‘The Daily Show’: Inside The Search For A New Host As Duos Behind The Desk Take Center Stage
30.11.2023 - 23:57
/ deadline.com
Chris McCarthy has a big decision to make.
Nearly twelve months on to the day that Trevor Noah said goodbye to The Daily Show, the Comedy Central series still does not have a permanent host.
But a decision is expected soon with sources telling Deadline that Paramount is facing pressure to name a new host by the end of the year.
There have been a number of shortlists and stars mentioned throughout the process, which was hampered by the writers and actors strike, and obviously there was the Hasan Minhaj situation, where the Patriot Act star basically had the job before that New Yorker article came out.
But many in the late-night and comedy community believe that McCarthy and his team already have viable options right under their noses and with it the opportunity to shake-up the talk show landscape with a fresh take and in the process bolster diversity by becoming the only show in late-night to have a woman behind the desk of a traditional nightly show.
Jordan Klepper and Desi Lydic co-hosted the show on November 22 as part of The Daily Show’s plan to test a combination model, bringing two of the show’s most well-known faces together in a new twist.
The pair were lauded on social media for their turn behind the desk together and there was evidently a chemistry between them (see clip above). A number of late-night sources told Deadline that it felt like a “reinvention” and a “new chapter” in the genre.
Lydic and Klepper have also already been recognized by their peers; Lydic, who has been a correspondent on the show since 2015, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for her Foxsplains shorts, where she watched a lot of Fox News, and Klepper has been Emmy nominated twice