daily show

Comedy Central just sent out this press release out that the Jon Stewart who has arguably been one of their biggest stars is leaving his post at the The Daily Show later this year. His departure will come after years of delivering such a great satiric angle on the news that other pundits at actual news programs would reference his take on the news as a talking point as well as fostering The Colbert Report and The Nightly Show.

Of course, this leaves The Daily Show desk vacant and The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore in unsure territory with their lead-in. Had this been a year or two earlier, maybe the desk would have gone to Stephen Colbert or John Oliver, but now, a name doesn’t immediately come to mind fill in Stewart’s giant shoes. Also, bumping Larry Wilmore later this year would seem very unorthodox and unlikely, though weirder things have happened in the world of late night. 

However, Comedy Central has another chance to continue their streak of bold, groundbreaking programming over the last few years. While the chances of hiring another great, established white male comedian, someone like Norm MacDonald perhaps, are high, Comedy Central would definitely have an audience rallying behind them if they went a different direction and hired someone who wasn’t another white guy like Fallon, Kimmel, Conan, Corden, Hardwick, Meyers, and most of the recent fill-in hosts of The Late Late Show. 

The bigger issue here is finding someone that Stewart’s fans can get behind that is somehow free or can free themselves up to take on the year round commitment of The Daily Show. While it would be perhaps great if Tina Fey and Amy Poehler could co-host like they did in the great three-year run at The Golden Globes or like they did at SNL’s Weekend Update, they both have overall deals, star in a multitude of projects amongst a whole other multitude of things they take on.

So, for now, we’ll be reminiscing about our favorite Jon Stewart moments over the years.