Trevor Noah to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show

It seems that the South African comedian will be the one replacing Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show.

Everyone knows that Trevor Noah had joined ‘The Daily Show’ at the end of last year only as a contributor but now it seems that he could serve as an integral part of the program. This is because Noah has been gaining consideration as the potential successor to Jon Stewart’s legacy. Well if this happens so Trevor Noah would become one of the most influential voices on TV.

However there is no guarantee that it will be Noah who will replace Stewart as the host and up till now no final decision has been reached. Although the selection process of Comedy Central has gained speed and it is now just a matter of some days that the decision will be taken. Those who want to see Trevor Noah replacing Stewart should be happy as Noah has moved to a shortlist being put together by executives at the cable outlet. 

This choice is very important for Comedy Central as ‘The Daily show’ is the network’s signature show and last year Comedy Central has already bid farewell to one of its mainstay, Stephen Colbert. He used to host ‘The Colbert Report’ which was a half-hour program and gave Comedy Central a boost when it came to woo young audiences to its schedule.

Colbert will now soon be taking David Letterman’s place on CBS’s ‘Late Show’. Right now in place of Colbert’s program Comedy Central is showing a new program, ‘The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore’ which uses comedy to explore culture, politics and race.

Already Comedy Central is featuring an African-American host, Larry Wilmore whose program has won some plaudits. It seems from the report of Variety that the network will select Noah as the network would want to add a black comedian to the time slot as competitors rely on white males.

Moreover now networks recognize the need to appeal directly to America’s growing multicultural viewership.  Apart from being black Noah is also no stranger to handling thorny issues just like Stewart. When he used to be in South Africa, Noah was known for riffing on the topics of race and politics.

Noah also has the experience with wee hours programming and has hosted a late-night show in South Africa for two seasons. Noah was also the first stand-up comedian from South Africa to appear on either NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ or CBS’s ‘Late Show with David Letterman’. 

 Stewart had announced in February that he would step down and since then candidates to succeed him have made plans of their own. ‘The Daily Show’ has had just two hosts since it launched on Comedy Central in 1996. The first was Craig Kilborn and then Jon Stewart.

Both these hosts were in their 30s when they took the reins of the program and both were seen as new comers in the TV business. So according to its tradition Noah is also in his 30’s, 31 to be exact and so he is a potential candidate.