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It's been a very long goodbye, but Jon Stewart ends his
16-year stint at "The Daily Show" on Thursday, leaving little
hint of what he will do next.
Stewart, who announced his departure in February, leaves
thousands of grieving fans and an outpouring of media tributes
debating his legacy as the nation's most popular political
satirist.
"Why Jon Stewart Might Be Irreplaceable," wrote Hollywood trade
paper Variety this week. The New York Daily News called him "The
comic who became a conscience."
With its biting satire, juxtaposed TV news clips, "fake news"
correspondents, and "Moment of Zen" sign-off, Stewart's
influence on political life and pop culture far outweighed the
show's small, under two million nightly Comedy Central audience.
More than 200,000 people turned out for his 2010 Washington
"Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear" with Stephen Colbert. His
"Daily Show" won 18 Emmy Awards in as many years.
"When he is going on all cylinders that show could be absolutely
breath-taking and really informative and important to the civic
conversation," said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse
University's Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.
"People used to watch some of this goofy stuff that goes on in
TV news and didn't think anything about it. But as you see the
100th montage where Stewart shows how all these cliches are
repeated across the board, you don't look at TV news in the same
way," Thompson added
Stewart, a stand up comedian who last year released his first
movie - the political drama "Rosewater" - has given few clues as
to what he will do next. Announcing his departure in February,
he said he'd just become weary.
"I've been doing this too long," he said. "Honestly, it's
breaking me. I'm broken."
Fans, many of whom have grown up relying on "The Daily Show" as
their main source of news, are distraught.
"I've watched @TheDailyShow from the start which was also my 1st
yr of college. I've grown old w him," tweeted Lauren Cummings on
the "#jonvoyage" Twitter handle set up for farewell tributes.
Alys Arden wrote that Jon Stewart leaving "is starting to feel
like a boyfriend breaking up with me."
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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