Jon Stewart’s Last ‘Daily Show’ Episode Airs Tonight

The one person I could never get rid of was Roger Ailes.

During Stewart’s tenure, “The Daily Show” became more sharply political, satirizing the likes of Fox News, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, among numerous targets. Even more so when the show finally went to commercial Stewart was swarmed by all the night’s special guests for a giant group hug. Even his early standup was politically oriented.

Now those who missed it on Thursday (or weren’t able to stay up that late) are able to watch the final Daily Show episode online thanks to Comedy Central (see the link below for video).

His so called “frenemies” included CNN’s Wolf Blitzer who wished him well, while the screen behind him read: “Screw you, Stewart”.

Satirist Jon Stewart ended 16 years as host of The Daily Show with a standing ovation and was played out by rock legend Bruce Springsteen, bringing to close a unique era in American broadcasting. During his tenure on the show, he developed a correspondent character who frequently demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the topics he discussed.

Instead, Stewart took his final shots at the “institutional” purveyors of bulls-t, using complexity and wrong-headed rhetoric to gain and maintain power. He wanted to warn us that “bulls-t is everywhere” but sometimes necessary “to keep from making each other cry all day”. We learned how to do a show with intention…how to treat people with respect…You were infuriatingly good at your job.

“No one knows who’s going to come, no one knows what’s going to happen, ” Lance said.

“It was definitely not a regular show”.

“You can’t possibly leave without saying goodbye to your Sam”, Colbert said, before making extended references to “Lord of the Rings“. But the soon-to-be-former host of The Daily Show has not ruled out returning to the world of stand-up comedy, where he started. “Have I caused this?”

They were not the only ones reportedly at the afternoon taping.

Twenty-one-yr-previous Jessica Vitovitch was anxiously ready to see if she’d get a seat. The president of the network added, “You can’t say that many negative things about people unless you’re really unhappy about something“. “For this to be his finale, it’s a huge cultural moment”.

There was already a long line of hopeful audience members outside Stewart’s studio on the far west side of Manhattan on Thursday morning.

It’s the third main farewell for a late-night time tv character in eight months.

On a more serious, sweet, and majorly sob-inducing note, Colbert thanked Stewart for years of mentorship. David Letterman signed off from CBS in May, to be replaced this fall by Colbert.

Fellow New Jersey resident Springsteen provided Stewart’s last “moment of Zen”.

“He’s a brilliant comedian”, Ailes told The Hollywood Reporter. “Occasionally we pay attention”.

“Nothing ends. It’s just a continuation.it’s just a pause in the conversation”, Stewart said.

With hundreds of phrases in tributes being written on his behalf the previous few weeks, Stewart hasn’t granted exit interviews. If it’s gotten easier to spot, it’s partly because of him: because Stewart, over 16 years, has sat down with us and gradually gone over the instructions to build our own detectors.