Over the weekend, rumors began to rumble that Comedy Central had found its replacement for Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show. Variety reported that Trevor Noah, who was hired by the show in October and made his debut as a correspondent in December, was on the network’s shortlist for the gig.
Though Brian Steinberg’s report seemed to indicate that Comedy Central was still months away from naming a new host, the network was evidently closer to making a decision than originally believed. On Monday morning, the New York Times‘ Dave Itzkoff broke the announcement that Noah is indeed the new man in The Daily Show‘s anchor chair. Shortly thereafter, Comedy Central posted a press release and Noah confirmed the news himself via Twitter.
No-one can replace Jon Stewart. But together with the amazing team at The Daily Show, we will continue to make this the best damn news show!
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 30, 2015
When Variety posted its article, the surprise was that Noah was being considered, especially given how recently he had joined The Daily Show, over other correspondents like Aasif Mandvi or Jessica Williams. Samantha Bee and Jason Jones took themselves out of the running upon joining TBS to produce a news satire program and sitcom for that channel.
Of course, there was wide speculation that Comedy Central could also go for a bigger, established name to replace Stewart. Instead, network executives and producers obviously went in the completely opposite direction. Noah might be a relative unknown, but picking someone younger who can grow into the role and claim it as his own over a longer span of time is probably a smarter way to go than a flashy hire who may have only stayed on the show for a couple of years. The Daily Show didn’t need that kind of upheaval again so soon.
So if you’re not familiar with him, who is Trevor Noah? He’s “the most successful comedian in Africa,” according to his website. Noah, 31, actually has experience in the late-night realm, hosting a talk show, Tonight with Trevor Noah, in South Africa for two seasons. He’s also the first comedian from that country to appear on The Tonight Show (performing stand-up in 2012) and The Late Show with David Letterman. In Noah’s 2012 stand-up routine for Jay Leno, he explains much of his background.
Trevor Noah on Jay Leno – NAH MEAN! from Seth Rotherham on Vimeo.
And here is Noah’s first appearance as a correspondent on The Daily Show, which might provide a glimpse into the sort of perspective he’ll bring to the program. Obviously, it’s far too early to speculate as to what shape the show will take under Noah and his writing staff (which could be different than Stewart’s, though that’s likely far from being determined).
But applying an outsider view to American politics and cultural issues could certainly provide something different to late-night conversation. And though John Oliver and James Corden are British, Noah obviously also has a unique view as a biracial man. As he demonstrates in this segment, Noah will likely have some interesting things to say about race relations in this country and world events, providing some knowledge to viewers who may only get their news from late-night comedians.
Stewart announced he was leaving The Daily Show in mid-February, but an exact timetable for his departure wasn’t given. And according to the NYT, Comedy Central nor Stewart has yet decided when exactly his last show will be. Speculation was that he would stay through the fall, but that was presuming the network needed a lot of time to find a replacement and gear up for a probable debut in the fall.
But now that Noah has officially been announced (and the guess is that he’ll be introduced as the new host on Monday’s show), could Stewart’s timetable ramp up? Typically, there’s a break of about three months from the ending of one late-night show to the debut of its replacement. For instance, Craig Ferguson left CBS’ The Late Late Show last December, just before Christmas, and James Corden’s show premiered last week, in mid-March.
Could Stewart leave just before the summer, perhaps leaving the show in the hands of fill-in hosts for three months, before Noah takes over in September or October? Or will Stewart take what would essentially be a summer farewell tour and hand off the show to Noah directly as the fall season begins?
In the meantime, I suppose many of us will be scrolling through YouTube and Google searches looking for clips and articles on our new Daily Show host. Noah also has a stand-up special, African American, streaming on Netflix. In addition, the site has a documentary about him, titled You Laugh, But It’s True. I bet viewership numbers on those are about to go way up.
