Jon Stewart sat down with Rachel Maddow for a lengthy taped interview that wound up filling the entirety of "The Rachel Maddow Show" Thursday night on MSNBC.

Watch the full unedited interview below, or scroll down for some key excerpts:

WATCH: Maddow compares -- and Stewart contrasts -- "The Daily Show" with cable news programming:

Stewart discusses the business strategies and other guiding motives of the news networks:

Stewart pushes back against Maddow's ideas regarding coverage of George W. Bush:

More on the place of "The Daily Show" in entertainment, its social commentary and its relationship to journalism:

Maddow and Stewart again compare and contrast their respective roles: