John Mulaney on Being Approached to Host The Daily Show
John Mulaney revealed that Comedy Central approached him about replacing Jon Stewart on The Daily Show in 2015. Mulaney did not take Stewart’s role; it then went to Trevor Noah.
John Mulaney rose to fame for his work as a writer on the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. Mulaney wrote for the series from 2008 to 2013. He contributed to iconic sketches and recurring characters such as “Stefon,” embodied by Bill Hader. Since then, Mulaney has gone on to host SNL five times and has created various stand-up specials.
It’s been a weird couple of years…
— Netflix (@netflix) April 25, 2023
John Mulaney: Baby J is now on Netflix pic.twitter.com/89g3Koj9sv
Recently, on Doug Herzog and Jen Chaney’s podcast, Basic! Mulaney opened up about being approached to host The Daily Show. Herzog was president of Viacom Music and Entertainment Group, which oversaw Comedy Central, until 2017. Herzog asked Mulaney if he remembered speaking with the then-president of Comedy Central, Kent Alterman, about the role. Herzog noted, “I think we were floating your interest in that, and you were very lukewarm as I remember.”
Mulaney shared that his Fox sitcom Mulaney had just been canceled after only one season when he was asked about hosting. This led him to decline. Mulaney explained, “It was shortly after the SNL 40th anniversary. I had a sitcom on Fox. They aired all 13 [episodes], but it was canceled. It didn’t do good numbers.”
Mulaney furthered, “I remember going to dinner with Kent. I was extremely flattered that y’all were asking me about it. I sensed they would be big shoes to fill.” He continued, “I think I also was gun shy from putting myself out there at that moment after the Fox run, and I sensed all eyes would be on whoever came after Mr. Stewart.”
Mulaney concluded, “It wasn’t the right thing at the moment. I remember saying to Kent, ‘I wish it was five years from now.’ He went, ‘Yeah, but it’s not.’ Kent had a great tone of, ‘I hear you. I’ll hear out anything you have to say, but it’s now, and we’re asking you about it. We can’t talk hypothetically for that long at this dinner, John.’”
The position went to Trevor Noah, who earned many fans for his work on the series. Earlier this year, Noah left The Daily Show. Since then, there has been a rotation of guest hosts filling the slot every week.
Trevor Noah is highly underrated… He was the only reason i watched the Daily Show… He didnt even curse and i was crying laughing 😂
— Mr. Dont Give A FUCK (@FUNKY1byNature) May 1, 2023
To keep up with John Mulaney, his latest comedy special, Baby J, is streaming on Netflix.
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