Jon Stewart will return to "The Daily Show" after an extended search for a host to replace Trevor Noah.
Stewart will return in a limited capacity as host on Monday nights, Comedy Central announced Wednesday, running through the 2024 election. "The Daily Show" correspondents will handle the rest of the week's broadcasts.
Stewart is the longest-running host of "The Daily Show." He took over from prior host Craig Kilborn in 1999, and stayed on the show until 2015. He was succeeded by Trevor Noah, who relinquished the gig in 2022. Since then, a rotating cast of guest hosts including John Leguizamo, Leslie Jones, Chelsea Handler, and Hasan Minhaj have been filling in.
"Jon Stewart is the voice of our generation, and we are honored to have him return to Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show' to help us all make sense of the insanity and division roiling the country as we enter the election season," Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios said in a press release.
"In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit," McCarthy added.
Stewart's return to the show comes after Noah's exit prompted a long search for a new host. Minhaj was the frontrunner for the role until a profile in The New Yorker revealed that he had embellished some anecdotes about discrimination in his standup act.
Monday is the most-watched night of the week for "The Daily Show," and in addition to his pole position as anchor, Stewart will also serve as executive producer on the show through 2025. The move is a significant programming coup for Comedy Central and its parent, Paramount Global, which has struggled with falling revenue and streaming losses.
National Amusements, which owns Paramount, has been in talks with Skydance founder David Ellison, The Wall Street Journal reported, and other suitors about acquiring the storied studio.
