Bye, Bye Jon Stewart

I first started watching the Daily Show (and for that matter, Colbert Report as well) in earnest in 2008. That summer, oddly the same summer that got me started watching soccer when my Dad was traveling to Connecticut five days a week and my Mom and sister were in India, I started watching The Daily Show each evening with my parents. Six-and-a-half years later, Jon Stewart has decided to call it quits. Six months ago, Stewart’s most successful protégé, Stephen Colbert, did the same on the same network. Ending his show to take a much more storied gig, taking over The Late Show from David Letterman’s esteemed post after his 21 years at the helm. Comedy Central, in just six months, has now lost two of the most iconic shows of the 21^st Century, but while Colbert leaving for greener (figuratively and literally, he will undoubtedly be paid more by CBS) pastures was not too surprising, Jon Stewart suddenly, without much indication, announcing that 2015 will be his last year in charge of the Daily Show, is just stunning, and truthfully, heartbreaking.

Jon Stewart did not invent fake news, but he perfected it. He took over a show that was actually quite handily managed by Craig Kilborn (who left, like Colbert, for a CBS late-night show) in 1999. Kilborn’s show, though, was satirizing the news-man (oddly, much like Colbert would on the Report – though Colbert was more subtle). Stewart took over, and with his stand-up already rooted in political and socio-economic topics, turned it into a fake-news show. It is a small difference, but for the legacy of both the show and Jon Stewart, it was an entirely important difference.

Jon Stewart took over the show leading into the 2000 Election. It was a perfect opportunity for him to root his place in the US pop-culture scene. For once, we had a close election. Nay, the closest election in modern history. Jon Stewart took on the election, and the months following, with amazing aplomb. It was his catalyst, and a most effective one. His election coverage has always been brilliant, but he was able to hone it well with arguably the most memorable presidential election ever. Stewart presided with a nightly fake-news show throughout the entire Bush presidency, and will do so for almost all the Obama presidency. And while he was probably sharper during the Bush years, he became more confident, more pointed, and more important during the Obama years.

It is hard to say what is the lasting legacy of Jon Stewart. On one hand, he perfected the fake news format, getting so good at it that millions of people, unashamedly, admitted to getting most of their real news from The Daily Show. He also, as years grew on, was able to inject more and more legitimacy and importance into his platform. The show stayed rooted in comedy, and he kept making people laugh, but he also made people think a whole lot more than a show on Comedy Central should. Then again, maybe his legacy is the people he got to do 1/3^rd of his bidding. His correspondents became the ‘Not Ready for Primetime’ version of the 2000s that SNL was in the 70’s-80’s. It started with the Steve’s, Carrell and Colbert, both putting in years of yeoman’s work before leaving to become two of the most important and impressive comedy minds of their generation. But behind them was Ed Helms, Rob Corddry, Larry Wilmore, Wyatt Cenak, and most recently and maybe most importantly, John Oliver. Jon Stewart was known for creating an impressively challenging but also nurturing work environment, the type that could cultivate this immense talent they had on hand.

Jon Stewart and his show won the Emmy for best Creative Program for 11 straight years. From 2003 through 2013 no one else won this Emmy. Before him was 5-straight years of David Letterman winning, and after has come two years of the Colbert Report. Of course, Stewart’s show had to bridge that gap, as Colbert will take over for Letterman probably around the time Stewart retires. In years past, that was Jon Stewart’s job to lose. In actuality, Jon Stewart had an open contract offer for years to have first right of refusal to accept or decline taking over from Letterman, a man Stewart loved and admired, when Dave finally stepped aside. Funny thing, though, Jon Stewart was so good at what he did and so entrenched in his particular universe, that he outgrew taking over the Late Show. He could have far more impact and far more fun, just hosting The Daily Show. In the end, when Letterman’s seat finally opened up, he also stepped aside, letting the man who once worked for him take the job instead.

It is unclear what Jon Stewart will do from here. The likely answer is that he will go deeper into movie-making, a sensible option given the (relative) success of his directorial debut Rosewater. Stewart is still relatively young. There is life, in both years and energy, left inside him. Jon Stewart will live again, in some form. What it is we don’t know yet, and we may not know for a while. The other intriguing question is who will replace him. Both he and Comedy Central have confirmed that ‘The Daily Show’ franchise will continue with someone else at the helm. In one sense it seems odd for anyone else to be at the end of the ‘This is the ‘Daily Show with….’’ Sentence, but we have to remember someone once was. Initial guesses have ranged from basically all the various established current Daily Show correspondents (Jessica Williams, Aasiv Mandvi, the married duo of Jason Jones and Samantha Bee), to past ones (Wyatt Cenak, Rob Riggle), to random prospects (Aisha Tyler, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler), to the man many saw would replace him (John Oliver – his HBO contract ends around the time Stewart would be leaving, and he was definitely the heir apparent when he filled in for Stewart in the Summer of 2013). No one really knows, and it doesn’t really matter. The franchise will live on in some form, but it will never be the same.

Jon Stewart has said on multiple occasions that he thinks of David Letterman as a God, as his idol. That’s why he so early on committed to CBS’s offer to have 1^st rights of taking over that show, and why he is downright submissive in his many appearances on The Late Show. Both are retiring their posts in 2015, and have held them for the lifespan of a high-schooler, 20 years for Dave, and 16 for Jon Stewart. While Letterman leaving will likely get more headlines, more public glorification and more interest, you can easily make the argument that Jon Stewart leaving is more important for 21^st-Century TV. Letterman is the last vestige of a dead TV format, if an ultimately successful one. Nightly 1-hour TV shows have been on since the 1950’s, and in premier spotlight since the 1960’s. Letterman is the last of the Greats. Everyone loves Jimmy Fallon, but he’s putting on a very different type of show that David Letterman is. Letterman is the lasting image of late-night TV of the 20^th Century. Well, though the Century is just 15% over, Jon Stewart is the main image of late-night TV in the 21^st Century.

For 15 years, from the 2000 election, through the Bush Years, through two wars overseas, through a global, and American-caused, financial crisis, through Obama’s election and through heightened partisan-ship across the US, Jon Stewart was able to give America what it wanted, with a brilliant mix of comedy and poignancy. Jon Stewart and his legacy will truly never be forgotten, a lasting memory of the modern comedian and modern newsman, all rolled into one. Jon Stewart will leave his post, someone else will take his place, but the Daily Show with Jon Stewart will remain among the most important artistic contributions to 21^st-Century culture. It speaks volumes, especially given the events recently happened with Brian Williams, that a fake-newsman leaving the TV stage is basically this Century’s version of Walter Cronkite retiring. Way too many people got their news from a fake news program, but Stewart made that program so good that it made all the sense in the world.