HBO Ensures John Oliver Won’t Replace Stewart on The Daily Show

One week after Jon Stewart announced he would be leaving The Daily Show later this year, HBO has locked in Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver through 2017 to ensure the former correspondent and fill-in host won’t be tempted to return to his old Comedy Central home anytime soon.

“We are incredibly proud to have John as part of the HBO family,” Michael Lombardo, president of programming at HBO, said in a statement. “His unique ability to deliver socially significant commentary week after week, along with his innate comedic brilliance, puts John in a class by himself.”

Oliver, who did a much-praised stint as Daily Show host when Stewart was off filming his directorial debut Rosewater, would have been an obvious choice to succeed him, had he not been poached by HBO to launch his own weekly show last year. Last Week Tonight has been a big hit for the network, often getting ratings on par with Bill Maher‘s weekly show and reaching millions more on YouTube each Monday morning.

On Sunday, another possible replacement, Jessica Williams, who led Mediaite’s poll of current correspondents, said she has no intention of taking over as host.

“I’m not hosting,” she told her Twitter followers. “Thank you but I am extremely under-qualified for the job!”

[Photo via screengrab]

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