‘The Daily Show’: Jason Jones fills in for sick Jon Stewart

It is so rare that you see a fill-in host for a late-night TV program that when it does happen, it almost automatically becomes a news item. This is at least what we saw tonight on “The Daily Show.”

The situation plays out as such. Jon Stewart fell in, and so the Comedy Central show decided to press on with Jason Jones, who is a longtime correspondent, at the anchor desk. This is hardly unprecedented for the series, given that Stephen Colbert was previously a fill-in host, and John Oliver worked in this position for a lengthy span of time last year while Jon worked on the movie “Rosewater.”

This still led to some very inspired bits, including Jones and his real-life wife / fellow correspondent Samantha Bee fought over control of the anchor’s desk, turning things into a great series of jokes on relationship hierarchies. We’ve always thought that both were very funny, and in the event Stewart ever hands up the suit and tie, could be a feasible replacement.

This is something that Comedy Central does need to consider eventually. Jon has been doing this job well over a decade now, and he certainly no longer needs the money. It’s really a question of how long he wants to continue being an institution here. Colbert his moving on to CBS, and after David Letterman leaves, Stewart will suddenly find himself the elder statesman of late-night TV. Jimmy Kimmel will come into second place, which is somewhat crazy given how well we remember his show beginning a decade ago.

Still, there is no indication that Jon is leaving anytime soon; for now, let’s enjoy the fact that Jones stepped in and did a pretty good job in his stead.

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Photo: Comedy Central