America's Most Trusted Newsman (2009) has a CV replete with possibilities for alternative employment. Should he ever need it…

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show are reunited – but what else could he do?

Jon Stewart and The Daily Show have been together since 1999, when he took over the host's chair. Tonight, Stewart returns from his first long-term hiatus from the show, after taking three months off to direct the film Rosewater.

That break saw John Oliver – the show's longtime "senior British correspondent" and staff writer – take over the anchor's desk. Critics and fans lauded Oliver's tenure, proving that The Daily Show without Jon Stewart is a sustainable enterprise.

So The Daily Show can survive without Jon Stewart. But what would Stewart do without The Daily Show? A review of his extracurricular experience may provide the answers.

Public office

Despite the myriad online petitions, Facebook groups and public pleas for a Stewart candidacy, Stewart has repeatedly denied calls to run for public office. In April, he told the documentary maker Ken Burns that he wouldn't run for mayor of New York City because: "I don't have time to take pictures of my junk and send them to everybody."

In the past five years, however, he has used his celebrity status to create some political-ish events – if with a satirical spin.

In October 2010, more than 215,000 people took over Washington DC to support he and Stephen Colbert's Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Rally attendees matched the feelings of many Americans with signs reading: "Somewhat irritated about extreme outrage" and "I respectfully disagree with your opinions but I still value you as a person …"

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert perform a duet during the Rally To Restore Sanity in Washington DC. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

After the rally proved a success, Stewart took on one of his most frequent sparring partners – Bill O'Reilly of Fox News – for a debate, a month before the 2012 presidential election. It offered a not-so-surprising look into what a potential Stewart campaign platform could look like:

"Give me my money back, the $800bn for the Iraq War, and children's television is on the house," Stewart said. "Give me the money back for the Iraq war, and it's rubbers for everyone, on me."

In December 2010, Stewart also bagged an actual, tangible political accomplishment – though it relied on The Daily Show. When Republicans stalled the Zadroga Bill, legislation that allots federal funds for healthcare to 9/11 first responders, Stewart delivered a customary rant and continued to cover the issue, oftentimes more than the "real" news media. He then devoted an entire segment to interviewing four first responders.

Shortly afterwards, the bill passed, with The White House, New York politicians and the first responders crediting Stewart for bringing awareness to the bill.

Actor

This brings us to the darkside of Stewart's side-gigs: acting. Maybe a break from The Daily Show would allow him to hew his acting skills a little bit more.

Case in point – Jon Stewart in Half Baked:

Also, see: Jon Stewart canoodling with Fran Drescher on The Nanny and Jon Stewart in Death to Smoochy.

Author

Before Earth (The Book), and the Abraham-Lincoln endorsed America (The Book) that preceded it, in 1998 Stewart penned his own collections of essays and stories: Naked Pictures of Famous People.

Instead of naked pictures of famous people, the book contains a set of letters from Princess Diana to Mother Teresa, the story of Bill Gates selling his soul to the devil and a journal of a man's time spent with the Kennedy family:

Jack and Lem are just now leaving to get ready for tonight's Hyannis event, a costume ball with a New Deal theme. Lem's going as the Tennessee Valley Authority and Jack as a wheelchair. Mr K is fixing all the boys Penicillin Martinis in expectation. Optimists all. All except young Bobby, who has been holding his hand over an open flame since Wednesday night as penance for incorrectly answering his father's query 'Who is the finance minister of Japan?' Bobby thought Keisuko Okada when it is apparently Korekiyo Takahashi (Okada being prime minister). An innocent schoolboy mistake, but Bobby's quite hard on himself.

CNN executive

Though the 24-hour news networks are Stewart's primary targets, his criticism of CNN tends to be more powerful, as the network was at least sort-of respected, once. Stewart has been its most vocal critic through the years and is thought to be responsible for the cancellation of the Crossfire show, primarily because of this interview:

Crossfire returns this year, without Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson, though the latter was last seen sleeping on-air (without a bowtie).

Also, in 2009 Stewart was voted America's Most Trusted Newsman – which is more than can be said for Wolf Blitzer.