The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History – Chris Smith

On December 17, 1998, Craig Kilbon signed off from The Daily Show for the last time.  The following January, a new host, looking to bounce back after a failed late night talk show earlier in his career, took over.  16 years later, Jon Stewart said goodbye, changing the face of the show, and late night television, forever.  For this history of Stewart’s time with the show, Chris Smith interviews Stewart, the correspondents, writers, producers, and guests that turned a late night spoof in to an Emmy-award winning juggernaut that is the longest running program in Comedy Central’s history.

The history of the show covers all of the big news stories of the 21st century, from the disputed presidential election in 2000, to the 9/11 attacks, to the election of Barack Obama in 2008 and the rise of Donald Trump as a serious(?) candidate in 2015.  Smith gets stories from all of the contributors over the years, minus, of course, Kilborn.

I was a fan of the show when it first premiered with Kilborn.  When Stewart took over, I was just out of college and had lost track of the show, but eventually came back to it for the last few years.  The spirit of the show lives on, with John Oliver and Samantha Bee doing similar shows on a weekly basis and, of course, Trevor Noah continuing the flagship.