Stewart's jokes came about as he "searched" for a suitable replacement for Keith Olbermann in MSNBC's lineup. He said that there was an "Olbermann-shaped hole" in the national discourse that needed to be filled, and ran through MSNBC's lineup. He concluded that Rachel Maddow is too nice, Chris Matthews too uncreative, and Lawrence O'Donnell too professorially subdued. Then he played clips of Schultz and mocked his sometimes over-the-top nature, calling him a "heavy set man shouting at you" and saying he could fill the role of "Olbermann's id."