Just in time for the 2024 election.
He’s back! After a nearly nine-year absence, Jon Stewart is once again taking up residence at the desk of The Daily Show.
The comedian, who put the satirical news program on the map, will host the show on Monday nights through this year’s election cycle. He’ll be back for an episode airing on Feb. 12, and he will also serve as executive producer, per the New York Times.
“Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central’s The Daily Show to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season,” Chris McCarthy, CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, said in a statement. “In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit.”
Since Trevor Noah left The Daily Show in 2022, the program hasn’t had a permanent host. Instead, it’s relied on a rotating cast of talent, including Sarah Silverman, Leslie Jones, and Kal Penn. Executives have declined to comment about why the search for a successor is taking so long, but the network has said that one is expected to be hired this year, per the Washington Post.
Stewart’s returning at a difficult period for the mock-news format, which he helped popularize. During his tenure, The Daily Show became appointment viewing — and for many Americans, their primary source of news. But with competition from streaming networks and waning interest in late-night comedy, the show’s ratings have tanked: Viewership during Noah’s last season was 70 percent lower than during Stewart’s last season.
When did Jon Stewart leave The Daily Show?
The comedian began hosting in 1999, taking over for Craig Kilborn, and he introduced his own unique blend of biting political commentary and comedy. He built the program into a cultural institution that drew millions of viewers, with high-profile guests like Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and helped launch the careers of celebs like John Oliver and Samantha Bee.
In fact, here’s a video from Katie’s days helming the CBS Evening News, featuring a clip of then-candidate Obama discussing why he chose to be interviewed by Stewart.
Stewart left the show in 2015 and went on to helm the Apple TV+ show The Problem with Jon Stewart. The current affairs series premiered in 2021 and was canceled after two seasons.
How to stream The Daily Show
If you’ve missed Stewart on The Daily Show — or want to catch up on what else the series is up to these days — you can watch new episodes on Comedy Central, airing Monday through Thursday at 11 pm. You can also stream episodes the following day on Paramount+.
