Jon Stewart on The Daily Show | Image: Comedy Central
On February 10, 2015, Jon Stewart announced that he would be leaving his hosting gig on The Daily Show; later it was announced that Trevor Noah would be Stewart's replacement. Stewart's last show will be on August 6, 2015, but in his time as host, he's won much praise and acclaim. The Daily Show has won numerous awards, including two Peabodies and 18 Emmys.
Yet in his first days after taking over for previous host Craig Kilborn, Stewart nearly quit. As noted in the linked collection of facts about The Daily Show,
"In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Stewart admitted that he had a hard time adjusting to working with Kilborn’s team and that he very seriously considered quitting the show altogether. Though he had some definite ideas on how to take the show in new directions, they were met with strong resistance. 'I walk in the door, into a room with the writers and producers, and the first thing they say is 'this isn’t some MTV bulls*** … And then I was told not to change the jokes or improvise,' Stewart recalled. Immediately, he called his agent and told him to get him out of the deal. 'I had to be talked down from a moderately high cliff,' he admitted."
Read sixteen more facts about Stewart and The Daily Show — including who he rates as his best and worst guests and what disgraced politician he used to room with — in this article.
Or I could be wrong and Jon coincidentally decided to phone it in around that time. Perhaps he should have decided to retire a few years earlier.