The Daily Show with Trevor Noah books big-name lineup for first week

By Adam Poltrack September 23, 2015

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah announced its first four guests Wednesday, lining up Kevin Hart for its Sept. 28 premiere, Bumble CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe for Sept. 29, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for Sept. 30, and singer-songwriter Ryan Adams for Oct. 1.

Opening up with an actor/comedian is an interesting move and one that may be part of a plan to ease audiences in with some lighter fare while the new host builds up the clout needed for the kind of cutting political satire that fans came to expect from his predecessor. Noah, after all, has some big shoes to fill and his first steps in them are bound to be a bit difficult. The comedian spoke with Rolling Stone on Tuesday and offered the following take on his opening week:

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“The first episode will be a reintroduction of the show — but you can’t just go off one episode like, Oh I know what this is about, I know what this is. It takes a lot more time. You’re building a relationship. So what we’re doing is dividing the first week into a four-part miniseries that will set the tone for what we hope the show will be.”

While he only has one politician booked for that “miniseries,” Christie is famously pugnacious and is the kind of guest that could make for some early fireworks if Noah takes him to task on Bridgegate or his highly publicized battles with the New Jersey Education Association.

That being said, fans are still mourning the loss of Jon Stewart, so we doubt Noah will fire away right from the start. That’s why Hart is a perfect choice for the first episode. Though the new host’s brand of comedy may take a while for fans to get used to, if there’s any slack in the comedy department, Hart will have no trouble picking it up.

While no one knows exactly what to expect from The Daily Show’s new regime, the promo video above does offer a few hints. It’s still The Daily Show, nothing’s going to change” says Noah. We’ll just have to hope those words prove true.

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