Jon Stewart’s long-awaited return to television is finally, finally underway. Nearly six months after announcing his upcoming current-affairs series for AppleTV+, there’s now a name and release window for the project. The streamer revealed Wednesday that The Problem With Jon Stewart, the first project in Stewart’s multiyear partnership with the platform, will premiere in fall 2021.
Until now, Stewart’s return to the hosting desk has largely been shrouded in secrecy. (In fact, we don’t know whether there will even be a desk.) What is known is that the former Daily Show host, 58, will return to do more of what he does best: breaking down society’s shortcomings. The Problem is described as a multiseason, one-hour series that, much like Last Week Tonight With John Oliver—hosted by his onetime Daily Show colleague—will unpack a single issue each episode. Stewart will “explore topics that are currently part of the national conversation and his advocacy work,” according to AppleTV+. A podcast meant to further the debate will accompany each installment.
Stewart exited his Emmy-winning Daily Show gig in 2015, after 16 years spent skewering the American political landscape. In the years since, Stewart’s maintained a foothold in the late-night space, sporadically appearing on The Late Show alongside Stephen Colbert and prepping his Daily Show successor, Trevor Noah. He even flirted with a stint at HBO, which would have included a multiplatform political animated series. However, it was reported in 2017 that the project never materialized. Instead, Stewart channeled his brand of outrage into a 2019 congressional testimony and a feature film: the Steve Carell comedy Irresistable, which was released last year.
In the lead-up to The Problem, the show has tapped CBS Evening News alum Brinda Adhikari as its showrunner, The Opposition With Jordan Klepper’s Chelsea Devantez as head writer, and Lorrie Baranek of The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore as the executive in charge of production. As for the series’ other writers (or that all-important desk query), those are problems for another day.
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