Jon Stewart's final night as host of the Daily Show.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yes, to anyone who doesn't know yet, tonight is Jon Stewart's last night hosting the Daily show after some 17 years on the air.

While I feel the quality of The Daily Show has gone downhill of late, mired in tired, smug cynicism and poor reasoning, I nonetheless have great respect for the impact Stewart has had on comedy and the media in general (just think of all the people, among them Jon Oliver, Steve Carell, and of course Stephen Colbert, who have succeeded, at least in part, because of their time on his show), and I have been entertained by his show for many years. His presence will, despite my criticisms, be missed.

I'm creating this thread to mark the occasion and in case anyone wants to post their thoughts on the final episode, which airs tonight.

Personally, I'm hoping for an appearance by Colbert.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, that was pretty good. Spoiler

A lot of old faces appeared, including some I didn't recognize

(maybe pre-dating when I started watching the show).

I liked that even though it was the final show, Stewart still got some serious commentary in rather than just nostalgia and thank yous and goodbyes (not that there's anything wrong with those things). And it came off as much less bitter and cynical than he sometimes has been. Well done.

Also, I appreciated Spoiler

the nerdy references, including Vader as the Senior Evil Correspondent (objecting to being compared to Dick Chaney) and Colbert referencing Lord of the Rings and calling himself "your Sam" when saying goodbye to Jon Stewart

, which I thought was quite touching.

Their was also a fine retrospective of some of the most popular old clips before the show.

I'm going to miss Jon Stewart, but I'm looking forward to seeing what Trevor Noah can do.

Edit: Added spoiler warnings.

[Thanas]

It was a fitting end to the show, I can't see it regaining its former status under Noah. Not against John Oliver.

[Mr Bean]

It was a fitting end to the show, I can't see it regaining its former status under Noah. Not against John Oliver.

You'd be surprised how much was John Stewart and how much was the writing staff. That is what I predict at least as Noah seems a comptent showman and it WILL be a style change that is for sure. I predict for example 70% fewer Jewish jokes, but at least 70% additional I can't make a Jewish joke here.

However your right about one thing, John Oliver's longer format and HBO area means he's already getting much better results. To be exact many of the issues he's covered on his show have resulted in a rather fast turn around time for change. Some like the Bail Bond issue in New York have been a decade long issue but once Last Week Tonight had put the entire thing together in an 11 minute presentation even New York politicians saw that oh yes we can change this and everyone will love us for it except the bail bonds company's and they are not huge political donators. Another good example was the Chicken farms piece which again is a long running issue that thanks to John's show gives those people working on the issue a handy ten minute long presentation to explain the issue.

The longer format limited issue reminds me very much of what 60 minutes used to be before they fired most of their investigative reporters and started just doing interviews.

[Wing Commander MAD]

I am slightly pissed as my DVR decided to not record the last 8 minutes of the show.

I am skeptical of Trevor Noah's ability to run the show, or at least run it in a way that I would like it. The guy did what, one or two segments as a correspondent before being given the show. I can't really say I care for his comedic style, then again there is not enough to go on. It will be interesting to say the least.

I agree with Thanas regarding the new Daily Show competing with Last Week Tonight. Then again, I wander if that is part of the reason the Comedy Central executives gave him the show. They decided to take a gamble on the unknown, as they did not think any of the current correspondents could run it. Really the current crop of correspondents has been there fore only a year or two at most. I suppose it will be interesting to hear the stories that eventually come out over this...

On the other hand, The Nightly Show seems to have found it's pace, but they really need to add Mike Yard to the title. The man is on the show almost as much as Larry Wilmore.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Colbert's impassioned thank you bit brought a tear (or two) to my eye.

Trevor Noah may be a relative unknown, but his special African American was one of the funniest and most insightful comedy hours I've ever seen. He may take a while to find his legs, but I think he'll bring his own brand of magic to The Daily Show, just like John Oliver did during the summer that Jon Stewart was making his movie.

[The Romulan Republic]

Oliver was fantastic as host. At times I actually thought that he was better than Stewart. Had he not gotten his own show, he would almost certainly have been my top choice to replace Jon Stewart as host of the Daily Show now.

[Thanas]

It was a fitting end to the show, I can't see it regaining its former status under Noah. Not against John Oliver.

You'd be surprised how much was John Stewart and how much was the writing staff.

Didn't a lot of them follow Oliver? I think Stewart encouraged a lot of writers to follow him to HBO iirc.