Last night, Senior British Correspondent John Oliver began his hosting duties of The Daily Show while Jon Stewart is away directing his first film Rosewater.
Oliver started the show by saying “Let’s all just acknowledge for a moment that this is weird. This looks weird, it feels weird, it even sounds weird.” He then goes on to explain that they had such a light first show planned with a few stereotypical “I’m British” jokes like breaking for tea in the middle of the show. But after that, it was like he has been host the whole time. The first part of the show was spent covering the NSA spying scandal which was filled with a lot of Jon Stewart-like jokes. In their second segment, the show had a little fun with all of the correspondents known as “The Best F-Ing News Team” where all of them took turns expressing their disappointment with the new host in their own ways. The guest of the show was Seth Rogan, who did a who-the-hell-is-John-Oliver bit before having a standard funny interview.
Overall, it was a great first show for the temporary host. I’m a big fan of the show and John Oliver had big shoes to fill but he filled them. The show was funny, he didn’t slip up and he didn’t appear nervous. I predict that by the end of his time as host, someone will want to make a separate show with him as the host.
The Daily Show airs at 11pm Mon-Thurs on Comedy Central.