Done with the “Daily” grind. Here’s when to watch Jon Stewart’s last Daily Show

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Credit: Kevin Fitzsimons

What will we do without Jonnie Stew?

 

Sure, I thought the same of Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report back in December, but my mourning was tempered with the understanding that I’m getting Stephen back next month in Letterman’s place. Jon … well, I don’t know. And that stings. Yes, The Daily Show will go on. But not The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

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Jon Stewart
Photo Credit: Martin Crook

Because I’m a print journalist who still believes hard in the medium, I get my daily news from a handful of newspapers. But every Monday through Thursday for nearly two decades, my before-bedtime treat has been allowing Stewart to siphon the big stuff and serve it back to me in a way that makes me laugh and think in fresh — and sometimes difficult — ways. I read his guests’ books, watch their documentaries, expand my intellectual horizons in an un-fussypants way.

Stewart isn’t the original host of The Daily Show (that was Craig Kilborn during the show’s rocky start), but he is the one who made it his own — so much so that his name was added to the series’ name. He handles his guests with aplomb, even when they stand for everything that rankles him most. And he has launched other comic talent into a nearly equal stratosphere — Colbert, John Oliver, John Hodgman, Ed Helms, Steve Carell, Mo Rocca, Olivia Munn and others.

Stewart, who took time off last summer to helm his first film, Rosewater, about frequent Daily Show guest Maziar Bahari, says he is restless. I get it. Never mind the adage — even the most fun job becomes a drudge when you do it every day. So go fishin’ with your kids, Jon. Hang out with the missus. And refuel. Because we who counted on you as our weeknight sage need you back — however you choose to make it so.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart final episode airs Thursday Aug. 6 at 11/10CT on Comedy Central.

About Lori Acken 1195 Articles
Lori just hasn't been the same since "thirtysomething" and "Northern Exposure" went off the air.