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92-457: The Story Pirates received national attention in February 2008 when " The Daily Show " host Jon Stewart called The Story Pirates "crazy entertaining" on Larry King Live ; Stewart had seen the group perform at a party he attended with his son. The group is "described as a mix between School House Rock and Monty Python " and has received critical acclaim. The New York Times called their performances

184-543: A "theatrical treasure," and many others dub it one of the best kids shows around. There are 6 seasons in total of the Story Pirates Podcast. The podcast has featured celebrity guests including Julie Andrews, Billy Eichner, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bowen Yang The podcast has won a Webby Award, an iHeart Radio Award and a Parents' Choice Award. Originally called the Striking Viking Story Pirates, it

276-488: A 1–3 minute intro on a small story (or small set of stories) before fully transitioning into the main story of the night. Currently, the segment is simply called "Headlines." The monologue segment is often followed by a segment featuring an exchange with a correspondent, either at the anchor desk with the host or reporting from a false location in front of a greenscreen showing stock footage. They typically present absurd or humorously exaggerated takes on current events against

368-403: A Chinese zoo feeding baby chickens to the alligators. Originally the show was recorded without a studio audience, featuring only the laughter of its own off-camera staff members. A studio audience was incorporated into the show for its second season, and has remained since. The show was much less politically focused than it later became under Jon Stewart, having what Stephen Colbert described as

460-517: A Notable Recording for Children in 2021, and "The Strawberry Band" was chosen for the list in 2022. In 2021, Story Pirates Studios produced the "Bugs and Daffy's Thanksgiving Adventure" for Warner Bros Animation . It was released in November 2021. Children's albums The Daily Show The Daily Show ) is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in

552-449: A backlash among some fans and prompting a "Bring Back the Couch" campaign. The campaign was mentioned on subsequent shows by Stewart and supported by Daily Show contributor Bob Wiltfong . The couch was eventually featured in a sweepstakes in which the winner received the couch, round-trip tickets to New York, tickets to the show, and a small sum of money. On April 9, 2007, the show debuted

644-511: A briefly recurring mock feud with fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Conan O'Brien . The strike officially ended on February 12, 2008, with the show's writers returning to work the following day, at which point the title of The Daily Show was restored. Starting in June 2013, Jon Stewart took a twelve-week break to direct Rosewater , a drama about a journalist jailed by Iran for four months. Correspondent John Oliver replaced Stewart at

736-834: A comedic monologue of the day's headlines from anchor Craig Kilborn (a well-known co-anchor of ESPN 's SportsCenter ), as well as mockumentary style on-location reports, in-studio segments and debates from regular correspondents Winstead, Brian Unger , Beth Littleford , and A. Whitney Brown . Common segments included "This Day in Hasselhoff History" and "Last Weekend's Top-Grossing Films, Converted into Lira ", in parody of entertainment news shows and their tendency to lead out to commercials with trivia such as celebrity birthdays. Another commercial lead-out featured Winstead's parents, on her answering machine, reading that day's " Final Jeopardy! " question and answer. In each show, Kilborn would conduct celebrity interviews, ending with

828-451: A focal point for Democrats in the remaining years of the Bush administration . Some in the press speculate that the incident humiliated Carlson into changing his persona and rising to prominence in cable news, going on to host a show that outperformed The Daily Show in the ratings. Exchanges between Carlson and Stewart in the decades after the segment led commentators to conclude that Carlson

920-434: A legitimately funny joke in support of the notion that gay people are an affront to God, we'll put that motherfucker on!" On September 15, 2003, Senator John Edwards became the first candidate to announce that they were running for president on the show, causing Jon Stewart to jokingly inform him that their show was "fake" and he might have to re-announce elsewhere. On November 17, 2009, Vice President Joe Biden appeared on

1012-408: A local news feel and involving more character-driven humor as opposed to news-driven humor. Winstead recalls that when the show was first launched there was constant debate regarding what the show's focus should be. While she wanted a more news-driven focus, the network was concerned that this would not appeal to viewers and pushed for "a little more of a hybrid of entertainment and politics". The show

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1104-457: A morning meeting where they review material that researchers have gathered from major newspapers, the Associated Press , cable news television channels and websites, and discuss headline material for the lead news segment. Throughout the morning they work on writing deadline pieces inspired by recent news, as well as longer-term projects. By lunchtime, Noah — who describes his role as that of

1196-399: A new set. The projection screens were revamped (with one large screen behind Stewart, while the smaller one behind the interview subject remained the same), a large, global map directly behind Stewart, a more open studio floor, and a J-shaped desk supported at one end by a globe. The intro was also updated; the graphics, display names, dates, and logos were all changed. On September 28, 2015,

1288-530: A performance of " Land of Hope and Dreams " and " Born to Run " by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band . Jon Stewart%27s 2004 appearance on Crossfire On October 15, 2004, American comedian Jon Stewart appeared on CNN 's Crossfire , hosted by media commentators Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala . The Daily Show , a satirical talk show hosted by Stewart, had released America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction earlier that year; in theory, Stewart's appearance on Crossfire ,

1380-473: A recent Stewart interview of John Kerry (then the Democratic nominee for president ) with what Carlson considered soft questions such as "is it hard not to take the attacks personally?". Stewart demurred, highlighting his role as a satirist rather than a journalist. Stewart's criticism of the show featured several exchanges of personal jabs between him and Tucker Carlson, with Begala attempting to mediate. In

1472-448: A replacement for Politically Incorrect (a successful Comedy Central program that had moved to ABC earlier that year). Madeleine Smithberg was co-creator of The Daily Show as well as the former executive producer . A graduate of Binghamton University , she was an executive producer of Steve Harvey's Big Time and a talent coordinator for Late Night with David Letterman . Aiming to parody conventional newscasts, it featured

1564-442: A scripted comedic exchange via split-screen from their respective sets. In 2007, the "toss" was cut back to twice per week, and by 2009 was once a week before gradually being phased out. It was used on the 2014 mid-term election night and again just before the final episode of The Colbert Report on December 18, 2014, and returned upon the premiere of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore . Stewart then regularly tossed to Wilmore at

1656-463: A segment called "Five Questions" in which the guest was made to answer a series of questions that were typically a combination of obscure fact and subjective opinion. These are highlighted in a 1998 book titled The Daily Show: Five Questions , which contains transcripts of Kilborn's best interviews. Each episode concluded with a segment called "Your Moment of Zen" that showed random video clips of humorous and sometimes morbid interest such as visitors at

1748-498: A short appearance on Jon Stewart's final edition of the Daily Show saying "I knew you were going to run this thing into the ground." Comedian Jon Stewart took over as host of the show, which was retitled The Daily Show with Jon Stewart , on January 11, 1999. Stewart had previously hosted Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central , two shows on MTV ( You Wrote It, You Watch It and The Jon Stewart Show ), as well as

1840-507: A show and seeking a tone with producers and writers. Somebody else put him in place. There were bound to be problems. I viewed the show as content-driven; he viewed it as host-driven", she said. In a 1997 Esquire magazine interview, Kilborn made a sexually explicit joke about Winstead. Comedy Central responded by suspending Kilborn without pay for one week, and Winstead quit soon after. In 1998, Kilborn left The Daily Show to replace Tom Snyder on CBS's The Late Late Show . He claimed

1932-443: A show that featured debate between left- and right-wing personalities, was intended to boost sales of the book. Instead, Stewart heavily criticized Crossfire on air; as he saw it, the show lacked nuance and was instead an outlet for partisan hackery . Both hosts pushed back on Stewart's criticisms, but Carlson in particular traded more personal blows with him, with the two insulting each other on air while Begala attempted to steer

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2024-586: A show, all you had to do was say it out loud." The incident is considered in retrospect a defining moment in Jon Stewart's television career. As Gordon Devin described it, Stewart was catapulted "into a position of political influence and superstardom that few comics in America have ever reached"; writers for The New York Times agreed, reflecting that the segment and its reaction "solidified Mr. Stewart's status as cable news's most prominent critic." Stewart would become

2116-512: A smaller studio at One Astor Plaza , the corporate headquarters of ViacomCBS in Times Square . The new studio had no audience, and a smaller, more intimate atmosphere with muted colors. In April 2022, The Daily Show returned to NEP Studio 52 with a revamped set, combining elements of the Times Square studio with a revamped version of its previous layout. The show's writers begin each day with

2208-419: A statement that The Daily Show would continue without Stewart, saying it would "endure for years to come". Stewart's final episode aired on August 6 as an hour-long special in three segments. The first featured a reunion of a majority of the correspondents and contributors from throughout the show's history as well as a pre-recorded "anti-tribute" (mocking Stewart) from various frequent guests and "friends" of

2300-459: A syndicated late-night talk show, and had been cast in films and television. In taking over hosting from Kilborn, Stewart initially retained much of the same staff and on-air talent, allowing many pieces to transition without much trouble, while other features like "God Stuff", with John Bloom presenting an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists, and "Backfire", an in-studio debate between Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown, evolved into

2392-532: Is like kicking a child, so it's just not worth it." Stewart was critical of Democratic politicians for being weak, timid, or ineffective. He said in an interview with Larry King, prior to the 2006 elections, "I honestly don't feel that [the Democrats] make an impact. They have forty-nine percent of the vote and three percent of the power. At a certain point you go, 'Guys, pick up your game.'" He has targeted them for failing to effectively stand on some issues, such as

2484-627: Is overly liberal, Stephen Colbert, also a self-proclaimed Democrat, said in an interview during the Bush administration, when the Republicans held a majority in the House and Senate: "We are liberal, but Jon's very respectful of the Republican guests, and, listen, if liberals were in power it would be easier to attack them, but Republicans have the executive, legislative and judicial branches, so making fun of Democrats

2576-431: Is quite diverse, and many often sarcastically portray extreme stereotypes of themselves to poke fun at a news story, such as "Senior Latino Correspondent", "Senior Youth Correspondent" or "Senior Black Correspondent". While correspondents stated to be reporting abroad are usually performing in-studio in front of a greenscreen background, on rare occasions, cast members have recorded pieces on location. For instance, during

2668-448: Is the longest-running program on Comedy Central (counting all three tenures), and has won 26 Primetime Emmy Awards . The program has been popular among young audiences. The Pew Research Center suggested in 2010 that 74% of regular viewers were between 18 and 49, and that 10% of the audience watched the show for its news headlines, 2% for in-depth reporting, and 43% for entertainment; compared with respectively 64%, 10% and 4%, who said

2760-497: Is to provide entertainment. Stewart's appearance on the CNN show Crossfire picked up this debate, where he chastised the CNN production and hosts for not conducting informative and current interviews on a news network. As a new permanent host had not been chosen after Noah's tenure ended in 2022, the show featured a rotating cast of guest hosts, with Jon Stewart returning to host Monday night shows starting February 12, 2024, and through

2852-464: The 2000 election campaign with which the show dealt in its " Indecision 2000 " coverage. Stewart himself describes the show's coverage of the 2000 election recount as the point at which the show found its editorial voice. "That's when I think we tapped into the emotional angle of the news for us and found our editorial footing," he says. Following the September 11th attacks , The Daily Show went off

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2944-525: The 2003 invasion of Iraq , a common segment of the show has been dubbed " Mess O' Potamia ", focusing on the United States' policies in the Middle East, especially Iraq. Elections in the United States were a prominent focus in the show's "Indecision" coverage throughout Stewart & Noah's time as host (the title "InDecision" is a parody of NBC News ' "Decision" segment). Since 2000, under Stewart's tenure,

3036-405: The 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike , the show went on hiatus on November 5, 2007. Although the strike continued until February 2008, the show returned to air on January 7, 2008, without its staff of writers. In solidarity with the writers, the show was referred to as A Daily Show with Jon Stewart rather than The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, until the end of the strike. As a member of

3128-512: The Republican National Convention and talked about Donald Trump 's African-American support. Topics have varied widely; during the early years of the show, they tended toward character-driven human interest stories such as Bigfoot enthusiasts. Since Stewart began hosting in 1999, the focus of the show has become more political and the field pieces have come to more closely reflect current issues and debates. Under Kilborn and

3220-578: The September 11 attacks , Stewart dedicated the entire December 16, 2010, broadcast to the issue. During the next week, a revived version of the bill gained new life, with the potential of being passed before the winter recess. Stewart was praised by both politicians and affected first responders for the bill's passage. According to Syracuse University professor of television, radio and film Robert J. Thompson, "Without him, it's unlikely it would've passed. I don't think Brian Williams , Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer would've been allowed to do this." Due to

3312-462: The Writers Guild of America , Stewart was barred from writing any material for the show himself which he or his writers would ordinarily write. As a result, Stewart and the correspondents largely ad-libbed the show around planned topics. In an effort to fill time while keeping to the strike-related restrictions, the show aired or re-aired some previously recorded segments, and Stewart engaged in

3404-450: The fall elections , with the correspondents rotating hosting duties for other shows. Stewart later extended his contract into 2025. During Trevor Noah's tenure as host, each episode began with announcer Drew Birns announcing the date and the introduction, "From Comedy Central's World News Headquarters in New York, this is The Daily Show with Trevor Noah " . Previously, the introduction

3496-451: The "Five Questions" interview segment as intellectual property, disallowing any future Daily Show hosts from using it in their interviews. Correspondents Brian Unger and A. Whitney Brown left the show shortly before him, but the majority of the show's crew and writing staff stayed on. Kilborn's last show as host aired on December 17, 1998, ending a 386-episode tenure. Reruns were shown until Jon Stewart's debut four weeks later. Kilborn made

3588-469: The Actual Fact", with correspondent Desi Lydic examining statements made by political figures during speeches or events. Under Noah, the continuation of "Democalypse" and "Indecision" also took place with live shows after the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention . For the first time, under Noah, the show also went live after all three U.S. presidential debates in 2016. In

3680-510: The American political sphere. Begala's role in the incident was largely pushed to the wayside, although he has reflected positively on Stewart. Stewart has expressed regrets over the segment, but has continued to trade insults with Carlson in the years following it. Daily Show executive producer Steve Bodow later told The New York Times that the actual events of the segment were unplanned. However, fellow executive producer Ben Karlin said in

3772-520: The Iranian elections, and John Oliver traveled to South Africa for the series of segments "Into Africa" to report on the 2010 FIFA World Cup . In March 2012, Oliver traveled to Gabon , on the west African coast, to report on the Gabonese government's decision to donate $ 2 million to UNESCO after the United States cut its funding for UNESCO earlier that year. On July 19, 2016, Roy Wood Jr. reported live from

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3864-573: The September 11 attacks and the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as the point at which Jon Stewart emerged as a trusted national figure. Robert Thompson, the director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University, recalled of this period, "When all the news guys were walking on eggshells, Jon was hammering those questions about WMDs." During Stewart's tenure,

3956-479: The United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ . The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, and media organizations. It often uses self-referential humor . The show also airs on Slice in Canada. The half-hour-long show premiered on July 22, 1996, and was first hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 17, 1998. Jon Stewart then took over as

4048-428: The administration and Cabinet as well as members of Congress. Numerous presidential candidates have appeared on the show during their campaigns, including John McCain , John Kerry , Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton . In a closing segment, there is a brief segue to the closing credits in the form of the host introducing " Your Moment of Zen ", a humorous piece of video footage without commentary that has been part of

4140-404: The air for nine days. Upon its return, Stewart opened the show with a somber monologue, that, according to Jeremy Gillick and Nonna Gorilovskaya, addressed both the absurdity and importance of his role as a comedian. Commented Stewart: They said to get back to work, and there were no jobs available for a man in the fetal position. ...We sit in the back and we throw spitballs – never forgetting

4232-622: The air. The program used to be rerun several times the next day, including a 7:30 PM Eastern/6:30 PM Central prime time broadcast. From 2007 to 2024, full archive clips from the show under Jon Stewart's tenure were available on the Comedy Central website. In June 2024, the Comedy Central website was shut down in favor of the Paramount+ streaming service. The Daily Show was created by Lizz Winstead and Madeleine Smithberg and premiered on Comedy Central on July 22, 1996, having been marketed as

4324-452: The anchor desk for two months, to be followed by one month of reruns. Oliver received positive reviews for his hosting, leading to his departure from the show in December 2013 for his own show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , which debuted April 27, 2014, on HBO . On February 10, 2015, Stewart announced that he would be leaving the show later in the year. Comedy Central indicated in

4416-472: The anchor desk or as field journalists reporting from false locations in front of a green screen. Colbert says that this change has allowed correspondents to be more involved with the show, as it has permitted them to work more closely with the host and writers. The show's 2000 and 2004 election coverage, combined with a new satirical edge, helped to catapult Stewart and The Daily Show to new levels of popularity and critical respect. Since Stewart became host,

4508-483: The audience to see their work performed. The show runs approximately one hour, contains 10–12 stories, and features outlandish costumes, puppets, and short films made by the group. The Story Pirates also perform private shows, the most popular being birthday parties. The Story Pirates have released four albums and three books. The album "Cats Sit on You" was selected by the American Library Association as

4600-529: The captain of a team — has begun to review headline jokes. The script is submitted by 3 pm, and at 4:15 there is a rehearsal. An hour is left for rewrites before a 6 pm taping in front of a live studio audience. The Daily Show typically tapes four new episodes a week, Monday through Thursday, forty-two weeks a year. The show is broadcast at 11 PM Eastern /10 PM Central , a time when local television stations show their news reports and about half an hour before most other late-night comedy programs begin to go on

4692-412: The discussion of the criticisms Stewart had tried to outline on air. Begala said he agreed with some of those points, but challenged his alternative vision. The segment quickly entered broad circulation – that episode of Crossfire beat the previous month's average viewership by over 250,000, for a total of 867,000 on-air watchers. In addition, transcripts and clips of the episode were spread widely over

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4784-561: The early years of Stewart, most interviewees were either unaware or not entirely aware of the comedic nature of The Daily Show . However, as the show began to gain popularity — particularly following its coverage of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections — most of the subjects now interviewed are aware of the comedic element. Some segments have recurred periodically throughout different tenures, such as "Back in Black" (segments hosted by comedian Lewis Black ) & "Your Moment of Zen". Since

4876-461: The end of his Monday night episodes. Under Noah, the "toss" has been used for The Opposition with Jordan Klepper and Lights Out with David Spade . The host sits at his desk on the elevated island stage in the style of a traditional news show. The show initially used New York PBS station WNET 's facilities until late 1998, when it moved a few blocks to NEP Studio 54. The Colbert Report would claim NEP Studio 54 in 2005. On July 11, 2005,

4968-556: The fact that it is a luxury in this country that allows us to do that. ...The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center. Now it's gone. They attacked it. This symbol of American ingenuity and strength and labor and imagination and commerce and it is gone. But you know what the view is now? The Statue of Liberty. The view from the south of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty. You can't beat that. Gillick and Gorilovskaya point to

5060-471: The final exchange before a commercial break, Carlson remarked that he thought Stewart was "more fun on your show, just my opinion." Stewart responded, "You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." Paul Begala, writing an opinion piece for CNN in 2015, recalled that after the segment was finished, Stewart went backstage with him (along with an executive producer from each of their shows) to more calmly continue

5152-554: The host from January 11, 1999, until August 6, 2015, making the show more strongly focused on political satire and news satire , in contrast with the pop culture focus during Kilborn's tenure. Stewart was succeeded by Trevor Noah , whose tenure began on September 28, 2015, and ended in December 2022. Under the different hosts, the show has been formally known as The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn from 1996 to 1998, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1999 until 2015, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from 2015 to 2022. The Daily Show

5244-501: The host's straight man . Some correspondent segments involve the show's members travelling to different locations to file comedic reports on current news stories and conduct interviews with people related to the featured issue. Correspondents are typically introduced as the show's "senior" specialist in the story's subject, and can range from relatively general (such as Senior Political Analyst) to absurdly specific (such as Senior Religious Registry Correspondent). The cast of correspondents

5336-426: The increasing popularity of the show in certain key demographics have led to examinations of where the views of the show fit in the political spectrum. Adam Clymer , among many others, argued in 2004 that The Daily Show was more critical of Republicans than Democrats under Stewart. Stewart, who voted Democratic in the 2004 presidential election, acknowledged that the show had a more liberal point of view, but that it

5428-498: The internet, which Michael Schaffer of Politico notes predated the rise of later social media giants such as YouTube . Writing for NPR in 2006, Paul Boutin counted the segment as one of the viral clips which helped YouTube gain popularity in its first year. In 2022, Gordon Devin of The Atlantic termed it "one of the first truly viral political videos of this century". Gordon Devin later called Stewart "the champion by first-round knockout". Some analyses contended that

5520-466: The network had cut ties with Tucker Carlson and would be cancelling Crossfire . Klein explicitly cited Stewart's on-air criticism of Crossfire as a factor in the network's decision, commenting, "I agree wholeheartedly with Jon's overall premise". Commentators differ with respect to Stewart's impact on the show's demise, but generally agree that he played a role. Stewart himself took credit, quipping on his show, "I had no idea that if you wanted to cancel

5612-487: The role of the correspondent broadened to encompass not only field segments but also frequent in-studio exchanges. Under Kilborn, Colbert says that his work as a correspondent initially involved "character driven [field] pieces—like, you know, guys who believe in Bigfoot." However, as the focus of the show has become more news-driven, correspondents have increasingly been used in studio pieces, either as experts discussing issues at

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5704-652: The same of CNN . In 2015, The Daily Show' s median age of viewership was 36 years old. Between 2014 and 2023, the show's ratings declined by 75%, and its average viewer age increased to 63. In 2023, the viewership for age range of 25–54 year olds was 158,000 and the age range for 18–34 year olds was 30,000. Critics chastised Stewart for not conducting sufficiently hard-hitting interviews with his political guests, some of whom he may have lampooned in previous segments. Stewart and other Daily Show writers responded to such criticism by saying that they do not have any journalistic responsibility and that as comedians, their only duty

5796-409: The same piece that he and Stewart had discussed, in the car ride to the studio, whether Stewart was going to criticize Crossfire on-air. Karlin also wrote that the Daily Show writers' room had, at the time, regularly joked derogatorily about Crossfire . Tucker Carlson : Wait, I thought you were gonna be funny. Jon Stewart : No, I'm not gonna be your monkey. Stewart had caustic words for

5888-449: The segment reflected Stewart's independence from Crossfire 's place in the media ecosystem, a place that served as a part of the political system that Stewart criticized as a whole – thereby explaining part of Carlson's outrage. In a 2023 analysis, Michael Schaffer argued that echo chambers of partisan agreement replaced Crossfire 's partisan disagreement for the worse. On January 5, 2005, CNN President Jon Klein announced that

5980-450: The show @midnight . This time has also been used to promote films, books or stand-up specials that are affiliated with the host. In October 2005, following The Colbert Report 's premiere, a new feature (sometimes referred to as the toss) was added to the closing segment in which Stewart would have a short exchange with "our good friend, Stephen Colbert at The Colbert Report ", which aired immediately after. The two would have

6072-405: The show back on track. After the segment, Stewart went backstage with Begala to continue the conversation in a calmer manner. The tape and transcript of the segment broke into wide circulation, impacting all three men involved. Three months after the appearance, Crossfire was cancelled and Carlson was fired; commentators differ as to how impactful it actually was, but generally agree that Stewart

6164-479: The show debuted a new set alongside the debut of Trevor Noah 's tenure. According to Larry Hartman, Noah took a lot of inspiration from Stewart's set. A second on-stage 'jumbo-tron' was added and the colours of the set were made lighter. The graphics, intro, theme music, lower thirds, logo, etc. were also all revamped. On July 19, 2016, the set and graphics were given another change to reflect Democalypse 2016 and denote The Daily Show' s RNC and DNC coverage (which

6256-433: The show for being too cruel and for lacking a central editorial vision or ideology, describing it as "bereft of an ideological or artistic center... precocious but empty." There were reports of backstage friction between Kilborn and head writer Lizz Winstead . Winstead had not been involved in the hiring of Kilborn, and disagreed with him over what direction the show should take. "I spent eight months developing and staffing

6348-512: The show has won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards and three Peabody Awards , and its ratings steadily increased. In 2003, the show was averaging nearly a million viewers, an increase of nearly threefold since the show's inception as Comedy Central became available in more households. By September 2008, the show averaged nearly two million viewers per night. Senator Barack Obama 's interview on October 29, 2008, pulled in 3.6 million viewers. The move towards greater involvement in political issues and

6440-434: The show premiered in its new studio, NEP Studio 52, at 733 11th Avenue, a few blocks west of its former location. The set of the new studio was given a sleeker, more formal look, including a backdrop of three large projection screens. The traditional guests' couch, which had been a part of the set since the show's premiere, was done away with in favor of simple upright chairs. The change was initially not well-received, spawning

6532-409: The show previously exhibited. Then-correspondent Stephen Colbert recalls that Stewart specifically asked him to have a political viewpoint, and to allow his passion for issues to carry through into his comedy. Colbert says that whereas under Kilborn the focus was on "human interest-y" pieces, with Stewart as host the show's content became more "issues and news driven", particularly after the beginning of

6624-469: The show went on the road to record week-long specials from the cities hosting the Democratic and Republican National Convention . For the 2006 U.S. midterm elections , a week of episodes was recorded in the contested state of Ohio . The "Indecision" & "Democalypse" coverage of the 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 elections all culminated in live Election Night specials. With Noah as host, one new recurring segment has been "What

6716-1293: The show's earlier years it struggled to book high-profile politicians. (In 1999, for an Indecision 2000 segment, Steve Carell struggled to talk his way off Republican candidate John McCain 's press overflow bus and onto the Straight Talk Express ). However its rise in popularity, particularly following the show's coverage of the 2000 and 2004 elections, made Stewart according to a Rolling Stone (2006) article, "the hot destination for anyone who wants to sell books or seem hip, from presidential candidates to military dictators". Newsweek labeled it "the coolest pit stop on television". Prominent political guests have included U.S. President Joe Biden , former Presidents Jimmy Carter , Bill Clinton and Barack Obama , former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown , former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf , former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf , former Bolivian President Evo Morales , Jordanian King Abdullah II , former Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas , Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Mexican President Vicente Fox . The show has played host to former and current members of

6808-406: The show's third act, the host conducts an interview with a celebrity guest. Guests come from a wide range of cultural sources, and include actors, musicians, authors, athletes, pundits, policy experts and political figures. During Stewart's tenure, the show's guests tended away from celebrities and more towards non-fiction authors and political pundits, as well as many prominent elected officials. In

6900-432: The show's wrap-up since the series began in 1996. The segment often relates to a story covered earlier in the episode, but occasionally is merely a humorous or ridiculous clip. Occasionally, the segment is used as a tribute to someone who has died. Sometimes, before the "Your Moment of Zen", this segment is used for quick promotions. The host might promote the show that follows right after their broadcast, such as promoting

6992-694: The show, making him the first sitting vice president to do so. On October 27, 2010, President Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to be interviewed on the show, wherein Obama commented he "loved" the show. Obama took issue with Stewart's suggestion that his health care program was "timid." After the United States Senate failed to pass and the media failed to cover the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act , which would provide health monitoring and financial aid to sick first responders of

7084-424: The show, portraying it as a place where partisan hacks took nuanced issues and turned them into two-sided exchanges of talking points. To Stewart's point that the show was, as he said, "hurting America", Begala responded that Crossfire was by design a debate show; Stewart responded in turn that such an assertion was "like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition." Carlson pushed back, highlighting

7176-477: The show. This included Bill O'Reilly , Hillary Clinton , John McCain , Lindsey Graham , Chris Christie , John Kerry , and Chuck Schumer . The second segment featured a pre-recorded tour of the Daily Show production facility and studio introducing all of the show's staff and crew. The final segment featured a short farewell speech from Stewart followed by the final "Moment of Zen" (being 'his own' moment of zen):

7268-462: The show; Stewart recalls the hiring of Karlin as the point at which things "[started] to take shape". Describing his approach to the show, Karlin said, "The main thing, for me, is seeing hypocrisy. People who know better saying things that you know they don't believe." Under Stewart and Karlin The Daily Show developed a markedly different style, bringing a sharper political focus to the humor than

7360-471: The similar pieces of "This Week in God" and Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell 's "Even Stevphen". After the change, a number of new features were developed. The ending segment "Your Moment of Zen", previously consisting of a random selection of humorous videos, was diversified to sometimes include recaps or extended versions of news clips shown earlier in the show. The show's theme music, "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould ,

7452-420: The top of the segment that Stewart "is both the smartest funnyman on TV and the funniest smart man on TV." Stewart told The Washington Post later that October that he "probably should have been more delicate", but defended his original contention about Crossfire . Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin said in 2015 that Stewart felt bad about the way the segment had transpired. In 2021, Stewart issued

7544-403: The voice of the show under Stewart was former editor of The Onion Ben Karlin who, along with fellow Onion contributor David Javerbaum , joined the staff in 1999 as head writer and was later promoted to executive producer. Their experience in writing for the satirical newspaper, which uses fake stories to mock real print journalism and current events, would influence the comedic direction of

7636-455: The war in Iraq, describing them as "incompetent" and "unable... to locate their asses, even when presented with two hands and a special ass map." Karlin, then the show's executive producer, said in a 2004 interview that while there is a collective sensibility among the staff which, "when filtered through Jon and the correspondents, feels uniform," the principal goal of the show is comedy. "If you have

7728-452: The week of August 20, 2007, the show aired a series of segments called "Operation Silent Thunder: The Daily Show in Iraq" in which correspondent Rob Riggle reported from Iraq. In August 2008, Riggle traveled to China for a series of segments titled "Rob Riggle: Chasing the Dragon ", which focused on the 2008 Beijing Olympics . Jason Jones traveled to Iran in early June 2009 to report on

7820-423: Was "This is The Daily Show , the most important television program, ever." The host then opens the show with a monologue drawing from current news stories and issues. Previously, the show had divided its news commentary into sections known as "Headlines", "Other News", and "This Just In"; these titles were dropped from regular use on October 28, 2002, and were last used on March 6, 2003. Some episodes will begin with

7912-438: Was at least part of the reason. Carlson was dogged by the incident in subsequent years of his career, and some in the press speculate that humiliation from the incident motivated him to rise to prominence in cable news. Stewart found success from the incident: observers – including the president of CNN, critics in the press, and liberals on the internet – largely agreed with his points, significantly raising his status and profile in

8004-794: Was founded in 2003 by ten Northwestern University graduates including actress and comedian Kristen Schaal ( Flight of the Conchords ). The concept for the Story Pirates grew out of a Northwestern University student organization called " Griffin's Tale " Since then, the organization has grown to include a cast and staff of more than 200 actors, musicians, teachers, puppeteers, songwriters, and technicians. The co-founders of Story Pirates are Lee Overtree and Benjamin Salka Story Pirates shows are made up entirely of original stories written by children, often set to music. Young authors are frequently in

8096-444: Was not "a liberal organization" with a political agenda and its duty first and foremost was to be funny. He acknowledged that the show is not necessarily an "equal opportunity offender", explaining that Republicans tended to provide more comedic fodder because "I think we consider those with power and influence targets and those without it, not." In an interview in 2005, when asked how he responded to critics claiming that The Daily Show

8188-470: Was re-recorded by They Might Be Giants shortly after Stewart joined the show. Stewart served not only as host but also as a writer and executive producer of the series. He recalls that he initially struggled with the Kilborn holdover writers to gain control of the show and put his own imprint on the show's voice, a struggle that led to the departure of a number of the holdover writers. Instrumental in shaping

8280-434: Was slammed by some reviewers as being too mean-spirited, particularly towards the interview subjects of field pieces; a criticism acknowledged by some of the show's cast. Describing his time as a correspondent under Kilborn, Colbert says, "You wanted to take your soul off, put it on a wire hanger, and leave it in the closet before you got on the plane to do one of these pieces." One reviewer from The New York Times criticized

8372-675: Was still smarting from it, and it has periodically been recalled and reshared with Carlson's appearances in the news cycle, including when he was fired from Fox News. Begala's role in the incident has been largely forgotten, with contemporary media emphasizing the dispute as between Stewart and Carlson. I called Tucker Carlson a dick on National television. It's high time I apologize...to dicks. Never should have lumped you in with that terrible terrible person. Paul Begala later told The New York Times that "it worked out for [Stewart]. In my life, it doesn't make my Top 100 list of bad days." In his opinion piece for CNN, he repeated his statement from

8464-469: Was taped in the conventions' respective cities). The new temporary sets had a Washington theme, and was meant to show that Washington is "a little broke" and needs "repair". Though the studio was reverted to its former self after the election week in 2016, the changes to the graphics were kept. After a stretch of episodes filmed from Trevor Noah's apartment due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the show returned to

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