So Stewart’s successor is not only black but not American – how will the RW react to that, I wonder?
This American can distinguish some/most of the various British and Commonwealth accents (e.g. Irish from Scottish from Cockney from Australian from posh English), but I have trouble sometimes with certain ones – New Zealand and Australian often sound similar to me; sometimes I’ll confuse a Yorkshireman for a Scot; I hear so few Welsh accents that I might just assume it’s a variety of English; I probably have trouble distinguish certain regional accents inside England; etc.
I’m hoping for really good things from Noah – what little of his stand-up I’ve seen has been very good, and it will be a very different perspective. Looking forward to it!
Well, I’m surprised by the choice, but optimistic. He’s obviously incredibly talented, and could establish a very interesting, unique voice for himself.
The fact that he’s “not an American” could be a little trouble, but I trust him and the team there to not let it get in the way.
They’ll stop watching the Daily Show in droves!
Yea, it seems like kind of a weird job for a non-American. John Oliver* had lived in the States for a decade (and IIRC, had US citizenship) by the time he guest-hosted the TDS. It doesn’t sound like Noah has spent that much time here.
It could still work. But having an outsider criticize US politics and institutions is definately going to give a different tone to the show.
*(Oliver was also helped by the fact that he could make fun of England to, since most Americans know a lot about that country. I doubt even the generally well informed audience of TDS knows anything about South Africa beyond aparthied and Mandela. )
Trevor Noah does not have an upper class accent. Upper middle class, is more like it. It’s what we call a “Model C” accent.
I probably can distinguish them, but until reading your comments in this thread it would never have occurred to me to even notice.
We don’t think of class divisions in the same way that the British Empire (and the countries it spawned other than the US) do.
Americans are not good at distinguishing one Commonwealth accent from another. For the most part, if you pressed them to listen to two accents one after another, they maybe, after concentrated study, might realize “oh, they’re not the same,” but they will have no clue as to the class significance.
Most Americans will upon meeting someone not be able to identify from the accent whether an individual is Irish, Scottish, Welsh, English, Australian, New Zealander, or South African.
And unless the person is obviously meant to represent a criminal, they all will sound “fancy.” Both Michael Caine and Hugh Grant sound sophisticated to Americans, even though to a British person, Caine’s accent is obviously not posh.
If they can’t tell the difference between us and Australians, I don’t think they’re going to be able to distinguish the nuance between “Model C” and “private school” accents. 
I checked these out. The man is FUNNY. An excellent choice, I think.
I’ve only seen one or two things from him, but I’ll have to check out the videos above. I really liked what I’ve seen so far. I think his version of the show could be pretty good.
Maybe it’s time for the show to not be just about American happenings and perspectives.
I think Comedy Central was thinking about global appeal in this hire. The Hollywood Reporter interviewed the president of Comedy Central on this and he said, “The world is becoming smaller and smaller every day, so having someone with a global perspective is important for us domestically, not to mention internationally.” I think right now, the primary version of the show they broadcast outside the US is once a week, thirty minutes long, edited from the four episodes that week. Perhaps they’re going to try to push the regular show internationally. Perhaps they’ll do a second version of the regular show, with more international content.
I have not been impressed with Noah in his bits as a correspondent. And I agree that this job calls for someone familiar with American politics. I don’t think this is a good hire, but I hope to be proven wrong.
I think you are giving TDS/Comedy Central 's audience waaaaaaay too much credit. I am betting that the vast majority aren’t cosmopolitan liberal thinkers, just maybe more Democrats.
There’s a difference? 
A huge huge difference, despite what some cosmopolitan Dems think.
So his standup is built around accents (/race/culture) but no one will notice or care. Besides he’s not going to do that on the show anyway. Perfect committee decision. Lol.
His act as he has performed it in America doesn’t depend on Americans already understanding the unspoken class-system implications of non-American accents.
I didn’t say it did, unless I missed something.