The Daily Show

From The TV IV

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Premiere	July 22, 1996
Finale
Airs	Monday-Thursday at 11PM
Creator	Madeleine Smithberg Lizz Winstead
Host	Craig Kilborn (1996–1998) Jon Stewart (1999–)
Network	Comedy Central
Style	30-minute comedy news talk show
Company	Viacom
Status	Renewed through 2010
Origin	USA

The Daily Show (1996—) is a 30-minute news program which focuses on satirizing and poking fun at current events. It airs on Comedy Central Monday through Thursday at 11:00PM EST with several repeats throughout the day. An "international" version also broadcasts weekly on CNN in Europe. The show also runs on the channel More4, based in the United Kingdom on Monday-Friday at 8:30PM GMT.

1 History
2 Seasons
3 Cast
4 In-Depth
5 DVD Releases
6 External Sites

[edit] History

At its inception in 1996, the show was hosted by former ESPN SportsCenter anchor Craig Kilborn, who developed the news program as more of an entertainment gossip show. Kilborn often joked that he was playing the "enlightened frat boy" character. Despite this difference in tone, Kilborn pioneered many of the endearing qualities of the series including the basic format of headlines, fake "live" segments and the Moment of Zen. Kilborn also notably ended all of his interviews with Five Questions, which was pulled from a pick-up line he devised and later became the source behind the first Daily Show book. In 1998, Kilborn left the series to host The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn and placed several of these concepts (including "Moment for Us") on embargo for use on his new show. After a four month hiatus, Kilborn was replaced by comedian and talk show host Jon Stewart.

Stewart took the series in a far more political direction. While Kilborn was the face of the previous three years, he did not write any of the material and, according to contributor Beth Littleford, was as "dumb as a post." Stewart, on the other hand, signed on as a co-executive producer and writer, as well as host. He focused the news content into sharper political satire rather than less sophisticated jokes that didn't probe the issue at hand. This new focus combined with in-depth Indecision 2000 election coverage caused the series to explode in popularity and critical acclaim.

The format for the series is generally static and has remained in the same for its entire tenure. The first block of the show is made up of what was once known as "Headlines," a brief run-down of some of the events of the day, often with commentary from a correspondent in a "live" setting (in actuality, they're a few feet from the desk in front of a green screen). The second block is typically taken up by a produced segment or a recurring bit like Back in Black or This Week in God. The third block is occupied by an interview with the night's guest.

This format isn't set in stone, however. The interview segment is occasionally extended into the second block, usually this happens when the interview has far more potential than any of the produced segments on hand or when the guest has a high degree of notoriety, like former presidents (Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have both appeared), dignitaries (Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf) and controversial figures (Bernard Goldberg). The final minutes of the show are taken up lately by an occasional conversation between Stewart and Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report (a Daily Show spin-off), through a fiberoptic link between their shows and, ultimately, the Moment of Zen.

The series has spun off two similar programs. The aforementioned Colbert Report was derived from a fake commercial in which Stephen Colbert played the role of a loud-mouthed pundit in the style of Bill O'Reilly. It began broadcasting in 2004. A second program, currently titled Important Things with Demetri Martin will be hosted by Demetri Martin and produced by Stewart's Busboy Productions Inc. Martin has occasionally filed reports as the show's "youth correspondent" on the recurring segment Trendspotting. Important Things is set to begin in the second half of 2008.

[edit] Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
Comedy Central
1996	July 22, 1996	December 1996	—
1997	January 1997	December 1997	—
1998	January 5, 1998	December 17, 1998	—
1999	January 11, 1999	December 21, 1999	159
2000	January 5, 2000	December 21, 2000	160
2001	January 9, 2001	December 20, 2001	161
2002	January 8, 2002	December 19, 2002	160
2003	January 7, 2003	December 18, 2003	159
2004	January 6, 2004	December 16, 2004	162
2005	January 4, 2005	December 15, 2005	159
2006	January 4, 2006	December 20, 2005	161
2007	January 8, 2007	November 1, 2007	133
2008	January 7, 2008	—	—

[edit] Cast

Person	Duration
Hosts
Craig Kilborn	1	2	3
Jon Stewart				4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Current Correspondents
Samantha Bee								8	9	10	11	12	13
Jason Jones										10	11	12	13
Aasif Mandvi											11	12	13
John Oliver											11	12	13
Rob Riggle											11	12	13
Larry Wilmore											11	12	13
Kristen Schaal													13
Wyatt Cenac													13
Current Contributors
Lewis Black	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Demetri Martin										10	11	12	13
John Hodgman											11	12	13
Buck Henry												12	13
Past Correspondents
Michael Showalter	1
David Wain	1
Lizz Winstead	1	2
A. Whitney Brown	1	2	3
Brian Unger	1	2	3
Beth Littleford	1	2	3	4	5
Stephen Colbert		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Laura Kightlinger			3
Mo Rocca			3	4	5	6	7	8
Denny Siegel				4
Vance Degeneres				4	5	6
Nancy Walls				4	5	6	7
Stacey Grenrock-Woods				4	5	6	7	8
Steve Carell				4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Jerry Minor					5
Miriam Tolan					5	6
Matt Walsh					5	6	7
Eric Drysdale						6
David Pompeii						6
Lauren Weedman						6	7
Mary Birdsong							7
Adrianne Frost							7
Rachael Harris							7	8
Rob Corddry							7	8	9	10	11	12
Ed Helms							7	8	9	10	11
Jon Glaser										10
Nathan Corddry										10	11
Dan Bakkedahl										10	11	12
Past Contributors
John Bloom	1	2	3
Rich Brown	1	2	3
Frank DeCaro	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Paul F. Tompkins			3
Dave Attell				4	5	6	7
Andy Kindler					5
Bob Wiltfong									9	10