Jon Stewart Returns to 'The Daily Show'

Just in time for the Presidential election, Jon Stewart is back on 'The Daily Show' on Comedy Central. Here are all the details.

Jon Stewart is back hosting The Daily Show. Monday nights at 11pm ET, we’re gonna party like it’s 1999-2015.

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On Monday, Feb. 12, the legendary late-night host returns to the Comedy Central show that earned him a wealth of awards (enough, in fact, to warrant its own Wikipedia page). However, Stewart will not be back behind the desk full-time: He’ll be appearing every Monday through the fall Presidential election. The Tuesday to Thursday Daily Shows will continue to be hosted by a series of weekly guests, as it has been since Trevor Noah stepped down at the end of 2022.

It’s impossible to overstate Stewart’s impact on both comedy and the news media during his first stint at The Daily Show. After taking over for Craig Kilborn in January of 1999, Stewart almost immediately changed the late-night landscape. His wit, intelligence, and indignation stood in sharp contrast to the softball political humor of other late-night contemporaries like Jay Leno. Although Republicans like George W. Bush were often the targets of his barbed humor, Stewart’s outrage was more grounded in his disgust of hypocrisy than partisan cheerleading.

His Daily Show run also introduced some of the most important comedic voices of the 21st century. Prior to The Office, Steve Carell had his big breakout as a Daily Show correspondent, as did Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Samatha Bee, Rob Riggle, and many other comedians who are now so established that their TDS run has become an afterthought.

But Stewart’s signature achievement was his takedown of conservative news media and pundits. At a time when FOX News was purporting to be “fair and balanced,” his scathing yet hilarious critiques of their right-wing biases felt like a soothing balm of sanity in the face of relentless gaslighting. Stewart’s humor was always rooted in critical thinking; by holding up a mirror to the sensationalism and performativity of cable news, Stewart encouraged his audience to look beyond the headlines and think for themselves.

The timing of his departure from the show in 2015 is conspicuous in hindsight: He’s been largely absent from the spotlight throughout the Donald Trump era of politics. With Trump increasingly looking like the Republican nominee in 2024, it should be fascinating to see him apply his humor and incisiveness to one of the most polarizing figures in American history. It’s difficult to say whether his distinct comedic sensibility will still resonate with audiences in 2024, but we know one thing for sure: Jon Stewart will never hold his tongue.

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