Jon Stewart is leaving The
Daily Show. I had to read that headline again. I was hoping Jon Stewart
would host The Daily Show until he
was as old as Bob Schieffer, and all his former college viewers were on
MediCare. If I were him, I’d never leave that gig; it’s just too much fun.
(I bought a TV set and got cable just so I could watch The Daily Show and TCM.)
Who will replace him? I’m glad you asked me that question,
because I think I know how Comedy Central ought to handle this. It’s not
because I’m so smart; it’s just because I’ve seen it before and it worked.
The Daily Show
should do what Johnny Carson did on The
Tonight Show: Have a series of guest hosts, and see who works the best, and
who the audience likes the most. If Jon Stewart did this over a few months,
surely they’d get the right replacement for everyone. And who would say no to
guest hosting The Daily Show? Anyone
who is asked will likely do it, so we’d get to see lots of possibilities.
But, just in case you were wondering, here’s my list of
hopeful hosts:
Natasha Leggero (No joke: She would likely knock this gig
out of the park! She’s one of the best LA scene comedians. If you don’t know
who she is, you’re missing out. Plus, we could use a female late night host on
Comedy Central.)
Wyatt Cenac (He would have been the perfect choice to host The Nightly Show, I think, but he’d do
great on The Daily Show too. But
would Comedy Central give both shows to black hosts? I don’t see why not, but I
don’t run the network.)
John Oliver (Yes, he has an HBO show, but this would be far
more prestigious and make a much larger cultural impact. Plus, he’s already
rocked the job before!)
Ed Helms (He’s a big Hollywood guy now, so why come back for
this job? Because he’d be good at it. He was one of the best correspondents,
and look at how that show turned out from the other best one, Stephen Colbert!)
Lewis Black (Man, if they gave this show to Lewis Black, it
would be wonderfully insane and angry! I’d love to see that!)
Rob Riggle (Can you imagine him hosting The Daily Show?
It might be really fun…)
Rob Corddry (He was one of the better correspondents, and he
has guest hosted before.)
There’s a bunch more too who work there who would probably
be good: Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Olivia Munn, Jordan Klepper, Kristen
Schall, Jessica Williams, Aasif Mandvi. Let’s see them try it on for size. (I
think probably Olivia Munn and Jordan Klepper would likely be the better hosts
of this group, not to knock the others: the truth is, the correspondents get to
have more fun and make most of the jokes; the host is more of a “straight man”
and presentation job.)
There are lots to choose from, so why not try a few out as
guest hosts just to be sure to get the right one? It’s the only thing that really
makes sense, and that’s probably why they won’t do it.
