Jon Stewart Returns to His Outdated ‘Daily Show’ Seat

Jon Stewart returned on Monday night time as host of “The Daily Show,” the Comedy Central information satire he became a cultural drive earlier than leaving in August 2015. It was the start of a plan, announced in January, that may carry Stewart again to the present on Mondays by way of the presidential election. He may also function an govt producer.

“Why am I back?” he stated. “I have committed a lot of crimes. From what I understand, talk show hosts are granted immunity — it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but take it up with the founders.”

Stewart’s first night time again discovered him grayer — at one level he used his personal wizened face as a prop in a joke in regards to the presidential candidates’ ages. However he was in any other case in traditional kind.

Opening with “Now where was I,” Stewart combined silliness and absurd, typically self-deprecating, jokes with righteous indignation as he kicked off the 2024 version of one of many present’s signature franchises, its “Indecision” election protection. Proposed titles, he stated, included “Indecision 2024: American Demockracy”; “Indecision 2024: Electile Dysfunction”; and “Indecision 2024: Antiques Roadshow.” He riffed, from his acquainted left-leaning perspective, on the Tremendous Bowl and the Taylor Swift conspiracy theories that surrounded it.

“It’s almost like the right’s ridiculous obsession with politicizing every aspect of American life ruins everything,” he stated.

Later he anchored a bit that discovered the present’s correspondents Ronny Chieng, Desi Lydic, Michael Kosta and Dulce Sloan reporting from the identical diner, a goof on the marketing campaign protection trope. They and Jordan Klepper, who did a desk bit, will take turns internet hosting the present Tuesdays by way of Thursdays. The visitor was Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of The Economist.

“The Daily Show” posted his opening segment on its YouTube feed simply earlier than it aired on Comedy Central.

In a single sense, Stewart is the most recent in a line of celebrity fill-ins who’ve hosted “The Daily Show” since Trevor Noah left in December 2022. After all, Stewart is the one that, over 16 years as host, remodeled “The Daily Show” into late-night’s most significant and influential program.

A popular culture snark-fest underneath its authentic host, Craig Kilborn, “The Daily Show” advanced right into a topical satire after Stewart took over in 1999, and it turned a news source for parts of its viewers, whilst Stewart maintained that his major aim was to entertain, not inform. It was additionally a prolific expertise incubator: Alumni together with Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Samantha Bee and Hasan Minhaj went on to host their very own exhibits. Others, like Steve Carell, Ed Helms and Jessica Williams, discovered success in Hollywood.

It was one other former “Daily Show” correspondent, Noah, who succeeded Stewart as host. However the present’s scores and profile declined, a part of a general downturn within the cultural relevance of late-night exhibits within the streaming age. On the identical time, Stewart’s personal post-“Daily Show” skilled efforts have been lackluster. A deal to develop a topical animated show for HBO went nowhere, and his discuss present for Apple TV+, “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” ended final yr after 20 episodes when Stewart and Apple executives disagreed over the present’s inventive path.

There was maybe a delicate reference to Stewart’s earlier job on “The Daily Show” on Monday night time. “We’re going to have so much to talk about this year,” he stated. “The elections, maybe we’ll talk about China, A.I., something a little lighter, Israel-Palestine.” Synthetic intelligence and China had been two of the themes that created friction at “The Problem.”

“The Problem” by no means bought a lot traction, other than producing just a few viral interview clips and receiving an Emmy nomination final yr for excellent selection discuss sequence. In a twist, that award went as an alternative to “The Daily Show,” the one time the Noah model gained. Stewart’s “Daily Show” gained the award for excellent selection sequence award 10 instances in a row, from 2003 to 2012.

In an interview on “CBS Mornings” on Monday, Stewart stated he’s returning to “The Daily Show” as a result of he desires a platform through the election.

“I very much wanted to have some kind of place to unload thoughts as we get into this election season, and I thought I was going to do it over at, they call it, Apple TV+,” he stated. Nonetheless, he added, “they felt that they didn’t want me to say things that might get me in trouble.”

He went on: “I just thought, who better to comment on this election than someone who truly understands two aging men past their prime?”