The Daily Show Brings Back Jon Stewart as Host

In a surprising late-night television shakeup, Paramount and Comedy Central have announced that John Stewart, who hosted The Daily Show for 16 years, will return as host once weekly through the 2024 election in November and into 2025. The news follows the exit of Trevor Noah, Stewart’s successor as The Daily Show host, in 2022 and a year of rotating guest hosts that did not end with the choosing of a new full-time face for the series despite Roy Wood Jr., Hasan Minhaj, and Kal Penn being in the running. Other reports also suggested that Paramount sought big names like Amy Schumer and Chris Rock to take the reigns of the Comedy Central show but failed to secure a deal. Meanwhile, Stewart exited his Apple TV+ show , reportedly over creative differences with the streaming service’s executives regarding the coverage of some topics. While Stewart will only host The Daily Show once weekly, he will be involved in the series as an executive producer for every episode during his return. 

“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, President/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.”

The Daily Show became a go-to source of political comedy during Stewart’s 16 years as host, winning many Emmy Awards during that era. However, the show’s nightly schedule left Stewart exhausted as he stepped away from the position in 2015. Allowing Stewart to host only once a week likely helped coax the 61-year-old comedian into returning to his old gig. 

Stewart’s return will begin on February 12th, with Stewart on-screen on Monday nights and producing behind-the-scenes for the rest of the week. The Daily Show will, presumably, continue to feature its bench of correspondents — including Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, and Dulcé Sloan — during the rest of the week.

Wood appeared to be the frontrunner to take over The Daily Show before his exit. In an interview, he explained he couldn’t move forward with his career while remaining in a holding pattern while Comedy Central made its choice. “I can’t come up with Plan B is while still working with Plan A,” Wood explained. “The job of correspondent…it’s not really one where you can juggle multiple things. [And] I think eight years is a good run.” He added, “If you’re offered the chance to host The Daily Show at any point in your life… you have to stop for a second and consider that … The next question becomes, ‘What does The Daily Show look like in 2024? And what does late night look like in 2024?’”