The Daily Show with Jon Stewart has had many correspondents over its 16 years, all of whom made cameos for the final show on Thursday. Each was assigned to cover one of the ten Republican candidates for President. Steve Carell returned to reveal the he and the rest of the cast have been standing by the whole time. “Becoming an international super star is just something I did while waiting for my next assignment,” he explained.
Many of the Daily Show alums have gone on to host their on shows. The most recent spinoff being The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which was bumped for the hour-long farewell. “Black shows matter, Jon,” Wilmore said co-opting the “Black lives matter” slogan. The segment lasted so long that John Oliver was cutoff because of time constraints. Oliver was confounded about so-called commercials, which don’t exist on his new show on HBO, Last Week Tonight. The final appearance was by Stephen Colbert, a correspondent on the show back when it was still hosted Craig Kilborn, who also stopped by. Colbert gushed praise on his mentor, who was clearly embarrassed by unrehearsed surprise.
“All of us who were lucky enough to work with you are better off at our jobs because we got to watch you do yours,” Colbert insisted. “And we are better people for having known you.”
The was even an appearance by Stewart’s replacement, Trevor Noah. The usurper intruded on the show with measuring tape in hand. He took measurements of everything including Stewart’s inseam.
Stewart devoted another segment entirely to thanking the crew with a long one-take. The Garden State native introduced the crew like a scene from Jersey Boys. He acknowledged everyone from the news watchers, who literally bled from their eyes, to the executives, who were revealed to be a bunch of dogs playing poker. It ended with a shot of the live studio audience.
Stewart said this isn’t really goodbye. He sees his career as an ongoing conversation with the audience.