America lost a television gem when Trevor Noah stepped down from his role as host of The Daily Show last year. The news was a shock to many, as there had been no forewarning, but then the questions started mounting, with the top one being, who will take over?
During his time as host, Noah made the show much more inclusive to voices from different backgrounds, which was a breath of fresh air when you looked at the amount of white male hosts, two of which are named Jimmy, with a third having been called James — you cannot make this up. Noah gave a voice to many other minority comedians over his seven-year-plus run and brought in a new perspective as someone born and raised in South Africa.
Since he departed from the show, The Daily Show has been hosted by guest hosts, with the likes of Leslie Jones, Hasan Minhaj, Wanda Sykes, and Marlon Wayans taking a seat, inviting their own guests, and discussing topics important to them. Though it doesn’t solve the problem of finding a permanent host, it has proved a successful interim as, according to the Washington Post, ratings went up. A few of these comedians are now in the running to take on the position permanently, but one name that has stuck out is that of Kal Penn.
According to an inside source that spoke to The Wrap, Penn and Minhaj have been touted as strong candidates. Penn’s first night as host drew in 658,000 viewers when he interviewed President Biden, and he averaged 606,000 viewers during his time. The question remains whether he could consistently maintain these numbers if he takes on the challenge of being the main host of The Daily Show.
Penn has plenty of experience both in the world of entertainment and politics. Both have interested him for a long time, having majored in film and sociology at UCLA. He became famous for his role in comedy films such as Dude, Where’s The Party? and the Harold and Kumar franchise. He also starred in notable television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and House, abruptly leaving the latter to work as the White House Associate Director of Public Engagement under the Obama Administration. It’s fair to say, he has seen his fair share of the inner workings.
With such a unique mix of entertainment and politics up his sleeve, coupled with the network he must have created during that time, it’s fair to say that as someone discussing the state of the world, with a focus on The States, Penn would indeed appear to be a pretty good pick.
