The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – His First Episode

There are few people in the world who set such a high benchmark in their job that replacing them like for like almost seems like an impossibility. Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Steve Jobs at Apple and, most difficult of all, Jon Stewart at The Daily Show. Could The Daily Show‘s new host Trevor Noah do the impossible and be as good as Jon Stewart?

Well, yes and no. After Noah’s one episode versus Stewart’s sixteen years worth, it’s impossible to tell if he’s better or not at this early stage. What we can do is take Noah’s debut on its own merits. And for the most part it worked. On this evidence he was confident, assured and most of the material he delivered landed comfortably, but he definitely needs some rough edges smoothing out.

First the good. His opening monologue was both funny and heartfelt in equal measure and set the tone for the next half hour perfectly, (“Dad left and now it feels like the family has a new stepdad, and he’s black” being a particular highlight). He thanked and gave a debt of gratitude to his much-loved predecessor at the end of his monologue which was a classy and necessary touch, with a vow to “continue the war on bullshit”. A lovely nod to Stewart’s final show linking past and present excellently.

His first few segments dealt with the Pope’s visit to the United States and the resignation of John Boehner as speaker of the house. Both stories were mined well and gave the rookie host some great material to work with. Gags about the Pontiff’s somewhat liberal views (“Hates inequality and climate change, loves immigrants. He’s like a young Bernie Sanders!”) and ‘humbleness’ (“Somebody’s undercompensating…I’m saying the Pope has a huge cock”) landed well. He was in his element and firing well.

Where Noah fell down however was when he was trying to be controversial. Weak gags later on about Boehner having aides/AIDS in a bit about him being like a nightclub bouncer in the house of representatives felt forced and were more eye-rolling than side-splitting. They felt completely jarring with the tone of the show set previously.

Another part of the show where Noah very much showed how much the gulf in quality between him and his predecessor was in the final interview act. With a guest as funny as Kevin Hart, this should have been an easy win for Noah on his debut, but the interview fell flat and lacked any of the conviction, subtlety or fun that Stewart gained from interviewing guests, Hart included, throughout his run. There’s definitely work to be done here if he’s to tackle some of America’s political elite in the future.

That’s not to say though that Trevor Noah’s first stab at presenting The Daily Show was bad, it just simply wasn’t the barnstormer that everyone was hoping for. He shepherded in the new era of the show pretty solidly on his debut and definitely shows a lot of promise. The fonts may have changed, the desk may have changed and most of all the man at the helm has changed, but The Daily Show with Trevor Noah was still a half hour of good, solid political satire. It may not be at the quality of Jon Stewart’s tenure yet, but there’s plenty of time for him build momentum and leave his own mark on the show.

Welcome to the best fucking news team on television, Trevor. Stay vigilant.