John Oliver-hosted version of ‘The Daily Show’ gets off to solid start

You can blame it on the hype, or you can say that people really love “The Daily Show” as a whole more than just Jon Stewart. Regardless, Comedy Central must be feeling rather pleased right about now with the performance thus far of their show featuring fill-in host John Oliver.

Overall, this version of “The Daily Show” drew 1.5 million viewers on Monday night, along with a rating of 0.7 in the key 18-49 demographic. These numbers are slightly above the average for last week’s shows, and overall are pretty close to on par with where the show hosted by Jon typically lands. It actually is a slight increase on the ratings for last week, though this may be easily augmented some thanks in part to the fact that this was Oliver’s first show, and Stewart was forced to deal more with summer fatigue and people doing other things rather than just sitting at home and watching television.

As for our take on the show, Oliver did a fine job. He’s not the same sort of comedian as Stewart, but the good news is that he did not try to deliberately steal much of the longtime host’s thunder. He kept the show related more to his own sensibility, and while his interview skills are weak, he has some time to figure out. The real test for his ratings will be how he fares in a couple of weeks, when the hype surrounding his show fades.

Did you watch Oliver’s first show, and if so, what were your thoughts on it? If you want to check out some more news related to whether or not he could have his own solo show in the future, all you have to do is click here

Photo: Comedy Central