The Daily Show Needed to Evolve Beyond Jon Stewart

The Daily Show needed to evolve beyond Jon Stewart
It was time for Jon Stewart to move on, as Hank Stuever points out: “If he’s as smart and cognizant of the unvarnished truth as we believe him to be, then Stewart recognized that there was a whole other kind of Daily Show waiting to be made, hosted by someone else, maybe something that’s not even called The Daily Show. His version of it had become comfortable; surely it is still great comfort to those who first flocked to it during ‘Indecision 2000’ and the Bush vs. Gore recount, or who desperately needed it in the darkest days of post-9/11 war-waging. To watch The Daily Show every single night before bed and to expect it to never, ever change or evolve, is like being a child who never outgrows Goodnight Moon. It gets old. It had to.”
—Stewart and Brian Williams should just switch jobs
—Losing Stewart won’t be a make-or-break event for Comedy Central
—Jimmy Kimmel will have late-night’s longest-running show with Stewart’s retirement
—Stewart was never as potent after George W. Bush left office
—Stewart is going out on top at the perfect moment
—What critics said when Stewart took over The Daily Show in 1999
—Why Stewart’s replacement needs to be a woman
—Advice for the next Daily Show host: Forget Fox News

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