The Daily Show has been a news-adjacent institution since 1996, when it launched on Comedy Central with host Craig Kilborn. Then came anchors Jon Stewart (1999–2015) and Trevor Noah (2015–2022), but the news desk now sits empty in 2023.
Well, not exactly. On Tuesday, January 17, The Daily Show relaunched with a series of weekly guest hosts, starting with Saturday Night Live’s Leslie Jones. Comedy Central has said it won’t name a new permanent TDS host to replace Noah until 2024, so enjoy these guest anchors while you can.
The Daily Show guest hosts
Leslie Jones (January 17–19)
As mentioned above, standup comic Leslie Jones rose to fame on Saturday Night Live in the 2010s. She currently hosts Lifetime’s Supermarket Sweep reboot, has appeared on Max’s Our Flag Means Death, and headlined her own Netflix standup special, Time Machine.
Wanda Sykes (January 23–26)
Comedian/actor/writer Wanda Sykes began her career in the writers’ room of HBO’s Chris Rock Show in the ’90s and has since appeared in over 100 movies, TV shows, and standup specials. You’ve seen Sykes in something on a screen in the last month or so, guaranteed.
D.L. Hughley (January 30–February 2)
Actor and comedian D.L. Hughley has been working in TV and movies since the early ’90s, starting with a pair of HBO comedy specials and a guest appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He’s also hosted The D.L. Hughley Show on TV One, so he has some desk experience.
Chelsea Handler (February 6–9)
Comedian, actor, writer, producer, and host of her own talk shows on E! and Netflix, Chelsea Handler might be the most experienced Daily Show guest so far. Handler is also an author, her sixth and latest book being 2019’s Life Will Be the Death of Me . . . and You Too!
Sarah Silverman (February 13–16)
Comedian/actor/writer (and Disney Princess) Sarah Silverman also has some hosting experience, having led her own talk show, I Love You, America, on Hulu. She also has some previous Comedy Central experience thanks to her popular 2007–2010 sitcom The Sarah Silverman Program, which is still hilarious.
More Daily Show guest hosts
More Daily Show guest hosts for 2023: Hasan Minhaj (February 27–March 1), Marlon Wayans (March 6–9), Kal Penn (March 13–16), Al Franken (March 20–23), and John Leguizamo (March 27–30), Roy Wood Jr. (April 3–6), Jordan Klepper (April 17–20), Desi Lydic (April 24–27), and Dulcé Sloan (May 1).
The Daily Show probably won’t get Stephen Colbert (he’s kinda busy with CBS’ The Late Show), but John Oliver and Samantha Bee are possibilities. How about O.G. hosts Jon Stewart and Craig Kilborn? Dare to dream.
Bill Frost has been a journalist and TV reviewer since the 4:3-aspect-ratio ’90s. His pulse-pounding prose has been featured in The Salt Lake Tribune, Inlander, Coachella Valley Independent, Las Vegas Weekly, and many other dead-tree publications (see BillFrost.tv). In addition to being a Senior Staff Writer at CableTV.com, Bill is a syndicated streaming TV columnist forSalt Lake City Weekly and other alternative weeklies, and host/producer of TV Tan Podcast. By night, Bill cranks a Flying V with his band at the bar.
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