Jon Stewart, retired king of late night, is coming back to TV

Jon Stewart seems primed to give John Oliver a run for his money. The former Daily Show host is returning to TV with a one-hour series for Apple TV+ that will “explore topics that are currently part of the national conversation.” It’s been five years since Stewart graced our televisions with regularity, but since Apple picked up his series for multiple seasons, fans can look forward to a deluge of new content from the retired king of late-night comedy.

One weird thing: Stewart might manage to completely evade the Trump years. He taped his last episode of The Daily Show mere hours before Trump’s debut at the first Republican debate in August 2015. And Apple TV+ hasn’t announced a premiere date for Stewart’s new series, either.

We do know that each episode will focus on a single subject, though we don’t know if it’ll be formatted as an interview show or as an extended monologue, like Oliver’s series on HBO. Apple noted Stewart’s show will touch on topical issues as well as the host’s advocacy work. For example, he’s been an outspoken advocate for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.

Stewart was widely adored as host of The Daily Show from 1999 until 2015, winning Emmy awards a whopping 11 times. Notably, the show launched Stephen Colbert into public consciousness, too — and now he’s the most-viewed host in late-night. Meanwhile, Trevor Noah took over The Daily Show and is drawing his own not-shabby audience by skewering the Trump administration with a wink and slap to the face. That’s one good thing about 2020, I guess. It’s been a goldmine for late-night comedy.