John Oliver, Jordan Klepper, Trevor Noah and Jon Stewart
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How important is Jon Stewart's return to the Daily Show editorial team? John Oliver, the former Daily Show correspondent and later host of HBO's Last Week Tonight, compared it to NBA legend Michael Jordan's return to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 after retiring from the game.
“Jordan is back!” Oliver joked in an interview with NBC’s Willie Geist.
Oliver was as surprised as everyone else by the news that came out in the middle of Geist's interview.
“I mean, this is a surprise,” Oliver said. “This is a show that needs a host. He's definitely a very, very good guy. So yeah, it’ll be exciting to see what he does.”
But he also added that the show should “name a permanent host” after Stewart's appearance, citing former Peacock host Amber Ruffin and former Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. as strong candidates.
Oliver was far from the only Daily Show alumni to comment on Stewart's return. Trevor Noah, who succeeded Stewart, published a short post on
“These guys were itching,” added Daily Show contributor (and former correspondent) Jordan Klepper on
Troy Iwata, another correspondent, just posted a picture of a surprised Minion reacting to Stewart's return, while correspondent Grace Kuhlenschmidt shared the song “Stuck Like Glue” from Sugarland with a picture of Stewart, adding, “I just know that will be like this.” our karaoke song.”
Stewart always had a close relationship with the Daily Show correspondent team he had during his tenure, and the show served as a springboard to stardom, with Oliver, Samantha Bee, Hasan Minhaj and Stephen Colbert all getting their own late-night shows ( Stewart too). serves as the EP of Colbert's Late Show on CBS).
Other veterans of the show include Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Jason Jones, Josh Gad, Al Madrigal, Larry Wilmore and Wyatt Cenac.
Even Michael Che, now host of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, had a brief stint as a correspondent before moving to SNL.
In his final show as host of The Daily Show (at least until he returns to the desk this year) in August 2015, Comedy Central gathered nearly all of the show's correspondents and contributors in the show's surprisingly cramped west Manhattan studio.
After a sketch with all the correspondents (and Trevor Noah, who brandished a tape measure to figure out how he wanted to adjust the set), Stewart gave a teary-eyed hug during a commercial break. “You’re the best,” Noah was heard telling Stewart as the crowd of correspondents gathered around him.
We'll see what the response is next month, after almost a decade elsewhere.