John Oliver Is Super Nervous About Filling In for Jon Stewart on ‘The Daily Show’ This Summer
In about a week, 'The Daily Show' host Jon Stewart is stepping away from his post for the first time since 1999 to make a film, and the guy who'll be filling in for him during his two-month absence, John Oliver, is terrified about the whole thing.
"Jon called me and asked, ‘Would you like to host the show?’” Oliver recalled. "My first reaction was, 'Yeah, sure. Whatever you want. No problem.' It was only on hanging up that my knees started to buckle. I was like, ‘Holy s---! What did I just agree to? I’m about to destroy the most beloved show on American television.'"
The very funny Oliver has been on the political-comedy series for seven years as the "Senior British Correspondent," but has no illusions of getting a show of his own when this is all over.
Talking to Rolling Stone, Oliver admitted, “I’m really aiming just to make sure I still have a job when Jon comes back. That I haven’t either destroyed the show or my role in it to such an extent that I’m still employed.”
Stewart, meanwhile, will be off making a movie around Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was imprisoned and tortured in 2009 for "conspiring to start a revolution" -- a horrible incident that occurred shortly after appearing in a 'Daily Show' segment.
We wish both gentlemen the best of luck. In the immortal words of RuPaul, "Don't f--- it up."