night because Stewart changed the game and he’s leaving while on top. You almost feel bad for whoever’s next.
Obviously, we’ll have more on this as details come rolling in, and like you, we will be glued to our televisions tonight to watch Stewart punch us all in the heart with this news.
(Source: Comedy Central)
