The Daily Show writers beg for new host after struggling to find a replacement

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Recent and upcoming hosts include Jordan Klepper, Ronny Chieng, Dulcé Sloan, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, and Lewis Black.

It was announced in February that Jon Stewart would be returning to the anchor desk every Monday night, and so the former host - he left in 2015 - now hosts The Daily Show once a week.

He will continue to host through the 2024 election cycle and serve as the executive producer.

"I offered him a massage every day, so he said yes to that," Zhubin Parang joked to The U.S. Sun about how they won him back.

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Meanwhile, another Daily Show writer, Dan Amira, added, "And I am blackmailing him, and I can't tell you what it's for, but that was a key piece also."

In all seriousness, writer Jennifer Flanz shed light on how it is going having Jon back as a host - a position he held for 16 years.

"It's going great. The three of us have worked with him when he was here the first round, so it's getting the best of him because he's only there one night," she explained.

"I mean, we work on his stuff throughout the week, but really without the burden of... I think for all of the hosts right now that are in the mix, not having the burden of carrying the show alone every night is so good for a show like The Daily Show because it is a lot of pressure and people are looking to you constantly for your take and what you have to say.

"And they agree, they disagree, they like you, they hate you, and it's a lot. So I kind of love that they're all sharing that burden."

WHO'S NEXT?

The trio walked the red carpet together as The Daily Show was nominated for Comedy/Talk Series at the 2024 Writers Guild Awards New York Ceremony on April 14, 2024.

Trevor Noah gets choked up as he bids farewell to The Daily Show after seven years

When asked who their dream host is, all three writers had different opinions.

Zhubin revealed, "I wanted Peyton Manning, but I'm a real fan boy of Peyton Manning.

"I'm honestly indifferent to Jon Stewart because I didn't get Peyton Manning, so I couldn't care."

Meanwhile, Dan disagreed on the sport icon, and said, "I can barely throw a football so it's not a good fit for the show."

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Then, Jennifer spilled that she was gunning for A-list singer Jennifer Lopez.

"I also wanted JLo, but barring that," she told The U.S. Sun.

"Honestly, we've all pitched this version for over a year now," Jennifer remarked, referring to the once-a-week host Jon Stewart.

"We're living the dream. We wanted our team to take over and obviously having Jon back - that's like cherry on top."

JLo and Peyton have both appeared on The Daily Show as celebrity guests, but neither have guest-hosted.

MAJOR CHANGES

While attending the Writers Guild Awards at The Edison Ballroom, the writers bumped into Roy Wood Jr. who was a presenter that evening.

Despite the former correspondent departing from the show in October 2023, there was no awkwardness in the room.

Roy recently wrapped filming of Jonah Hill's movie Outcome and is working on a memoir, The Man of Many Fathers.

When asked if there would be any other changes to the show, Zhubin first joked that one of them "will be fired soon," but then shared what viewers of the news program can expect.

"Well, historically, for the conventions, we've gone to the cities. We're hoping to do something like that again soon.

"But I think with this year coming up, there's going to be plenty to talk about and do just with the [political] campaign and the events.

"And dealing with all the snowballing of excitement and terror that's going to lead up to that. It's going to be a lot," he teased.

The Daily Show airs weeknights at 11 pm ET/PT on Comedy Central and is available the following morning on Paramount+ and on Comedy Central's website and app.

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