Stewart To Helm Daily Show Until 2010, Show’s Entire Archive Online

Comedy Central announced Thursday that they have locked up Jon Stewart to continue to host The Daily Show until 2010. Stewart was under contract for another year, but Comedy Central was wise to sign him up before his current deal ran out. Also, this makes sure that Stewart is not part of any discussions when Jay Leno’s deal with NBC is due to run out in 2009, which will cause an opening in the 12:30AM slot when Conan O’Brien slides into Jay’s chair.

Since Stewart took over The Daily Show in 1999, he turned a snark-filled news parody hosted by Craig Kilborn into a major player on the political scene. Now politicians have a place to reach a younger audience that doesn’t usually pay attention to politics. Stewart’s guest list now rivals both Meet The Press and The Tonight Show. While some of Jon Stewart’s interviews can come off as being preachy (he pretty much beat Chris Matthews into submission a few weeks ago), his comments on the media and how it will be covering the 2008 Presidential election will be closely watched by the other networks and the candidates as well.

With this new deal, Comedy Central not only secures a hugely popular host, but also keeps one of their best show producers in the family. Stewart’s Busboy Productions also responsible for The Colbert Report (which I personally prefer to the The Daily Show because I think satire is better than being lectured) and the upcoming Important Things With Demetri Martin. Stewart even acknowledged the popularity of Colbert’s show when announcing his new deal by saying, “I look forward to using this extension to having great fun at President Colbert's expense."

This was not the only news out of the The Daily Show offices this week. According to The Los Angeles Times, Viacom has built a new website for the show that features clips from every episode since Stewart took the reins. The archive, which features over 13,000 videos, is the latest way Viacom is going after video giant YouTube, which it is suing for copyright infringement in a $1 billion suit. The archive can be searched by guest, topic, or date. This feature is great for anyone, like me, who wants to have a Lewis Black “Back In Black” marathon. And with three more years of Stewart on The Daily Show, the site will be the perfect place to see President Colbert’s first post-victory interview.