A daily chronicle of creativity in film, TV, music, arts, and entertainment, produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from November 2014 – March 2020. Host John Horn leads the conversation, accompanied by the nation's most plugged-in cultural journalists.
Aug. 6 is Jon Stewart’s last night on “The Daily Show.” Fans love him for his 16 years hosting the show, during which time he’s called out politicians, hosted presidential candidates and fostered the careers of Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Steve Carell, among many others.
But Stewart wasn’t a well-known quantity when he took over “The Daily Show” in 1999. After paying his dues at stand-up clubs in New York, he landed his first hosting gig on Comedy Central in 1990. It was for “Short Attention Span Theater” — the kind of show where they'd read viewers' letters on air.
Unfortunately for Stewart, he wouldn’t escape viewer letters anytime soon. One of his next shows was MTV’s “You Wrote It, You Watch It,” an early attempt at crowdsourcing, where viewers’ letters were turned into sketch comedy segments.
“You Wrote It, You Watch It” lasted for only one season and before long Stewart was back on MTV to host his own talk show, aptly named “The Jon Stewart Show.” Even though it was canceled after two years, Stewart's next show was a step in the right direction. He hosted “Where’s Elvis This Week?” — a BBC panel show that took on some of the most important political topics of the day. Notable guests on the show included Eddie Izzard and Dave Chappelle.
“Where’s Elvis This Week?” was short-lived too. It would seem the perfect transition to the political satire of “The Daily Show,” but not before Stewart tried his hand at acting in films such as “The Faculty.”
Stewart even signed a deal with Miramax to star in a slew of films, including opposite Gillian Anderson in 1998’s “Playing by Heart.”
Stewart would be getting another shot at host very soon though. In 1998 he was named to replace then-“Daily Show” host Craig Kilborn.
On Jan. 11, 1999, Stewart began his tenure as host of "The Daily Show" and the rest is history. Trevor Noah gets his shot as host, starting Sept. 28.
The Daily Show
Daily Show Full Episodes, More Daily Show Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes