Last night, Jon Stewart took one of the more graceful final bows in television history as he exited The Daily Show after almost seventeen years.
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However, perhaps the most important send off came from Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent and the former host of “The Colbert Report“, a spinoff of Stewart’s incarnation.
On and on it went, mostly as a valentine to die-hard viewers who had been faithfully watching since Stewart began hosting The Daily Show in early 1999. Maybe a lot of it could have been better handled at the wrap party afterward, but, well, after 16 years I guess you get to pick the spotlight you slip away from.
Jon Stewart’s heartfelt farewell to The Daily Show ended with a performance from a fellow Jersey pop culture star: Bruce Springsteen. “I say to you, friends, the best defense against bullshit is vigilance”, said Stewart according to effect of Sound.
South African comedian Trevor Noah replaces Stewart as host next month, inheriting most of the same staff.
Chris Christie said: “I will never forget you, Jon – but I will be trying”.
Several politicians, like Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie, repaid Stewart for his frequent jabs with unkind remarks in a montage.
It was the end of an era Thursday night for fans of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
Needless to say I loved just about everything about it, especially Stephen Colbert’s salute to Stewart, who appeared about as comfortable as David Letterman did accepting praise during his final run in May. It’s a pause in the conversation. “It is one of the few times I’ve known you to be dead wrong”.
You have to think Jon Stewart and his staff were thinking ‘why didn’t we schedule the last show for next week?’ There was also a segment where Stewart introduced us to the enormous number of people who work on the show behind the scenes.
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In his final remarks to his audience, Stewart thanked his wife and children “for teaching me what joy looks like”, and told his viewers that he was not leaving their lives for good.
