‘The Daily Show’ officially hires Trevor Noah to replace Jon Stewart

Comedy Central decided not to wait when it comes to addressing the latest rumors about their new host: Trevor Noah is going to replace Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show.” The news was confirmed today in a short statement by network head Michele Ganeless, who referred to him as “an enormous talent. He has an insightful and unique point of view, and most importantly, is wickedly funny.” Stewart himself also issued a statement of his own, saying that he wanted to join Noah’s new version of the show as a correspondent.

In some ways, the selection of Trevor may come as a surprise given that the South African comic has only been on the show for a few months, and was not a household name before this. However, he has hosted a show in his home country, and also brings a fascinating, funny point of view that is different than anything else on television. While hiring someone else who had been on the show longer could have worked out fine, it would have also been a fairly safe choice. We get the sense that safe was not on the network’s priority list.

One big thing about Noah is that he still has plenty of time to convince viewers that he is the right man for the job. With Jason Jones already gone and with Samantha Bee leaving, he will have more opportunities to take on sketches and have discussions with Stewart. This is a rare instance of him being able to learn on the job from one of the best late-night hosts of the past thirty years.

Also, can we say already that we hope Stewart still stops by the new show from time to time? We know that Craig Kilborn was the original host of “The Daily Show,” but we’ll always think of this as the House that Stewart built.

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