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Jon Stewart Leaving ‘The Daily Show’
Variety Staff
54 mins ago
Jon Stewart said he would step down from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” after 17 years, leaving a new hole in the ranks of late-night television and setting up another challenge for the Viacom-owned cable network, which recently bid farewell to popular time-slot host, Stephen Colbert.
Stewart’s current contract is believed to end around the fall of 2015, and he is expected to stay until that time.
The news is not entirely surprising. Stewart. 52, had discussed the possibility of leaving “The Daily Show” while promoting “Rosewater,” a film that marked his directorial debut. And yet, his departure means that the backbone of Comedy Central’s lineup is looser than it has been in some time. The network in January launched “The Nightly Show,” starring producer and writer Larry Wilmore, as a successor to Colbert’s “Colbert Report,” which ended in December. Colbert will succeed David Letterman on CBS’ “Late Show” later this year.
Comedy Central executives have quietly been planning for his exit. “I don’t like to think about the day that Jon leaves, but there will be a day. The show will live on. It is a franchise, like the ‘Tonight Show,'” Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central’s president told Variety in December. “We’ll figure it out when we get there. He has set the standard. We will identify talent, and hopefully, we will find the next Jon Stewart.”
Stewart’s departure represents another kind of loss for Comedy Central. He played a key role in discovering and promoting new talent. Indeed, Colbert and Wilmore were contributors to Stewart’s program before he brought them to the attention of network executives as talent that could anchor their own programs. Stewart is a producer of “Nightly.” He also gets some credit for the rise of John Oliver, the British comedian who recently moved to HBO after a successful stint filling in for Stewart while he worked on his movie.
more to come…
Variety Staff
54 mins ago
Jon Stewart said he would step down from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” after 17 years, leaving a new hole in the ranks of late-night television and setting up another challenge for the Viacom-owned cable network, which recently bid farewell to popular time-slot host, Stephen Colbert.
Stewart’s current contract is believed to end around the fall of 2015, and he is expected to stay until that time.
The news is not entirely surprising. Stewart. 52, had discussed the possibility of leaving “The Daily Show” while promoting “Rosewater,” a film that marked his directorial debut. And yet, his departure means that the backbone of Comedy Central’s lineup is looser than it has been in some time. The network in January launched “The Nightly Show,” starring producer and writer Larry Wilmore, as a successor to Colbert’s “Colbert Report,” which ended in December. Colbert will succeed David Letterman on CBS’ “Late Show” later this year.
Comedy Central executives have quietly been planning for his exit. “I don’t like to think about the day that Jon leaves, but there will be a day. The show will live on. It is a franchise, like the ‘Tonight Show,'” Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central’s president told Variety in December. “We’ll figure it out when we get there. He has set the standard. We will identify talent, and hopefully, we will find the next Jon Stewart.”
Stewart’s departure represents another kind of loss for Comedy Central. He played a key role in discovering and promoting new talent. Indeed, Colbert and Wilmore were contributors to Stewart’s program before he brought them to the attention of network executives as talent that could anchor their own programs. Stewart is a producer of “Nightly.” He also gets some credit for the rise of John Oliver, the British comedian who recently moved to HBO after a successful stint filling in for Stewart while he worked on his movie.
more to come…