Yeah, Brian Unger has been waiting 17 years, so I’m all for that.
I watched the first season of TDS with Kilborne - I thought he did a solid job, but after reading the interview where he sorta told the wonderful Liz Winstead to fuck off (or something equally mature), I realized what a douche he was. And my watching him in various duties since then has only reinforced this.
I’d love Aisha Tyler or Amy Poehler - both have done improve/standup, are very smart and would do a wonderful job.
And I think Paula Poundstone is a bit of a bitch, ever since I was a caller on “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” and she was really snide and demeaning to me (which was cut out when the show aired). Which sucks, cuz I thought she was a pretty good (not great) comedian before that show.
He’d be great. He’s got the brains and the comic timing for it.
Tina Fey would also be great (for the same reasons).
If Comedy Central wants ‘30 or under,’ though, Mandvi is 48 and Fey is 44.
A possible ‘30 or under’ who ticks the diversity box (“not a white male”) might be Aubrey Plaza. She’s got the improv and sketch-comedy experience, and some career success under her belt. I don’t know if she has the necessary level of interest in politics and media, though.
I watched during the Kilborn days, but it was a very different show back then with a very different place in the culture. Kilborn leaving did not merit a front page article in the Times. Kilborn never got sitting presidents to visit. Kilborn didn’t get 18 Emmys.
People are probably right about Paula Poundstone being too old. I don’t know if people with network series would go to basic cable, even this one. So while I’d love for Tina Fey to take the job, I doubt it.
I don’t know that Jessica Williams has the experience to move into the anchor desk. They’ve been way too good at getting their correspondents high level comedy and acting jobs.
You’re probably right that they’ll reboot the show and whoever hosts will want to put their own stamp on it. But it will be a shame to no longer have Jon Stewart’s media criticism to prod Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and the other cable news providers. The Crossfire incident was the most prominent example of his influence.
Louis C.K. is not only too busy, he’s famously a ‘do-it-yourself’ entrepreneur who prefers selling his concerts himself to being paid by HBO (or such) for them. He wouldn’t be interested in becoming the employee of a cable network.
The entire liberal infotainment sphere of the internet is already dedicated to the cause. For some it seems to be a life calling. Sometimes I wonder what they’d talk about without Fox.
Well, crap. I know it’s best to step down before you get too sick of it, but it’s still sad to hear.
For replacements, I don’t want John Oliver to take the job - he’s my favorite comedian currently out there, but Last Week Tonight really suits him better than the Daily Show. The in-depth segments on various issues most American media doesn’t even touch is brilliant, as well as the creative control.
Jessica Williams would rock the show, but I have a feeling she’s not going to get it. Tina Fey didn’t even occur to me at first, but she would also be great, if they can get her to agree to it. Please, please, not Samantha Bee; I can take her in small doses, but not as an anchor. Maybe Sarah Silverman?
Yeah, and actually people who form opinions on issues purely from seeing satire like the daily show freak me out as much as people who take their opinions from fox.
Humour like this is always going to caricature at least one side of the argument, and give no right of reply. It can draw your attention to particular issues, no more than that.
That said I’m a fan of Jon Stewart and think he’s had a great innings.
It’s odd (and I feel very old) reading all these “I never heard of Jon Stewart before The Daily Show” comments. TDS was his *sixth *hosting gig.
1991 Short Attention Span Theater
1992 You Wrote It, You Watch It
1993 The Jon Stewart Show (MTV)
1994 The Jon Stewart Show (syndicated)
1996 Where’s Elvis This Week?
Admittedly, some of those are ridiculously obscure. Even so, he had been groomed (or was grooming himself) for a major hosting gig for the entire decade. They gave him lots and lots of valuable experience, even though he quite frankly sucked as a host and especially as an interviewer at times.
I know the trend since has been to give shows to people without experience, which has lead to some successes but a lot of slow learning curves nevertheless. It’s going to be much tougher to replace Stewart on TDS than to start a whole new show like Larry Wilmore. And that’s a painful learning curve to watch.
I wouldn’t give any of the current correspondents the job with the possible exception of Trever Noah and that’s only because I’ve seen his stand-up show, not for anything he did on TDS. I truly hope that Comedy Central will do something as weird as CBS, which picked an unknown British guy to replace their unknown Scottish guy who turned out so great.