You want a great career in comedy? Start by landing a job as a correspondent on The Daily Show. Under Jon Stewart’s 16-year-long run as host, it became one of TV’s best launching pads.
Here are a few shining examples:
- Stephen Colbert (1997-2005). Arriving two years before Stewart became host, Colbert scored in his emerging persona as a right-wing blowhard correspondent. He left The Daily Show to launch his own companion show, which he hosted for a decade. Then, in late 2014, he exited Comedy Central for CBS, where in September he will step into the Late Show slot long occupied by David Letterman.
- Steve Carell (1999-2005). From 2005 to 2011, he starred in the NBC comedy The Office, then left to continue a thriving film career, including his Oscar-nominated performance in the 2014 drama The Foxcatcher.
- John Oliver (2006-2013). In April 2014, this droll Brit debuted his own weekly comic-commentary show, Last Week Tonight, on HBO.
- Ed Helms (2002-2006). He joined The Office in 2006, continuing through its conclusion in 2013. His films include The Hangover trilogy and We’re the Millers.
- Larry Wilmore (2006-2014). A successful writer-producer (The PJs and The Bernie Mac Show), he served as Senior Black Correspondent before leaving The Daily Show to host Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show, which premiered in January.
- Samantha Bee (2003-2015) and Jason Jones (2005-2015). After their lengthy stints at The Daily Show, this married comic couple left in May 2015 to develop a comedy for TBS.
- Rob Corddry (2002-2006). After The Daily Show, he created and stars in the online and TV cult favourite Childrens Hospital.
- Aasif Mandvi (2006-2015). Along with comic TV appearances, he has been a regular on the dramas The Bedford Diaries and Jericho, as well as on the current HBO comedy The Brink.
- Trevor Noah (2014-2015). A rising young stand-up comic from South Africa, Noah had barely set foot into The Daily Show as a correspondent before he was tapped to succeed Stewart as host. He takes over in that role on September 28.
