Trevor Noah has a very huge role to fill in, one that had been ruled by a television icon for 16 years.
The South African comedian has replaced Jon Stewart as host of the Daily Show after making his final appearance in August of this year. Making his Daily Show debut on Monday, September 28, Noah has encountered mixed reviews. Some are good and some are just critical of him.
For those who are not a huge fan of Noah so far, I feel as if they are clinging on to the past too much. Critics are constantly comparing him to Jon Stewart, saying that he does not have the charisma to take over his spot as host. Yes, the show will never be the same without Stewart, but let’s look at some positives.
His performance was smooth, crisp and straight to the point throughout the entire episode. Some even say that his style beat Jon Stewart’s, who would sputter when talking. Noah read his material with great timing and would shift tones from authoritative, to snarky to sly with whatever he was saying in the moment. In my opinion, he’s on the right track to being a perfect replacement. I think he takes the personality of Jon Stewart to heart to create his own style of hosting The Daily Show.
However, he has a long way to go in order to affect the emotions of his viewers the way Jon Stewart did for 16 years. Long-time fans can still remember Gitmo, Jon Stewart’s satire on a cuddly Guantanamo Bay detainee, or when Stewart had completely shut down the Mad Money’s Jim Cramer and his ideas that helped doom the economy. Stewart was not afraid to say or do anything on his show.
So the question is whether or not Trevor Noah will be a good host, or an amazing host. These performances and more from Jon Stewart have remained memorable to its viewers to the present day, something which any other talk show would find hard to do.
Time will tell to see if Trevor Noah will continue Jon Stewart’s legacy to the fullest extent. Until then, The Daily Show is still the satire viewers have grown to love and at least I know I will keep watching it, regularly.