Sitting at my kitchen table with my family I watched, spellbound, as Jon Stewart perfectly articulated the way I felt about the recent massacre at the AME church in Charleston. As I watched him announce that he had "nothing for us in terms of jokes and sounds," I noticed another layer to his speech: he sounded tired. The announcement that he would be leaving "The Daily Show" had been made in early April, but up until this speech, I couldn't believe it was true. I couldn't believe that Stewart was nearing the end of what has been a monumentally important career on "The Daily Show." His impact has reached far past the news that he analyzed and the laughter that he created. He has given us some of comedy's biggest players today and changed the way that my generation gets its news.
Up until now, if I had the choice between regularly scheduled news and "The Daily Show," I would've picked the highly satirical "Daily Show" every single time. It's not just that I enjoyed the sheer entertainment and insane amount of laughter that Jon Stewart was able to deliver every single episode; it's that I trusted him. I trust Jon Stewart more than I trust any other "serious" news anchor on television today (when your competition is the likes of Brian Williams, whose scandal rocked our media world earlier this year, it isn't especially hard to do).
Stewart's humbleness and honesty made even his silliest jokes about a foreign financial crisis or a right-wing U.S. senator ring true to millions across America. His sincerity and passion prominently shone through even his most ridiculous accents, inflections, and impersonations. Stewart brought a fresh perspective and wit to stories that wasn't found in the more traditional press and media outlets.
Maybe the reason that Stewart's model was so successful was that the world we live in is already so full of terror, evil, and bad, that we felt like we needed something to make us laugh. Or, maybe even better, it's that our world isn't so full of terror, evil, and bad, so we felt a great sigh of relief when we could watch Jon Stewart poking fun at all of the overly serious news anchors sitting behind their desks with no hint of humor, telling us about every evil person in our country and the world, and how the planet is trying to destroy humanity one natural disaster at a time.
From January 1999 to August 2015, Jon Stewart hosted 2,677 episodes of "The Daily Show." The list of the guests he interviewed is a staggering combination of the biggest celebrities, politicians, and world leaders of our time, including President Obama, John McCain, Malala Yousafzai, to Meryl Streep and Matt Damon (this is a random list, and I realize I could write 10 more articles just about the amazing people he has interviewed).
His list of current and former correspondents is also impressive. Superstars such as Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Olivia Munn, and my personal favorite, Stephen Colbert, all got their starts on Stewart's show. In a poignant and perfect end to his almost 17-year run, all of Stewart's correspondents came back for his last episode to help cover the huge running for the GOP nomination. The sweetest moment was Stephen Colbert's ridiculous but hilariously accurate metaphor in which Colbert was the Sam to Stewart's Frodo and ended with a teary-eyed Stewart.
While I am incredibly sad to see Jon Stewart leave "The Daily Show," I am also hopeful. I am hopeful that at least some of the many comedians he has influenced will live up to the legacy of integrity, wisdom, and optimism that Stewart has left behind. I am also excited to see what Stewart decides to do next, and I'm sure whatever it is it will make me, as well as many others, laugh. Thanks for everything Jon; we'll miss you.
