Jon Stewart is quitting 'The Daily Show'

Gary Levin | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Jon Stewart leaving 'The Daily Show' Jon Stewart told his audience Tuesday that he will step down from Comedy Central's The Daily Show by the end of this year, when his contract expires.



Another late-night host is calling it quits: Jon Stewart told his audience Tuesday that he'll step down from Comedy Central's The Daily Show sometime before the end of this year. His contract expires in September.

Stewart said he has no plans, but "a lot of ideas," and hinted at reasons for his departure after what will be 17 years on the job: "This show doesn't deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you."

The network confirmed his planned exit with a statement from president Michele Ganeless, and said it will replace him: "For the better part of the last two decades, I have had the incredible honor and privilege of working with Jon Stewart. His comedic brilliance is second to none. Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera. Through his unique voice and vision, The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come."

Photos: Jon Stewart through the years

Stewart, 52, had been hinting at his restlessness while promoting Rosewater, his directorial debut, last fall, telling NPR he'd never find another job he's as well suited for. "That being said, I think there are moments when you realize that that's not enough anymore, or maybe it's time for some discomfort."

Still, the timing of the news was a surprise, coming just weeks after December's ending of Stephen Colbert's The Colbert Report, which Stewart produced, to succeed David Letterman at CBS in September. And it leaves Comedy Central, already suffering from Colbert's departure, with a big hole in its late-night lineup, where The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore, featuring another former Daily Show contributor, is off to a softer start.

Stewart, a onetime MTV host, is not the first host of The Daily Show, a so-called "fake newscast" with a cast of "correspondents" who riff on the day's headlines. He replaced Craig Kilborn, who hosted for its first three seasons and later moved to CBS. But he vaulted the show into the cultural and political conversation, satirizing the foibles of news media and politicians, with Fox News host Bill O'Reilly and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., among his favorite targets.

He's often self-effacing about the outsized impact of his show, with an audience of less than 1.5 million viewers, telling USA TODAY in 2008: "The whole idea that we're the beacon of integrity is ridiculous. We get far more attention from (the press) than we should."

Stewart also provides an increasingly rare and valuable outlet for authors to promote books on serious topics, along with the occasional movie star or comedian interview.

What's next? It's unclear. Though he'd been courted by CBS and other in the past, often said he had no desire to do a conventional talk show, and said interviews were his least-favorite job, though a useful time-filler near the end of the program. "Tonight! For once you wanna stay through the interview," the show's Twitter account promised Tuesday.

His show also made stars of several of its fake correspondents, including Steve Carell, Ed Helms, Colbert and John Oliver, who became Stewart's only long-term fill-in in the summer of 2013, during filming of Rosewater, and parlayed it into a similar weekly HBO series, Last Week Tonight.

Stewart's departure caps a tumultuous 12 months in late-night TV, in which NBC's Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno, Seth Meyers replaced Fallon, and Letterman announced plans to retire in May.