The Daily Show
I've been afflicted by a mood of despondency in the past few days. I feel slightly better for going to the gym tonight for the first time in a while. Tonight's gym TV viewing was a man swanning around Italy eating fig gelato, unconventional cheeses and ear shaped pasta. He seemed to be having a good time.
The big comedy news of the week concerned The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart announcing that he is stepping down as host after seventeen years. The decision adds to the state of flux in US late night TV, following Stephen Colbert stepping into David Letterman's shoes on The Late Show (a very interesting choice) and Jame Corden replacing Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show. I have a suspicion that US audiences will take to Corden in the same way they took to Piers Morgan but you never know.
I think it's an astute decision from Stewart to go out at the top. Or somewhere near the top. For many years, he's delivered a topical comedy show of the highest quality that has attracted interview guests from across the spectrum of human life. You'd never know whether you'd be getting Bruce Springsteen or Louis CK or a former President or an economist. Whoever the subject, Stewart was invariably an engaging interviewer. There will be many on the right in the US who will be delighted by the news of his departure. It's one thing to point out the ill informed views spouted on Fox News. It's quite another to skewer them with the forensic attention to detail of Stewart and his fine team of correspondents over the years.
Stewart has been incredibly uncomfortable with the notion that young people get their news from The Daily Show. But it's a testament to him and his team that the programme has become part of the political conversation in the US. I and pretty much everyone else who loves comedy desperately wishes we had some sort of worthy equivalent on these shores. Who will replace him? John Oliver seemed tailor made at one point and was hugely impressive when filling in for Stewart during filming of his first feature, Rosebud. But it seems unlikely having developed his own show for HBO, Last Week Tonight, which is providing a great success at the moment. Perhaps Comedy Central would be better off retiring The Daily Show in favour of a new format. Whatever happens, Stewart's shoes are large ones to fill.
The big comedy news of the week concerned The Daily Show, with Jon Stewart announcing that he is stepping down as host after seventeen years. The decision adds to the state of flux in US late night TV, following Stephen Colbert stepping into David Letterman's shoes on The Late Show (a very interesting choice) and Jame Corden replacing Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show. I have a suspicion that US audiences will take to Corden in the same way they took to Piers Morgan but you never know.
I think it's an astute decision from Stewart to go out at the top. Or somewhere near the top. For many years, he's delivered a topical comedy show of the highest quality that has attracted interview guests from across the spectrum of human life. You'd never know whether you'd be getting Bruce Springsteen or Louis CK or a former President or an economist. Whoever the subject, Stewart was invariably an engaging interviewer. There will be many on the right in the US who will be delighted by the news of his departure. It's one thing to point out the ill informed views spouted on Fox News. It's quite another to skewer them with the forensic attention to detail of Stewart and his fine team of correspondents over the years.
Stewart has been incredibly uncomfortable with the notion that young people get their news from The Daily Show. But it's a testament to him and his team that the programme has become part of the political conversation in the US. I and pretty much everyone else who loves comedy desperately wishes we had some sort of worthy equivalent on these shores. Who will replace him? John Oliver seemed tailor made at one point and was hugely impressive when filling in for Stewart during filming of his first feature, Rosebud. But it seems unlikely having developed his own show for HBO, Last Week Tonight, which is providing a great success at the moment. Perhaps Comedy Central would be better off retiring The Daily Show in favour of a new format. Whatever happens, Stewart's shoes are large ones to fill.
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