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Jon Stewart

Who will replace Jon Stewart?

Donna Freydkin
USA TODAY
The sky's the limit for free agent-to-be Jon Stewart.

NEW YORK – Another position has opened up in the cutthroat, insular world of late night.

Requirements: deft grasp of the absurd, total immersion in global and national politics, quicksilver interview skills, uncanny ability to read people and understand when they're stonewalling or prevaricating, and nimble gift for wordsmithery.

Without question, Comedy Central will take its time finding a worthy successor to formidable fake-news anchor Jon Stewart, who announced Tuesday that he's leaving The Daily Show when his contract is up.

"I'm sad because like everyone else, I'll miss seeing him every night, but I'm also very happy for him ... the man has been grinding it out for 17 years. Whatever is next I hope he's happy. I'll always be grateful to Jon," says former correspondent Rob Riggle, one of the many who benefited from Stewart's eye for talent.

Stewart's successor will face a daunting task, says Tom Hollihan, a professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

"He's a supremely talented interviewer, very quick-witted and sharp and he's clearly well-read and well-informed. There is something about his kind of charm and his ability to connect with viewers non-verbally that I think will make it difficult for anyone to fill his shoes," Hollihan says. "There are other people who have established their own brand, but Stewart is a unique player."

The bigger question, says Ron Simon, a curator at The Paley Center for Media, is, "How is the format going to change to adapt to that star? The show will evolve. What people forget about Jon is that he didn't quite fit the traditional talk-show format. He tried a talk show at MTV. It didn't play up his skills. The Daily Show was a perfect fit — all the skills he needed, the comic reactions, the way deliver the news, the way to play off clips, he had all those gifts. But no one knew about that if you look at his previous work."

Some of the names being thrown around, even though they may be under contract elsewhere and thus unavailable:

  • John Oliver, who left the Daily Show to host his own weekly mock newscast on HBO and now, ironically, has become, after Stewart, the most senior satirist on TV.
  • Amy Schumer, the foul-mouthed, angel-faced creator of Comedy Central's Inside Amy Schumer.
  • Perennial gadfly Sarah Silverman.
  • Tina Fey, whose film career post-30 Rock hasn't exactly soared, but who is sweetly scathing when she's hosting the Golden Globes.
  • Chris Rock, the acid-tongued comedian who'd bring a very welcome dash of color to late night.
  • Riggle, who got his start on the Daily Show and now provides sports commentary on Fox NFL Sunday.
  • Colin Jost, the head writer at Saturday Night Live and Weekend Update host.
  • Writer and actor B.J. Novak, who is known for NBC's The Office, but also penned the wonderfully funny, endearing The Book With No Pictures,

What's next for Stewart? Perhaps directing another film.

Could Chris Rock wind up on the 'Daily Show'?

When we spoke to him in November about Rosewater, he said that going behind the camera wasn't much of a detour for him, and in his inimitable way, compared the whole process to that of a kitchen.

"It's just narrative. It's similar to how we construct the show. To liken it to a Mexican restaurant, seeing as that's where I worked for a long time, it's chicken. Might be a burrito, might be a taco. To me it's not a different process or substance," he said.

At that point in time, Stewart was honest – in that he didn't have any clarity about his future. He was visibly tired and distracted, going from his Daily Show desk to myriad promotional events hyping Rosewater. And he said he just wanted to take a breath and figure out what he wanted.

"You don't want to make decisions in a place of, when you hit the wall in the marathon. I want to make a decision when I'm not cramping," he said.

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