It’s been a tough week. Before we’d even made it Tuesday afternoon we found out we’d have to find replacements for both Brian Williams and Spiderman. But neither of these revelations hit as hard as the news that we’d also have to replace Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show. After all, Spiderman is a fictitious character, and as it turns out, so is Brian Williams. Replacing them won’t be difficult. Stewart, on the other hand, is a person whose perspective we’ve come to depend on through three presidencies, a handful of wars, national tragedies and international triumphs. For many of us, Jon Stewart is not just a resource for information but also an invaluable voice that helps us contextualize the news and highlight the high-stakes absurdity of modern politics. His ability to straddle the line between hilarity and earnestness makes him uniquely capable to anchor of The Daily Show, and anyone who wants to take his chair is ultimately going to have to be able to do the same, though in their own way. After some careful consideration, and a few lists written on a napkin, I’m ready to nominate Jon Stewart’s successor: Hari Kondabolu. 

Alright, let’s get the easy stuff out of the way first. Conventional wisdom says they’ll go with someone who is already on staff at The Daily Show, and if we were having this discussion before John Oliver and Larry Wilmore left, I might agree. But let’s be real. No one on The Daily Show staff is seasoned enough to take over as anchor, aside from Samantha Bee and Jason Jones. I love me some Sam Bee, but her most powerful pieces have always been the most tongue-in-cheek and I don’t think she has the personality to carry the show from monologue to interview. As for Jason Jones, he hosted an episode last year when Stewart was sick, and immediately proved he didn’t have the charisma or likability needed. If we’re having this conversation two years from now, Jessica Williams wins the day, but she’s really just now hitting her stride as a correspondent and I don’t see how she could be ready for the anchor chair. Maybe Al Madrigal has been in training at some secret facility for the last couple years, but short of that, I don’t see how they pull from their existing staff.

If all that’s the case, then The Daily Show is going to look elsewhere to find a comedian capable of telling longform political jokes that reveal the absurdity of the news while also expressing our collective outrage at that absurdity. They’ll have to find a comedian who can frame the news in progressive ways, but also someone who can shine a light on the nuances that might not be immediately obvious, and be able to explicate all those things during interviews with some of the world’s most powerful people. They’ll also have to find a comedian who can be, at turns, the clown, or the straight-man to the over-the-top performances from correspondents. And to top it all off, they have to find a comedian capable of all this while still being content hosting a show on basic cable. Hari Kondabolu is that comedian.

And it’s not like this is totally out of nowhere. If you were lucky (read: smart) enough to catch Kamau Bell’s FX show, Totally Biased, before it was prematurely yanked off the air, you’ll be familiar with Kondabolu’s work, both as a featured commentator and as a writer. In his few short segments on that show, he displayed all the nuance and thoughtfulness we need from a Daily Show anchor, and proved he could hold his own alone on camera. But more than anything, his approach to writing and delivering his segments would seem right at home on The Daily Show, allowing the writers and staff to keep working their magic without slowing down to accommodate a new host. Sure, there’d be growing pains and changes, but the overall format of the show wouldn’t be affected in the same way as other late-night host changes.

Jon Stewart leaving The Daily Show is just about the worst thing ever and I’m not sure we’ll ever find a host that hits all the notes we’ve come to depend on. But if anyone comes close, it’s Hari Kondabolu, who is both perfectly skilled and at a perfect time in his career to take on the chair.

————–

Addendum 1: As for Spiderman, Marvel should kill off Peter Parker and introduce Miles Morales as the new Spiderman… and even though they’ll want to go young for the character, they should cast Donald Glover because he’ll be great at the light-hearted stuff, and a few years later you can take him in a more dramatic direction and he’ll totally be able to pull it off.

Addendum 2: As for NBC News, Ann Curry should take over because she should have had the slot to begin with and she’s a badass reporter who doesn’t make up stories and she was my middle-school crush because I am a nerd.