“The Daily Show” has yet to hire a permanent replacement for outgoing host Trevor Noah. But Comedy Central has recruited some big names to helm the late-night program in the interim.
On Tuesday, the cable network announced that Al Franken, Chelsea Handler, D.L. Hughley, Leslie Jones, John Leguizamo, Hasan Minhaj, Kal Penn, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Marlon Wayans will serve as rotating guest hosts of “The Daily Show” starting Jan. 17. Noah’s final episode is set to air this Thursday.
“As we enter Trevor’s final week, we want to thank him for his many contributions,“ Chris McCarthy, president of Paramount Media Networks, said in a statement.
“Trevor redefined the show, as did Jon Stewart before him, and as we look to the future, we are excited to reimagine it yet again with the help of this incredible list of talent and correspondents along with the immensely talented ‘Daily Show’ team.”
In September, Noah shared his plans to exit “The Daily Show” after seven years. On an October episode of “The Tonight Show,” the comedian expressed a desire to travel the world doing stand-up after his “Daily Show” tenure concludes.
“It’s time,” Noah said while announcing his departure. “I realized there’s another part of my life that I want to carry on exploring. I miss learning other languages. I miss going to other countries and putting on shows. I miss just being everywhere, doing everything.”
The South African entertainer will kick off his post-“Daily Show” career early next year with a 28-city stand-up comedy tour across the United States. His Off The Record tour will begin Jan. 20 in Atlanta and include five shows in California.
On June 2, the comic will play the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, followed by four shows at the Masonic in San Francisco running from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 2023. No Los Angeles dates have been announced.
“I think everybody has gone through a period of looking at their lives — every single person,” Noah said on “The Tonight Show.”
“If you don’t look at your life and think about what you’d like to do differently, then you haven’t experienced what we’ve all experienced, and so I think [my departure] is a joyous thing.”