All the Daily Show hosts, ranked from worst to best

The daily show is an institution. Since its launch in 1996, it has launched the careers of dozens of comedians. It has also changed the way people consume news. Most talk shows have become a form of The daily show when it comes to discussing current events.

Especially since some of the late-night cornerstones, like Stephen Colbert, have started their careers as Daily Show correspondent. But Colbert never sat behind the desk, so he is not included here. This list is dedicated to the official presenters of The Daily Showand find out which of them has the upper hand.

Craig Kilborn has been somewhat forgotten. He began his career at SportsCenterbut moved to Comedy Central to help The daily show The most obvious difference from Kilborn's version of the show is that it generally stays away from politics.

The presenter placed a much stronger focus on pop culture and was thus more of a forerunner of titles such as The soup And Tosh.0 as the politically oriented franchise The daily show Kilborn wasn't bad, he just didn't stick around long enough to leave his mark.

Trevor Noah went the opposite way to Craig Kilborn. He took over The daily show just before the 2016 presidential election, when political humor became a staple of talk show hosts around the world. Noah did it better than most and was showered with Emmys for it.

Trevor Noah's standup background served him well, and his good relationship with Jon Stewart made the transition of power seem pretty seamless to viewers. It just wasn't as funny or groundbreaking as its predecessor. It takes second place here, a respectable silver medal.

Jon Stewart is the Johnny Carson of The daily showHe revolutionized the model, found the perfect balance between political commentary and broad comedy, and successfully turned a parody show into a better source of news than “real” broadcasters.

It is significant that Stewart’s return to The daily show has revived interest in the show. He is the gold standard and no matter who comes in as host, they will be compared to his tenure. It's nice to have him back with us, even if it's just for a short time.

John Oliver is the big “what if” of The daily showThe British comedian was a correspondent for the show from 2006 to 2013 and even represented Stewart as presenter for two months. He fit perfectly behind the desk, and as if Last Week Tonight with John Oliverhe has what it takes to host a half-hour program on his own.

Unfortunately, things ended badly. John Oliver and Jon Stewart suggested a situation where Oliver would be the summer host of The daily show and Stewart would have stayed as main host, but Comedy Central declined. Both men subsequently left the show.