# Jon Stewart to step down from The Daily Show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345 "2015-02-10T23:49:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/361 "2015-04-01T16:02:15Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Right, Stewart wasn’t known as a great comic before he was on TDS. I mainly knew him from him being in the movie The Faculty, where he was fine, but it wasn’t exactly a sign of how he was going to be a big star. > > But also things have changed since then. Someone taking over Craig Kilborn’s show in 1999 was a news story, but a fairly minor one. But someone taking over Jon Stewart’s show now is a much bigger story, so he has much more scrutiny. I don’t remember people in 1999 thinking that Jon Stewart was a great choice or a terrible choice or whatever, because people didn’t really care as much then. This is not true at all, Stewart has the hot young comedian early in his career. He was thought of as someone to take over for Leno or Letterman. He was given his own daily show on MTV when that was the hottest network going. He played the hot young host on the Larry Sanders Show on HBO because it was known that even after his syndicated show failed he was thought of as a legitimate star with huge potential. When Letterman left NBC it was considered a major upset that Conan got the Late Nite gig instead of Stewart. Letterman offered him a talk show after Tom Snyder’s show. Bad timing is the only reason he is not the host of the Tonight show. His descent into the king of clapter as the host of the Daily Show was a real loss to comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/362 "2015-04-01T16:41:47Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > But I’m guessing the producers have seen a lot more of his material, and done test shows with him. Actually, they have not done a test show. That came up in recent reports. The hiring sounded pretty seat-of-the-pants. > [@](#): > > Right, Stewart wasn’t known as a great comic before he was on TDS. I mainly knew him from him being in the movie The Faculty, where he was fine, but it wasn’t exactly a sign of how he was going to be a big star. Stewart had a hit talk show on MTV (The Jon Stewart Show) before he took over The Daily Show. His chops were well-established. **ETA** : Ninja-ed by **puddleglum**! ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/363 "2015-04-01T17:14:42Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Right, Stewart wasn’t known as a great comic before he was on TDS. I mainly knew him from him being in the movie The Faculty, where he was fine, but it wasn’t exactly a sign of how he was going to be a big star. As others wrote he was being groomed to take over for Letterman so he was pretty well known. I would submit he was more a “Comic’s Comic”. Not necessarily a household name but successful and a comedian that funny people think is funny. Louis CK would be a good example of a current one (although he is getting more and more famous). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/364 "2015-04-01T17:41:33Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > This is not true at all, Stewart has the hot young comedian early in his career. He was thought of as someone to take over for Leno or Letterman. He was given his own daily show on MTV when that was the hottest network going. He played the hot young host on the Larry Sanders Show on HBO because it was known that even after his syndicated show failed he was thought of as a legitimate star with huge potential. When Letterman left NBC it was considered a major upset that Conan got the Late Nite gig instead of Stewart. Letterman offered him a talk show after Tom Snyder’s show. Bad timing is the only reason he is not the host of the Tonight show. > His descent into the king of clapter as the host of the Daily Show was a real loss to comedy. I guess he was bigger than I realized at the time. I went looking for what the consensus was when he was picked. It’s hard to find, since a lot of the news articles from 1998 aren’t online. But I did find [this profile](http://nymag.com/arts/tv/profiles/68086/index2.html) of him that includes this: > [@](#): > > Hosting a short-lived but clever MTV talk show in the early nineties put Stewart into the late-night derby, and in January 1999 he replaced Craig Kilborn, the original Daily Show host. The expectations weren’t especially high. Stephen Colbert remembers the reaction of his wife, Evelyn McGee, who’d been friendly with Stewart years earlier. “When Jon got The Daily Show, she said, ‘Wait a second—he wasn’t the funny one in our group,’ ” Colbert says. “ ‘He was the quiet one in the corner with a beer.’ ” I also found [this article](http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/what-critics-said-about-jon-stewart-daily-show.html) of what critics said after Stewart had started the show. It’s an interesting read, most of the reviews were positive. > [@Quimby](#): > > As others wrote he was being groomed to take over for Letterman so he was pretty well known. > > I would submit he was more a “Comic’s Comic”. Not necessarily a household name but successful and a comedian that funny people think is funny. Louis CK would be a good example of a current one (although he is getting more and more famous). That makes sense, that he was a more “Comic’s Comic.” I wasn’t (and am still not) a huge comedy buff, so I’d heard of him, but I guess didn’t know he was a comedian that a lot of comedians were big on. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/365 "2015-04-01T17:56:31Z")
I’ll give him a chance but I really wish Tina Fey took over. She has the perfect amount of gravitas, comedic chops, and poking the establishment that would be a great successor. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/366 "2015-04-02T09:36:57Z")
I don’t care one bit about the supposed “offensive” tweets. But I think these tweets show that he doesn’t have the intellectual sophistication necessary: [[Album] Trevor Noah ![](https://i.imgur.com/csYJrpr.jpeg?fb "Trevor Noah") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/KyvXw) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/367 "2015-04-02T11:29:50Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > I don’t care one bit about the supposed “offensive” tweets. But I think these tweets show that he doesn’t have the intellectual sophistication necessary: > > [Trevor Noah - Album on Imgur](http://imgur.com/gallery/KyvXw) But…Dude: he’s riffing on Christopher Hitchens. He may not always hit the mark, but he is positioning himself as someone who reads and has an intellectual life. It will be interesting how Jon Stewart manages the transition. His whole rep is his legacy of giving talent an opportunity. Everything rides on his reputation and how he passes the torch. If Jon says “I like this guy.” Noah will have the possibility of a honeymoon period. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/368 "2015-04-02T12:48:56Z")
“Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I’m sexy!” - fat chicks everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/369 "2015-04-02T12:54:18Z")
Just posting a few interesting takes from current comedians: The first by [Guy Branum](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/opinion/trevor-noah-learns-twitter-just-cant-take-a-joke.html) in the NY Times basically stating that Twitter has supplemented workshopping jokes in small clubs to get them right. And in order to get them right, comedians have to get them wrong first and editting that process would hinder the artform. The second by ever so slightly offensive comedian [Jim Norton](http://time.com/3766915/trevor-noah-tweets-outrage/) stating that if you’re outraged, you’re full of shit, and you just enjoy the feeling of being outraged. Maybe a somewhat less subtle point. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/370 "2015-04-02T13:01:26Z")
I don’t find Trevor Noah’s jokes to be very funny. Actually, I find him to be a little funny, as in “that guy ain’t right in the head”. It doesn’t appear that the public is going give Noah a pass just because he’s the chosen Daily Show host. _Ariana Gic Perry @ArianaGicPerry Jews, “untermenschen”, “fat chicks” & “girls with big asses” - subjects of @Trevornoah’s low-brow humour. Jon Stewart’s replacement, folks!_ (Untermenschen = sub-human) ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/371 "2015-04-02T13:03:10Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Just posting a few interesting takes from current comedians: > > The first by [Guy Branum](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/opinion/trevor-noah-learns-twitter-just-cant-take-a-joke.html) in the NY Times basically stating that Twitter has supplemented workshopping jokes in small clubs to get them right. And in order to get them right, comedians have to get them wrong first and editting that process would hinder the artform. > > The second by ever so slightly offensive comedian [Jim Norton](http://time.com/3766915/trevor-noah-tweets-outrage/) stating that if you’re outraged, you’re full of shit, and you just enjoy the feeling of being outraged. Maybe a somewhat less subtle point. They sound like comedians defending one of their own. I think Trevor Noah sounds like an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/372 "2015-04-02T13:29:45Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > They sound like comedians defending one of their own. > > I think Trevor Noah sounds like an asshole. Or comedians explaining how comedy is made to a public that might have the perception that they are just getting up on stage and making things up on the fly. I’m not a comedian, so I take their word for how the process occurs. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/373 "2015-04-02T14:22:43Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > I don’t care one bit about the supposed “offensive” tweets. But I think these tweets show that he doesn’t have the intellectual sophistication necessary: > > [Trevor Noah - Album on Imgur](http://imgur.com/gallery/KyvXw) Wow, those are really lame. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/374 "2015-04-02T14:44:03Z")
Even though Jon Stewart was (presumably?) the head writer for TDS and steered the ship over there, that doesn’t mean that Trevor Noah will do the same. He could very well just be a talking head that reads the news, and the writing team will continue to knock it out of the park. I can’t imagine that Craig Kilbourn had as much influence on the early years of the show as Jon had later on. He always seemed like just a face reading the news, too (which I think we’re all better off for!) ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/375 "2015-04-02T16:10:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Just posting a few interesting takes from current comedians: > > The first by [Guy Branum](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/opinion/trevor-noah-learns-twitter-just-cant-take-a-joke.html) in the NY Times basically stating that Twitter has supplemented workshopping jokes in small clubs to get them right. And in order to get them right, comedians have to get them wrong first and editting that process would hinder the artform. > > The second by ever so slightly offensive comedian [Jim Norton](http://time.com/3766915/trevor-noah-tweets-outrage/) stating that if you’re outraged, you’re full of shit, and you just enjoy the feeling of being outraged. Maybe a somewhat less subtle point. In a comedy club people are there to laugh, on twitter there are a number of people looking for things to get outraged about. Thus we see things like the current kerfuffle where a comedian celebrity thinks he should be held to the standards of a comedian, and some members of the public think he should be held to the standards of a celebrity. As someone who dislikes what the Daily Show became I am enjoying the irony of the host of a show that did more than anything to popularize the notion that who the butt of the joke is outweighs whether the joke is funny defending himself against the notion that he told jokes about the wrong people. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/376 "2015-04-02T16:17:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Or comedians explaining how comedy is made to a public that might have the perception that they are just getting up on stage and making things up on the fly. I’m not a comedian, so I take their word for how the process occurs. Using twitter to workshop jokes is idiotic. A) you’re blabbing your joke to the whole world B) jokes in printed medium are different than verbal ones, delivery is important C) you can only practice one liners. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/377 "2015-04-02T16:20:58Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > It doesn’t appear that the public is going give Noah a pass just because he’s the chosen Daily Show host. > > _Ariana Gic Perry @ArianaGicPerry > Jews, “untermenschen”, “fat chicks” & “girls with big asses” - subjects of @Trevornoah’s low-brow humour. Jon Stewart’s replacement, folks!_ I think we won’t know until he’s actually in the chair and ratings start coming in. You can find random Twitter quips from no-name people about anything. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/378 "2015-04-02T16:31:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Using twitter to workshop jokes is idiotic. A) you’re blabbing your joke to the whole world B) jokes in printed medium are different than verbal ones, delivery is important C) you can only practice one liners. Are you under the impression that every time a comedian gets up on stage he or she is up there with brand new material? Every single joke you are hearing on an HBO comedy special has been blabbed to the world hundreds of times. It has been turned over and adjusted to work on the timing and the phrasing until it is in the form that the comedian wants it. If it only looks extemporaneous. You might not see the point in using Twitter, but you are [demonstrably](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/arts/television/tv-comedy-writers-on-twitter.html) [incorrect](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/03/31/trevor-noahs-tweets-and-why-people-should-overlook-bad-jokes-by-good-comics/) that it is not used for developing stage material: _“As the service has gone from novel to necessary, performers and writers up and down the comedy food chain have taken to it. Though for most it’s simply another promotional tool letting followers know about a coming show or book release, many are making Twitter into a virtual workshop, whether they’re stand-ups testing bits and experimenting with improv or behind-the-scenes writers edging into the limelight.”_ _"Twitter serves as just one platform where the experimentation can take place, and for a lot of comics, it functions not just as megaphone for what’s ready for primetime, but also as a virtual open mike where they can workshop. "_ ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/379 "2015-04-02T17:06:18Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Are you under the impression that every time a comedian gets up on stage he or she is up there with brand new material? Every single joke you are hearing on an HBO comedy special has been blabbed to the world hundreds of times. It has been turned over and adjusted to work on the timing and the phrasing until it is in the form that the comedian wants it. If it only looks extemporaneous. No, because I’m not an idiot. But you don’t workshop where the entire world sees or then everyone will remember your crappy version of the joke. That’s why it’s done in small clubs. I’m quite certain Noah wasn’t workshopping the Jews own the record companies or jewish girls don’t go down jokes. He was just trying to be amusing and build a following, which apparently he had done quite well even before this appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345/380 "2015-04-02T17:10:38Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > “Oh yeah the weekend. People are gonna get drunk & think that I’m sexy!” I’m beginning to think this is exactly how he got the Daily Show gig. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jon-stewart-to-step-down-from-the-daily-show/712345.md?page=20)