Trevor Noah Is Leaving The Daily Show After Seven Years As Host

After seven years as the face of "The Daily Show," host Trevor Noah is ready to step down. Noah announced his plans to depart the Comedy Central series at Thursday night's live taping of the show in New York, saying, "My time is up," to audible gasps from the audience (see below, via Variety).

Noah was a virtual unknown when he took over "The Daily Show" from Jon Stewart in 2015, but he's since become a staple of late-night TV and will obviously leave some big shoes to fill if and when the network decides to have someone take over from him. The alternative would be for them to discontinue "The Daily Show" or go hostless like the Oscars have, and it doesn't sound like they're considering the first option, at least. It's not yet clear when exactly Noah will be leaving the show or what the path forward will be, but Comedy Central has already issued a statement, which makes it sound like they are interested in continuing the series after his departure, saying:

"We are grateful to Trevor for our amazing partnership over the past seven years. With no timetable for his departure, we're working together on next steps. As we look ahead, we're excited for the next chapter in the 25+ year history of 'The Daily Show' as it continues to redefine culture through sharp and hilarious social commentary, helping audiences make sense of the world around them."

Craig Kilborn hosted "The Daily Show" during its initial run from 1996 to 1998, but Stewart had a much longer run from 1999 to 2015. Noah's tenure currently falls in the middle, but again, it's not exactly clear yet if he'll be making a swift departure or sticking around a little while longer. We sometimes hear advance notification about late-night hosts retiring a year or more before it actually happens. That's the case with rival host James Corden, who is expected to exit CBS' "The Late Late Show" in 2023.

Corden and now Noah's departure will continue to alter the landscape of late-night TV, with "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" having also been canceled just a few months ago. Bee, of course, started as a "Daily Show" correspondent, as did Stephen Colbert, who remains one of the few network holdouts with Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, at a time when cord-cutting has reduced the number of nightly viewers for terrestrial broadcasts of late-night TV.

I actually attended "The Daily Show" once in New York when Stewart was hosting and Colbert was a correspondent, and while I haven't kept up with the show as much in recent years, Noah seems like a talented guy and I'm sure he'll land on his feet, just as Colbert did.