Trevor Noah has now set the date for his final day as host of The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, with Comedy Central issuing a press release today stating that Thursday, December 8 will be Noah’s final broadcast.
Noah surprised many—including, reportedly, some people on the show’s crew—when he announced to his audience, back on September 29, that his seventh year hosting the series would be the last. Noah has expressed a desire to get back to doing more touring as a stand-up comedian; already an established international presence when he took over the series from Jon Stewart back in 2015, Noa commented back at the time that he was taking something of a pay cut by moving to the series, which massively curtailed his ability to tour.
In the press release, Comedy Central noted that the week leading up to Noah’s Thursday night swan song will be spent paying homage to his tenure. The network also announced that the show will go on hiatus for the year following December 8, returning on January 17, 2023— “with additional details forthcoming.”
That, obviously, being an allusion to the big question now hanging over The Daily Show, i.e., “Who’ll be the fourth host of one of Comedy Central’s most long-running and successful franchises?” Early speculation centered on Noah-era regular contributor Roy Wood, Jr.—whose response to said speculation mostly involved making fun of TMZ’s photo choices for him on Twitter. The questions surrounding the series are also exacerbated by reports of problems high up at Comedy Central, with a recent THR piece suggesting that new CEO Chris McCarthy—who issued a statement today praising Noah, and got one from the outgoing host in return—has failed to establish strong relationships with the talent who actually makes the network’s shows.