Bravo!!!

Dug it

The new host of the Daily Show?  Brian Williams.

Kidding.

You know, a couple years ago this would seem like devastating news, but we've seen that the show can work without him.  John Oiliver crushed it so hard that he got his own series on HBO.  Jason Jones and Sam Bee did a great job recently when Stewart was sick, I could see them becoming the new anchors and giving the show a whole different energy.  The show has a ton of staff and commentators so I'm sure they're already putting together some kind of battle plan.

Considering how many names came out of the Daily Show, I think they'd be fools not to promote from within.  I'll even bet that Stewart has people in mind, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would quit until he knew everyone else was ready to carry on without him.

Think of the possibilities right from the current crop:


* Jason Jones and Samantha Bee: they took over a while ago (the Oct 7 2014 episode), it was a last minute substitution (JS was throwing up like crazy) and they were good.  It was cute, different, but it could be real entertaining.  They're the most senior after Stewart, so it seems like a foregone conclusion.  But let's look at some other people:

* Rob Riggle: he seems to play more of a character on the show, and that works for Colbert, but that show is centered around one person while TDS is more of a group thing.

* Aasif Mandvi: now i can totally picture Aasif having the same go-get-em attitude as Jon Stewart, he seems like the natural person to take over if you want that same kind of energy on the show.  But the question is: do they want that same energy? Are they losing something by taking him out of the field?

* Olivia Munn: I can't really see it, I like her fine but she's never really made me laugh the few few times she's actually been on the show.  I'd rather see her do more movies and shows and be a proper actress.

* Trevor Noah: Now he could be interesting, I know he's the newest one but he could bring a great outsider perspective on everything, sort of like how John Oliver does, but without that overdignified regal snobbish air that Oliver plays into so wonderfully.  Plus, that accent, like butter.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of other contributers, but they're the ones who seem most likely.  Maybe they'll give them all a week and see who the audience likes.

And here's an out-of-left field suggestion: Craig Ferguson.  Super patriotic, stand-up, long history of hosting with interesting interviews... I could see it happening in some parallel universe.

Do you watch the Comedy Central, Paul?

It feels like the half-life of these hosts is getting smaller and smaller, Carson might be an outlier having been on for decades, but Craigy Ferg was only 10 years, Stewart only 15, Colbert was, what, 7?  It seems to get smaller and smaller.

Jon Stewart's announcement on the show about his leaving the show: