Wow. I have to admit, I haven't watched The Daily Show religiously in the last two years (more like once a week or so), but having watched it nightly for about eight straight years before that, I'm sort of gutpunched by this news today. When Stewart left for a months long break a couple years ago to film his movie Rosewater, I had a feeling that signaled his imminent departure. But given the fact that Colbert just signed off, I was kind of counting on Jon to make it through the next election, and had in fact, started to get back into watching it on a daily basis just recently. I really didn't think he'd bow out before the 2016 election. And now that it's really happening, it's sinking in what a dramatic "end of an era" this really is. Jon Stewart is the one who changed the format for late night television, for political satire, and his show (and the comedians and spin-offs he helped launch) set a new kind of standard for comedy and politics. It was a necessary and absolutely essential service that he provided (and it still is). I don't know what he's leaving to do, but I know that with him, and presumably the show gone (I don't honestly see how they replace him at the desk, given how associated with him the brand has become), it's going to leave a massive gap in the landscape of television comedy and frankly, news media itself. You've heard it before, but it was true- he was better news than the actual news, and he changed everything.
