Stephen Colbert is basically Comedy Central royalty. The Late Show host had a memorable run on The Daily Show as a correspondent before headlining his own show, The Colbert Report, from 2005 to 2014. He left the successful satire program to take over for David Letterman at CBS, yet he clearly has fond memories of his long tenure at the network. Upon the recent news that Trevor Noah is to leave TDS, Colbert was asked to comment on what the future holds for the satirical news program, and he gave an honest response.
During an interview with Charlamagne Tha God on his show, Hell of a Week, Stephen Colbert reminisced about his time on The Daily Show, so it was only natural that the conversation turned to who he thinks would be best to succeed Trevor Noah. While he coyly expressed concern about the future for the show, he remarked:
Jon Stewart’s available. He only does like ten shows a year over at Apple, he could do The Daily Show at the same time. I don’t know, who do you think? I like Roy Wood Jr. a lot, and several people enjoy him as well in this room.
Jon Stewart previously hosted The Daily Show and held that post while Colbert acted as a correspondent. He was replaced by Noah in 2014 and later returned to TV last year in The Problem with Jon Stewart, which currently available for AppleTV+ subscribers. Roy Wood Jr. is currently a correspondent on the Comedy Central news program show and has been a rumored frontrunner for Noah’s position. Both options would certainly lead to fan support, and would be great “gets” for the network. During Colbert's chat with Charlamagne tha God, one audience member shouted that a black woman would also be a great pick to be the next host of the network mainstay, to which the talk show host agreed and made another suggestion:
I don’t know if she wants it but Jessica Williams, I thought she would be great. She’s all Harry Potter, she’s got all that cash, I’m not sure if Comedy Central can afford her.
Jessica Williams also acted as a Daily Show correspondent from 2012 to 2016 and left to pursue other projects. She had a show on HBO called 2 Dope Queens, which ran for two seasons and later joined the Fantastic Beasts franchise -- the Harry Potter prequel trilogy. She is incredibly talented, and the Beasts series is rumored to be coming to a close -- so Williams may be available. It would be great to have a female Daily Show host, and Williams would definitely be a great presence in the late-night TV space.
Even if program brings back Jon Stewart, or hires an incredibly capable familiar face like Jessica Williams or Roy Wood Jr., the recent "Late Night" departures and transitions clearly signal that changes are happening in the talk show world. Jimmy Kimmel recently expressed concern over his own future at ABC, and Conan O’Brian’s planned transition to streaming and podcasting is a possible indicator of where the medium is going. However, Colbert still sits comfortably behind the late night desk. We'll have to wait and see what lies ahead for the format as well as Comedy Central's flagship show as it searches for its next host.
Fans can currently catch Trevor Noah on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, until he leaves his weeknight 11:00pm EST time slot on December 8th. You can also catch The Late Show with Stephen Colbert weeknights at 11:30pm EST on CBS. Previous seasons of both of these shows are currently available for Paramount+ subscribers. For more information on what's airing on TV this fall, check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule.
