The Daily Show (1996)
The Daily Show is a 1996 news series created by Madeleine Smithberg and Lizz Winstead. It stars Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah and Jordan Klepper.
A fake news desk with real targets. Since 1996, Comedy Central's flagship satire has skewered politicians, cable pundits, and the daily churn of American headlines, delivered as a straight-faced anchor broadcast that keeps cracking. Jon Stewart built its modern shape, Trevor Noah carried it through a turbulent decade, and a rotating bench of correspondents now trades the desk night to night. Field pieces, mock interviews, and montages of clips left to indict themselves form the house style. The comedy runs on close reading of the news cycle, plus a running joke about the medium doing the reporting.
Quick answers
What is The Daily Show about?
A fake news desk with real targets. Since 1996, Comedy Central's flagship satire has skewered politicians, cable pundits, and the daily churn of American headlines, delivered as a straight-faced anchor broadcast that keeps cracking. Jon Stewart built its modern shape, Trevor Noah carried it through a turbulent decade, and a rotating bench of correspondents now trades the desk night to night. Field pieces, mock interviews, and montages of clips left to indict themselves form the house style. The comedy runs on close reading of the news cycle, plus a running joke about the medium doing the reporting.
When was The Daily Show released?
The Daily Show was released on 22 July 1996.
How many episodes does The Daily Show have?
The Daily Show has 4270 episodes across 32 seasons.
Who made The Daily Show?
The Daily Show was created by Madeleine Smithberg, Lizz Winstead and David Javerbaum.
Where can I watch The Daily Show?
The Daily Show is available on DirecTV On Demand, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), Paramount+ (Via Apple TV), Philo and fuboTV.
Where to watch The Daily Show
Stream: DirecTV On Demand, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ (Via Amazon Prime), Paramount+ (Via Apple TV), Philo, fuboTV
Buy: Amazon
Official site
Cast
- Jon Stewart as Self - Host
- Trevor Noah as Self - Host
- Jordan Klepper as Self - Host
- Michael Kosta as Self - Host
- Desi Lydic as Self - Host
- Ronny Chieng as Self - Host
- Craig Kilborn as Self - Host
- Stephen Colbert as Self - Correspondent
- Josh Johnson as Self - Host
- Lewis Black as Self
- John Oliver as Self - Correspondent
- Jason Jones as Self - Correspondent
Similar series
Explore The Daily Show guides
A few thoughts on The Daily Show
Fans of its appetite for exposing spin should watch Wag the Dog, where a fabricated war is staged to save a presidency, and Thank You for Smoking, a comedy about a tobacco lobbyist who argues for a living. Both share the show's fascination with how a message gets manufactured before it ever reaches you.
Fake news and political satire shows that skewer people in power
The Daily Show built its format on treating real headlines like material for a fake news desk, and a lot of shows borrowed that trick. The Colbert Report spun out of it with an even more exaggerated pundit character, Have I Got News for You and Brass Eye run the same setup on British soil, and Veep and The Thick of It do it as scripted comedy instead of parody.
Late-night shows carried by one host's deadpan control of the room
Long before The Daily Show's correspondents, late-night was built around a deadpan host holding the show together. Late Show with David Letterman set the template for that dry, needling persona, The Larry Sanders Show pulls that character apart from behind the scenes, and The Graham Norton Show runs on one host's control of the room. The Eric Andre Show and Billy on the Street push that host-centered chaos into stunt comedy.
Sketch comedy that breaks format just to mock the medium itself
The Daily Show's fake news desk plays it straight while everything around it is absurd, a trick sketch comedy has used for decades. Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Young Ones broke format constantly to mock television itself, The Benny Hill Show and In Living Color built sketches around that same anything-goes energy, and Chappelle's Show and Beavis and Butt-Head aimed that same irreverence at pop culture and authority.
Movies and shows about the machinery of spin behind the headlines
The Daily Show runs on close reading of how news gets shaped and sold, which is what Wag the Dog and Thank You for Smoking turn into feature-length satire, one about a fabricated war and the other about professional spin. The Brink follows that same dark comic instinct into a nuclear crisis inside the White House, while VICE News Tonight covers real versions of the stories this kind of satire mocks.