Jon Stewart's “Daily” Departure: He's Earned His Moment of Zen

The comic is set to leave a fake news franchise that he built strong enough to withstand his absence.

Jon Stewart never pulled in the ratings of Johnny Carson, Jay Leno or David Letterman. Nor did Stewart, who will have logged 16-plus years behind his "Daily Show" desk by the time he exits later this year, match the longevity of the Big Three.

But in his own way, Stewart forever altered the late night landscape, as he remade the fake news game and spawned a mini-empire of innovative satirists.

The departure of Stewart, who announced plans on Tuesday’s show to quit Comedy Central's marquee program, will leave a big gap. But he also leaves behind a franchise that he built strong enough to withstand his absence.

Stewart proved as much in 2013 when he took off the summer to direct a film and turned over the show to John Oliver, who did well enough to earn his own breakout news satire program on HBO. "The Daily Show" also served as the springboard for "The Colbert Report," Stephen Colbert's nine-year spoof of cable news partisan gabfests, and, more recently, "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” which is off to a strong start.

Stewart took over "The Daily Show" in 1999 from Craig Kilborn, who ably delivered jokes as if he were hosting a half-hour, pop culture-driven version of "Weekend Update." But Stewart – whose interviewing style owes much to Carson and whose correspondents' segments displayed a Letterman influence – reinvented the form.

Stewart targeted political absurdity with his "Indecision" election year shows. He became a trusted news source for some – an absurdity of another kind that he pointed to at times. He sometimes blurred the lines between activism, news and humor, most notably with his and Colbert’s massive 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington.

The success of Stewart’s "Daily Show" forced “Saturday Night Live” to up its game, most notably during the 2008 election season. More significantly, he proved confident enough to let talent like Steve Carell, Colbert, Oliver and Wilmore shine.

The show will go on without him – whether helmed by show "correspondents" like Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Al Madrigal, Aasiv Mandvi and Jessica Williams – or by an outside performer (memo to Comedy Central: Give W. Kamau Bell a call).

"It's time for someone else to have (this) opportunity," Stewart said near the end of Tuesday night's show.

Stewart’s unexpected announcement marked the latest entry in a late night shake-up litany that began last year: Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno on NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” Seth Meyers replaced Fallon on “Late Night.” CBS announced that Colbert would replace Letterman this year and that James Corden would replace Craig Ferguson.

Perhaps all the changes combined aren’t as a big a deal as when Carson stepped down in 1992, in the pre-Internet, pre-on-demand era when timeslots were everything. But Stewart fans, no doubt, will miss his comic voice arriving Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m., particular during next year’s “Indecision 2016” run.

Stewart, though, has clearly made up his mind, even if it’s less clear what’s next for him. He joked Tuesday about having time to have dinner with his family "who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people." But, speaking more seriously, he hinted at creative wanderlust: "This show doesn't deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you," he told viewers.

Whatever his reasons for leaving, after almost 17 years of making us laugh and think, Jon Stewart has earned his moment of Zen.

Jere Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multimedia NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also the author of "Raising a Beatle Baby: How John, Paul, George and Ringo Helped us Come Together as a Family." Follow him on Twitter.

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