Trevor Noah, host of “The Daily Show,” has declared he will leave his role as the anchor of the late night TV show.
In a video posted to Twitter, Noah declared that, after seven years as the anchor of the Comedy Central satirical news program, his “time is up.”
According to Trevor Noah, the past seven years have been incredible, and unlike anything he could have imagined. Trevor Noah, the Daily Show’s host, experienced the Trump administration, the pandemic, and numerous other major global events during this time. After seven years, Noah decided his time as host was up.
When Jon Stewart left “The Daily Show” in 2015, South African stand-up comic Noah was still relatively unknown to American viewers.
The departure of Trevor Noah from the “Daily Show” heralds a shift in perception of the late-night throne that began with Johnny Carson’s more than 30-year reign. The “Tonight Show” host who reigned as the king of television significantly impacted the hosts who came after him. These hosts acted as though securing that “throne” was the pinnacle of success in show business, and they competed for it accordingly.
Trevor Noah becomes the latest to leave Late Night Television
Following James Corden’s announcement that he will quit CBS’ “Late Late Show” next year, Trevor Noah’s decision to leave “The Daily Show” shows that being a late-night comedian is not always a life sentence for the newer generation of comedians.
The direct descendants of Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno made it abundantly apparent that they considered “The Tonight Show” to be the top honor in television comedy. Conan O’Brien, the third member of the trio who rose to prominence as a part of the late-night shift after Carson wished everyone “A very emotional goodbye” in 1992, had the same workhorse mindset by sticking around for more than three decades (although in different locations).
Jimmy Kimmel recently extended his contract with ABC through the 23rd season, and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon are firmly established at CBS and NBC, respectively.
But that reflects a mentality from a bygone era of television, when viewers were thought to be creatures of habit, going to bed and watching Carson year after year, regardless of the guests or the number of vacation weeks he took near the conclusion of his run.
In that regard, “Saturday Night Live,” despite being a somewhat different animal, serves as a metaphor for the inertia that governed television when it first debuted under the Gerald Ford administration, adding new cast members while continuing to run the show as it gears up to begin its 48th season.
However, Noah made it clear that despite taking over for Jon Stewart seven years ago, he still has comedy mountains to scale that doesn’t include working a desk job.
On the other hand, more change in the late night will give opportunities to new voices and different talent at a time when there has been some retrenchment in late night programs at a time everyone seemed to be piling into the boat.
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Notably, Stewart’s version of “The Daily Show” gave rise to the majority of the current crop of late-night performers, including Colbert, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Noah.
After some time in the wilderness, Stewart has decided on his idea of a second act, consisting of a show on Apple TV+ and a lot of activism for causes he supports, highlighted by his support of veterans. But unfortunately, when Carson left “Tonight truly,” Letterman and Leno did not follow suit with his decision to retire.
It is still unclear where Noah and Corden will go from here. But we’ve entered a different game of thrones now than the late-night era that Carson helped establish.
