Stewart, whose Comedy Central show racked up 18 prime-time Emmy awards over 16 years spent satirizing the eccentricities of American politics, TV news and culture, opted for a relatively straight-forward finale of filmed bits, one-liners from famous names and a soupcon of political satire.
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Other guests appearing during the telecast included actor Josh Gad and current The Nightly Show host Larry Wilmore. “At one point, the reunited colleagues filled the stage for a group hug”. The only way to combat the relentless intrusions of dishonest people, Mr. Stewart said, was through vigilance. During his tenure on the show, he developed a correspondent character who frequently demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the topics he discussed. There followed a long succession of personalities, like Aasif Mandvi, John Hodgman, Steve Carell and more, who had gotten their starts at Comedy Central. “It meant the world”.
Out of all the famous people that Jon Stewart managed to squeeze into the first half of his final Daily Show episode, Stephen Colbert undoubtedly stole the show. And then Colbert thanked Stewart for everything he’s done for him, the “son of a poor Appalachian turd miner”.
“You can’t stop anyone because they don’t work for you anymore”, Colbert said as Stewart squirmed in his chair. Soon it was once again simply Stewart at his desk.
“I’ll think about it. My social media is blowing up”, Cenac said, turning his attention to his mobile device.
Many of his former targets got in their final word.
Lemon was lampooned when he covered a snowstorm in New York from a vehicle tricked out with cameras, dubbed the “blizzardmobile”. “What a bummer”. Wolf Blitzer wished him well, while the screen behind him on the CNN set read, “Screw you, Stewart”.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), another GOP presidential hopeful, said, “I’m sure you’ll be missed by somebody”. “Nah, nah, nah”. “So long, jackass”.
Chris Reilly, who traveled from Connecticut to see the final taping, admitted it will be hard to get through the day knowing Stewart will not be on her television telling it how it is after tonight.
“Here it is, my moment of Zen”, Stewart smiled, just before Springsteen filled the room with a poignant rendition of “Land of Hope and Dreams“. “A dialogue. And I really like that metaphor for many different reasons”.
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“I had to come to terms with that”. “This show isn’t ending, we’re merely taking a small pause in the conversation -a conversation which, by the way, I have hogged, and I apologize for that”.
