We’ll always miss Jon Stewart but the ‘Daily Show with Jessica Williams’ sounds pretty dope
In case you somehow missed the explosive news last night: Jon Stewart, the absolutely beloved host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, confirmed on last night’s episode that he will be stepping away from the desk after 17 years on air.
“Seventeen years is the longest I have ever in my life held a job, by 16 years and five months,” he told the audience at yesterday’s taping. “It is time for someone else to have that opportunity . . . This show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you.”
While we will miss Stewart TERRIBLY (it’s honestly hard to imagine going through the next election cycle without him), we know that The Daily Show must go on. Which means that the network will be looking for someone to fill his very large shoes. There haven’t been any official indications of who will replace Stewart, but one name already floating around on social is Daily Show correspondent and comedian Jessica Williams. I mean, we’re down.
Williams is a crucial part of The Daily Show, her segments are bold, brilliant, hilarious, and can’t-miss. She’s also got a vision! Earlier this year in Wired Williams also wrote a piece on why she should run a smart gossip site, her words sound kind of like the perfect pitch for a rebooted Daily Show. She wrote:
“But there’s something missing in all this new new media craziness, and that is something that uses celebrity news as a way to get into a really serious analysis of our culture. The Kardashians are walking clickbait—but let’s look closer. Do Kim and Kanye affect how society feels about interracial relationships and blended families? What does our obsession with Jennifer Lawrence say about third-wave feminism? Start with a headline that’s superjuicy; a flashy, sexy picture. And then, after the first couple of lines, hit them with some really severe analysis. When they think they’re getting dirt, we give them vegetables. Which is kind of what The Daily Show does already.”
Well at least we know that if she doesn’t get The Daily Show gig she has the raddest idea for a gossip site up her sleeve.
Here’s what people on social media are saying about their yearn for a Williams-led Daily Show:
In fact, 25-year-old Williams, the youngest ever correspondent for the show, has such grassroots support that there’s already a Change.org petition calling for Comedy Central to hire her as Stewart’s successor.
And why not? Williams joined the show in 2012 and has proved herself to be absolutely irreplaceable on camera.
She’s excellent at her job and fresh enough at it that she has room to experiment. Additionally, as a young black woman, she could give a real boost to diversity in late night television, an arena that’s been long dominated by white men.
Jon Stewart, we will never ever forget you. But Jessica Williams? We’d love to see more of you. Also, she’s already comfortable at the desk.
