Posted in: Comedy Central, TV | Tagged: jon stewart, the daily show

The Daily Show: Jon Stewart on Paramount Deal; Comedy Central: "Muzak"

Before Paramount's decision to cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart discussed his and the show's future.

With the looming saga of Paramount's potential buyout from Skydance, the chips have already started to fall with the cancellation of CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with the host and late-night rival Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live! already weighing in. Whether it has the do with the Skydance deal and/or Paramount's recent settlement with President Donald Trump of the lawsuit concerning CBS's 60 Minutes amidst the administration's other settlements, tensions are pretty high in terms of the disenfranchisement of media, entertainment, and free speech. With CBS's decision, it's not just Colbert's show they're cancelling, it's the Late Show brand, so there will be no successor after May 2026. That detail didn't go unnoticed to The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who chimed in on the talk show's status following the settlement and before The Late Show's cancellation on his podcast, The Weekly Show.

The Daily Show Host Jon Stewart on the Series' Future Following Paramount Settlement with Trump

"Unfortunately, we haven't heard anything from them," Stewart, who hosts the Comedy Central series on Mondays. "They haven't called me and said like 'Don't get too comfortable in that office, Stewart.' But let me tell you something, I've been kicked out of shittier establishments than that. We'll land on our feet." The Daily Show has been Comedy Central's longest-running series since its debut in 1996. Stewart succeeded original host Craig Kilborn in 1998 and became the longest tenured host from 1999-2015 before taking a break in favor of Trevor Noah. When Noah left in 2022, the series relied on rotational hosts of Jordan Klepper, Desi Lydic, Ronny Chieng, and Michael Kosta, with Stewart returning to host Mondays since 2024 and resuming duties as executive producer.

"I'd like to believe that without 'The Daily Show'… I don't know. Comedy Central is kind of like Muzak at this point. I think we're the only sort of life that exists on a current basis other than 'South Park,'" Stewart explained. "But it's the only thing on there. I'd like to think we bring enough value to the property. If they're looking at it as purely a real estate transaction, I think we bring a lot of value. But that may not be their consideration. They may sell the whole fucking place for parts, I just don't know. We'll deal with it when we do."

It's not only The Daily Show that faces an uncertain future, but the Matt Stone and Trey Parker animated series also faced their own set of issues with the Paramount-Skydance deal, especially on streaming, as it was pulled from Paramount+'s lineup. "I'm so happy and proud of everybody that works over there. They want to do that? Knock themselves out," Stewart said. "As Jay Leno would say about Doritos, go ahead, crunch all you want, we'll make more. We'll figure that out when the time comes." For more, you can check out the full episode.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!