Though the trendy, tongue-in-cheek suggestion for Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” replacement is Brian Williams, it’s time to start thinking for real about who might be able to bring some fresh game to the long-running Comedy Central news satire once Stewart retires later this year.
It bears saying at this point — again — that late night is still a real sausage-fest. The sole exception is Chelsea Handler, and she left her post on E! as the only female late-night host (to reportedly move to a different show on Netflix in 2016). Basically, at this point, if you drew a pie chart of the gender divide in this medium, dudes would walk off with the whole pie.
Isn’t it time women got a slice?
“The Daily Show” has developed plenty of female talent over the years: Just as Stephen Colbert, Larry Wilmore and John Oliver have used correspondent gigs as springboards to their own similar shows, how about giving Samantha Bee a turn at the main desk? She’s a veteran satire reporter, having been a cast member since 2003 — and proving especially proficient at the sort of bone-dry wit with which Stewart approaches the day’s ridiculous news stories. Watch as her husband, fellow correspondent Jason Jones, sums up the current situation on late night and gives her a glowing recommendation.
Or what about Kristen Schaal, Senior Women’s Issues Correspondent, who reliably shows up in segments skewering the very sort of gender prejudice that’s kept women off late-night desks?
Jessica Williams, the youngest staffer at “The Daily Show,” might be too green for a shot at the big desk, but let’s not underestimate her: Williams’ reporting on catcalling and campus sexual harassment has proved incredibly popular, and she’s a natural on camera.
Outside the show, there’s a host of desk-ready talent who could be brought in (if they’d be willing to give up their already packed schedules to do it). Top of the list are Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, who co-hosted some of the best years of “Weekend Update” at “Saturday Night Live” and have made the Golden Globes awards worth watching for the past two years.
Or producers could look a little further afield at more under-the-radar talent; after all, Stewart was hardly a household name when he stepped into the gig at Comedy Central. Two such candidates are Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer, who co-hosted “Nikki & Sara Live” on MTV for two seasons.
Another upstart pick could be wry stand-up comic Tig Notaro — whose androgynous look might be just the thing to ease viewers into the idea of a woman as host. She’s proven incredibly adept with improvised sets that have gotten a lot of press (see Louis C.K.’s release of her set from 2012 in which she threw her planned jokes out and instead talked about being diagnosed with breast cancer) and also knows her way around a writer’s room, having worked on the staff of “Inside Amy Schumer.”
Then there’s comedian Sarah Haskins, who hosted a popular segment on Current (remember them?) called “Target: Women,” expertly sending up stupid trends in advertising for women.
Finally, a left-field suggestion: Bring in a comic-minded journalist from across the pond — after all, it worked out so well with John Oliver. Caitlin Moran is a camera-savvy journalist who’s a quick wit with interesting hair — and unsubtly progressive political views.