John Oliver To Host The Daily Show For 8 Weeks This Summer

Long running TV programs often take a few weeks off in the summer, but apparently John Stewart is really blocking off a huge chunk of the summer to devote to other projects, despite The Daily Show still airing for part of the time. Don’t worry, however, The Daily Show will still run for most of the summer; the network has simply signed on a temporary host to replace Stewart during his leave of absence. Daily Show correspondent John Oliver will fill in for eight weeks during Stewart’s time away from the show.

Apparently, Stewart is taking leave to work on his upcoming directorial debut, Rosewater. The Daily Show only has plans to take four weeks off from shooting new episodes in the summer, but Stewart will need an additional eight weeks to complete his big movie project. This means John Oliver will get a substantial chunk of time to helm The Daily Show, which airs Monday through Thursday nights on Comedy Central. If Oliver is a success, it could mean big things in the comedian’s future.

If you are unfamiliar with Oliver, he’s the British Daily Show correspondent that vaguely looks like a grown-up version of Harry Potter (that can't be the first time he's gotten that comment). He often covers big events for the popular interview and news program, including inaugurations and the like. Additionally, you may recognize him from NBC’s Community, where he plays the smartass psychology professor Dr. Ian Duncan. While it will suck to have Stewart gone for so long, I’m extremely interested to see how Oliver will do when placed under the spotlight for an extended period of time.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.