This is a list of recurring segments featured on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+ ...

''. This list is incomplete for ''The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn'' and ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. During ''The Daily Show''s first ten years, a significant part of its airtime was devoted to different branded recurring segments, usually hosted by the show's correspondents. After the 2005 launch of ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late night television, late-night Late-night talk show, talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December ...

'', which was largely made up of different recurring segments, the time devoted to such segments on ''The Daily Show'' has declined. Normal commentary segments about ongoing news stories can also have recurring titles to help sort them and talk about continuation.

Current segments

Your Moment of Zen (July 22, 1996–present)

Your Moment of Zen is a segment that occurs at the end of every show; indeed, it has been part of ''The Daily Show'' since the very beginning. In it, the host would end the show and a random selection of humorous videos would be shown, usually a clip that relates to one of the topics that was discussed in the episode. Hosts generally introduce the segment by saying, "Here it is, Your Moment of Zen". Sometimes, the Moment of Zen will be used a tribute to a celebrity or prominent figure who has recently died. Moments of Zen are replaced by

musical guest A musical guest is a singer, band, or other musician who makes a brief musical appearance on a television program of a non-musical nature. While some shows have a format that traditionally includes numerous performances by musical guests (such ...

s who play out the episode with an additional performance. The segment has continued under this same structure throughout its run and regardless of its host. List of special Moments of Zen: * The December 18, 2014 episode of ''The Daily Show'' did not end with a Moment of Zen, as it immediately transitioned into the final episode of ''

'', with

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...

giving the Moment of Zen at the end of the ''Colbert'' episode. * At the end of Stewart's final episode on August 6, 2015, he introduced his final Moment of Zen – a live performance by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

– by saying "Here it is, my Moment of Zen". * On March 22, 2016,

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy ...

dedicated the Moment of Zen to

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

. This was in solidarity with those cities after terrorist attacks had occurred earlier that day in Brussels and earlier that month in Ankara. * On November 8, 2016, Trevor and The Best F#@king News Team re-created a post-credit scene from the movie '' The Avengers''. This quick parody replaced the usual Moment of Zen. * On March 2, 2017, Trevor announced that they will be taking Your Moment of Zen suggestions from the viewers with the social media hashtag #DailyShowZen. The first user submitted Moment of Zen aired on March 15, 2017. * As Trevor cued up Moment of Zen in his last sign-off as host on December 8, 2022, the camera turned to an applauding audience, who joined the show's staff in serenading Trevor with a rendition of

Gerry and the Pacemakers Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat group prominent in the 1960s Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their early successes helped make ...

' "

You'll Never Walk Alone "You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' Carousel''. In the second act of the musical, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and e ...

", a song associated with Trevor's favorite soccer club,

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

Back in Black with Lewis Black (1996–present)

Back in Black with Lewis Black is a popular segment on the show in which "America's foremost commentator on everything" and comedian

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's ...

catches the stories that, according to his introduction, "fall through the cracks" and comments on them in a humorous rant. The segment, which starts with an opening riff in the style of the

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

song "

Back in Black ''Back in Black'' is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released on 25 July 1980, by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of the ...

", originated in 1996, when

Craig Kilborn Craig Lawrence Kilborn (born August 24, 1962) is an American television host, actor, comedian, and sports commentator. Kilborn began a career in sports broadcasting in the late 1980s, leading to an anchoring position at ESPN's '' SportsCenter'' f ...

was still the host of ''The Daily Show''. As of 2024, it is the longest-running recurring segment that still airs on the show, aside from the Moment of Zen.

InDecision/Democalypse

Prior to the debut of The Daily Show, Comedy Central produced " InDecision '92", a series of comedy specials parodying

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

's "Decision" segment which airs during election years. Following a second series of specials in 1996 titled "InDecision '96", "InDecision" became a recurring feature on The Daily Show starting with "InDecision 2000". The segment focuses on election-year topics, from state primaries, the party conventions, the campaign trail, the debates and election night. Variants have included: * "ReDecision 2003", covering the

2003 California gubernatorial recall election The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Arnold Schwarzenegger ...

* "InDecision 2004: Prelude to a Recount", covering the

2004 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney, were re-elected to a second term. They narrowly defeated ...

* "InDecision 2044", a segment in which Rob Riggle interviewed kindergarteners to see who was most likely to run for president in 2044 * "Indecision 1425", covering the

January January is the first month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the year within most of the No ...

and

December 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 15 December 2005, following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum on 15 October. Electoral system The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of part ...

dated using the

Islamic calendar The Hijri calendar (), also known in English as the Islamic calendar, is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the Ramad ...

* "The Road to InDecision 2006" covering the months leading up to the 2006 midterms * "Indecision 5766", covering the

2006 Israeli legislative election 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexago ...

dated using the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar (), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates of Jewish holidays and other rituals, such as '' yahrze ...

* "InDecision/InDécision 2006", covering the

2006 Canadian federal election The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Canadian Parliament, 39th Parliament of Canada. New details of the sponsorship scandal were released through the Jo ...

, acknowledging Canada's two official languages * "InDecision 2008: Clusterf@#k to the White House", covering the early primary season of the 2008 presidential election * "IranDecision 2009", covering the

2009 Iranian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Iran on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes c ...

* "InDecision 2010: Midterm TeaPartyGanza, When Grizzlies Attack", covering the

2010 United States elections Elections were held in the United States on November 2, 2010, in the middle of Democratic President Barack Obama's first term. Republicans ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of R ...

, referencing the

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event, typically held in the afternoon, featuring the consumption of tea and light refreshments. Social tea drinking rituals are observed in many cultures worldwide, both historically and in the present day. A ...

and

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...

's nickname for conservative mothers as "Mama Grizzlies" * "Indecision 1776: Ye Cobblestone Road to the White House", covering the 2012 Republican Debates mocking the rhetoric of the

* "A Spot Of InDecision: Clusterhag to 10 Downing", covering the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, to elect 650 Members of Parliament (or MPs) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The first to be held after the minimum age for candidates was ...

* "InDecision 2024", covering the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

An uncensored version of InDecision 2004 was released on a three-disc

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

box set on June 28, 2005. It includes all episodes from the Democratic and

Republican National Conventions The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of ...

, "The Bush- Kerry Debate: The Squabble in Coral Gables", "Election Night 2004: Prelude to a Recount", and highlights from throughout the 2004 presidential election. After some time, the coverage went through different names, such as "Democalypse 2012/2016", in reference to the outstanding amount of Democratic nominees at the time. During Noah's tenure, the coverage was given the name "Votegasm".

Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse (July 21, 2016–March 21, 2017, 2019–present)

Jordan Klepper goes out and talks to different crowds in public. Usually talking to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

supporters at Trump rallies or events, he asks them questions that highlight the

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

within the group. One segment was dedicated to talking to the inhabitants of Dick Street, New Jersey. The segment continued after the 2016 President Election, since

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

continued to hold campaign rallies all over the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. The segment returned in late 2019 when Klepper returned to the show.

Mess O' Potamia/Crisis in Israfghyianonanaq/The Futile Crescent (2003–2015, 2024)

Mess O' Potamia has been a common part of the show since the early days of the 2003 invasion of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Like "Indecision ####", the title is merely used to specify the topic of the jokes, which focus on the troubles in the

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

region. In August 2006, Stewart announced that the Mess O' Potamia segment had been renamed "The Futile Crescent". Then, in December 2006, Stewart created a spin-off of the segment, this one entitled "Mess O' Potomac", to coincide with the release of the final report from the Iraq Study Group. The final segment of Mess O'Potamia aired in March 2009, shortly after

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

assumed

office An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...

. Although the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

persisted, the clip was entitled "Mess O'Potamia – The Iraq War Is Over". However, on June 12, 2014, Jon Stewart announced, "Looks like we're going to have to return to our old coverage" and resurrected the old Mess O'Potamia segment. Crisis in Israfghyianonanaq is an alternative name for the " Mess O' Potamia" segment. Originally used in 2006, it focuses on problems in the Middle East. The title is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the names of (in order)

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

. The segment returned as "The Futile Cresent" on February 26, 2024.

In My Opinion (November 22, 2023-present)

Much like Lewis Black's "Back in Black," In My Opinion features a guest commentator opining on a certain topic. Instead of utilizing just one commentator, however, the segment has featured various voices making a special appearance, including previous ''TDS'' guest hosts

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

, Leslie Jones, and Charlamagne tha God, as well as Ricky Velez and

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBTQ advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series '' Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a ...

Sports War (May 15, 2024-present)

Sports War finds two ''TDS'' correspondents arguing over developments in the world of sports. Unlike the previous "I Apologize for Talking While You Were Talking" and its homage to ''

Pardon the Interruption ''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television program, television show that airs weekdays primarily on ESPN but can air on various TV channels in the event of live sports or breaking news. It is hosted by ...

'', here money is also on the debaters' minds, as they offer viewers humorous

spread betting Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. ...

lines on possible outcomes (the segment is literally "brought to you by Gambling") in addition to talking brashly about the topics and each other.

Ronny Chieng Ronny Xin Yi Chieng ( zh, s=钱信伊, p=Qián Xìnyī) is a Malaysian-born American comedian and actor. He is a senior correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show'', and he created and starred in the sitcom '' Ronny Chieng: Internatio ...

and Jordan Klepper have been the primary "Sports War" combatants during its history, though

Michael Kosta Michael Kosta (born September 27, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian. He is an Emmy award-winning rotating host and senior correspondent of ''The Daily Show'' and was hired as a correspondent in 2017. He was the most-watched guest host in 2 ...

filled in for Klepper during an August 2024 edition of the segment, and Desi Lydic filled in for Chieng in November 2024.

Past recurring Noah-era segments

Today's Future Now (October 7, 2015 – May 16, 2017)

Today's Future Now is a segment hosted by correspondent

, which takes a look at and reviews technological trends. The first segment, airing on October 7, 2015, was Chieng's debut on ''The Daily Show'' as a correspondent. The segment has reviewed tech such as

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

, smart technology and flying cars.

What the Actual Fact (November 11, 2015 – January 23, 2017)

What the Actual Fact is a

fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...

segment, usually analysing speeches from political figures or events. The segment is hosted by Desi Lydic (once with Jessica Williams) and involves her standing in-front of a screen. A clip/soundbite is shown where a politician is making a statement that is false (or is misleading in some way). Desi then deconstructs the lie and gives it a humorous rating on a joke scale. On January 23, 2017, the segment reviewed the Trump Administrations first press briefing. Due to the

Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway (née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the first presidency of Donald Trump for three years from 2017 and 2020. ...

's gaffe about

alternative facts "Alternative facts" was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway during a ''Meet the Press'' interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the atten ...

, the segment was renamed ''What The Alternative Fact''. In this segment, Lydic went through and satirically and sarcastically rated all of Trump's falsehoods as true, by justifying them with "alternative facts".

Livin' on the Street (January 20, 2016 – April 21, 2016)

Livin' on the Street is a segment hosted by

Hasan Minhaj Hasan Minhaj ( ; born September 23, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. Much of his comedy involves Culture of India, Indian culture and the modern American political landscape through the use of satire, ...

where he parodies 'Wall Street Executives' & financial commercials and talks about money, stocks & economy. Hasan plays a character who gives technically viable yet crazy-sounding advice, who also has financial & family problems.

Tales from the Trump Archive (March 10, 2016 – May 26, 2016)

Tales from the Trump Archive (also known as The Chronicles of Narcissism: Tales from the Trump Archive) was a segment that aired during the 2016 Republican primaries that took a deeper look into the history of Republican presidential candidate

. The segment was hosted by

and had 3 segments where the show would examine sound bites and videos of the statements made by Donald Trump that aren't getting too much media coverage. The first segment, airing on March 10, took a look at a Donald Trump interview with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' from 1999. In this segment, Trevor shows a bunch of clips of

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

people explaining why they want a rich businessman to be in office and even shows a clip of Trump saying that he loves poor people. They then contrast that notion with Trump saying, in 1999, that "My entire life, I've watched politicians bragging about how poor they are, how they came from nothing, how poor their parents and grandparents were. And I said to myself, if they can stay so poor for so many generations, maybe this isn't the kind of person we want to be electing to higher office. How smart can they be? They're morons." The second segment, airing on April 5, talks about Donald Trump's 1994 interview on ''

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates. Cast and crew Th ...

''. In the clip, he's being interviewed alongside his first second wife ( Marla Maples). In the interview, Trump talks lewdly and sexually about his daughter (who was one year old at the time of the interview) Tiffany Trump. This is in contrast to Trump's claim that "nobody has more respect for women than" him. The third segment, airing on May 26, examines a 1994 interview where Donald Trump discusses how he didn't like that his former wife (Maples) worked.

How the F**k We Got Here (March 21, 2016 – March 23, 2016)

How The F**k We Got Here was a two-part segment by

that looked at the causes of

GOP The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP), is a right-wing political party in the United States. One of the two major parties, it emerged as the main rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the tw ...

nomination. In other words, "How did Donald Trump go from being the guy who fake-fired people on TV to the orange-tinted terror?"

2016 Daily Show Summer Games (August 8, 2016 – August 18, 2016)

Usually right before the start of an episode, this segment was a parody of

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

commentators. This segment was used to satirically portray the news that was coming out of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. It also joked about issues that occurred at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, such as the Zika virus epidemic, the swimming pools turning green and the Ryan Lochte scandal. Sometimes it was used to make fun of the 'mental gymnastics' that politicians & pundits used in order to spin certain stories. Notably, it mocked Donald Trump supporters of constantly flip-flopping on their defence of their candidate. Hosted by Roy Wood Jr. and Jordan Klepper (once with Roy Wood Jr. &

) as commentators, sometimes with a

cameo as a participant.

Outrage Court (September 13, 2016 – October 12, 2016)

A pre-recorded sketch-based segment where Roy Wood Jr. is a judge who listens to two attorneys argue about a certain issue, taken place in Outrage Court. The attorneys are Jordan Klepper and Desi Lydic, who take a different position on topics such as "

trigger warnings A trauma trigger is a Stimulus (psychology), psychological stimulus that prompts involuntary recall of a previous psychological trauma, traumatic experience. The stimulus itself need not be frightening or traumatic and may be only indirectly or su ...

" and appropriate ways to protest. The segment ends with Roy Wood Jr. accepting valid points from both stances and dismissing any invalid points.

Black Eye on America (October 20, 2016 – April 3, 2017)

Roy Wood Jr. talks about issues through an African-American perspective. The segments consist of short, quick interviews with African-Americans who have knowledge on the issue, as well as examples of how that certain issue affects black Americans. The first segment of Black Eye on America talks about the struggles that black journalists have when discussing race issues on television. It talks about how and why they have to keep calm, and shows examples of non-black anchors making racist remarks towards these black journalists. The second segment looks at the phenomenon known as "

Black Twitter Black Twitter is an Virtual community, internet community largely consisting of the African diaspora, Black diaspora of users in the United States and other nations on Twitter, Twitter (officially X), focused on issues of interest to the black com ...

Who Is the Real President? (February 6, 2017 – April 4, 2017)

In the first months after Donald Trump became

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

analyses White House characters who might even be more powerful than Trump himself. In this segment, Trevor has pondered if the real President is Senior Advisor

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist for the first seven months of president Donald Trump's first ...

, news company

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

or Trump's son-in-law

Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He is a son-in-law of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, through his marriage to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior advisor in his father-in- ...

The Yearly Show (December 17, 2015–December 18, 2018)

On the show's last episode of the year,

and The Best F#@king News Team review the previous year's biggest news story and trends.

Third Month Mania (March 17, 2016–)

A parody of

March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

, with a bracket filled with other topics instead of basketball teams. Third Month Mania is an annual segment that airs weekly segments throughout March and April. Voting happens on thirdmonthmania.com. For the first annual Third Month Mania, viewers could vote on what made them the "maddest". Choices included "Slow WiFi" vs "No WiFi", "AntiVaxxers" vs "Hipsters", etc. Hosted by

and Roy Wood Jr., the correspondents over-hyped the results and bracket changes poking fun at March Madness commentators. The official description from thirdmonthmania.com; "Third Month Mania looks at all the important (and trivial) things that make you angry, then pits them against each other in a bracket where your vote actually matters. This single-elimination tournament takes place mostly in the month after February and is in no way connected to college athletics". By the end of Third Month Mania 2016, after 4.4 million votes, the winner for most maddening thing were Trump Supporters. For the second annual Third Month Mania, viewers could vote on which

tweet is the greatest. The bracket was broken up into 4 sections: "Celebs", "Enemies", "Government Affairs" and "WTF".

Profiles in Tremendousness (November 30, 2016–)

In this segment,

takes a look at

's Administration Cabinet nominees. Trump is known for bragging about picking "the best people" and " draining the swamp", so ''The Daily Show'' checks if his picks live up to his promise. Noah checks financial ties, history, scandals, accomplishments, etc. of the people Trump has appointed. He often looks at what Trump has previously said about that person and checks whether or not Trump has been consistent with his attitude towards them. He also analyses their performance at confirmation hearings. The title of the segment refers to the 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning biographical book ''

Profiles in Courage ''Profiles in Courage'' is a 1956 volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. The book, authored by John F. Kennedy with Ted Sorensen as a ghostwriter, profiles senators who defied th ...

''. The segments have profiled at Trump's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the first cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for nearl ...

, National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn,

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succession. The ...

Ben Carson Ben Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgery, neurosurgeon, academic, author, and government official who served as the 17th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 2017 to 2021. A pio ...

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021 ...

Press Secretary A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Dutie ...

Sean Spicer Sean Michael Spicer (born September 23, 1971) is an American former political aide who served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and as White House Communications Director under President Donald Trump in 2017. Spicer was communications dire ...

, Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch, Senior Adviser Stephen Miller,

White House Communications Director The White House communications director or White House director of communications, also known officially as Assistant to the President for Communications, is part of the senior staff of the president of the United States. The officeholder is resp ...

Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci ( ; born January 6, 1964) is an American financier and broadcaster who briefly served as the White House communications director from July 21 to July 31, 2017. Scaramucci worked at Goldman Sachs's investment banking, equitie ...

and

Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

. On August 28, 2017, a special "Pardon Edition" of the segment looked into the recently

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed former sheriff

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He was the Sheriffs in the United States, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, ...

Moscow in the Meddle (January 9, 2017–)

A segment dedicated to the stories that involve

President Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, such as the Donald Trump-Russia dossier and the Russian interference in the 2016 elections.

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That (March 2017–)

In the segment, Noah summarizes news that should get significant media attention, but are overshadowed by other breaking news that constantly appear every day.

I Apologize for Talking While You Were Talking (January 2018–)

Roy Wood, Jr. and

(though, in one segment,

filled in for Kosta, and in another, Jaboukie Young-White filled in for Wood) co-host this segment dedicated to sports news. The segment's title is a spoof of ESPN sports talk show ''

''.

CP Time with Roy Wood Jr. (February 2018–)

Roy Wood, Jr. hosts this segment while wearing a fake grey mustache and horn-rimmed glasses. This segment is dedicated to African-American history. The motto of the segment is, "Remember, we're for the culture." The title is a reference to the slang "

Colored people's time African time (or Africa time) is the perceived cultural tendency in parts of Africa and the Caribbean toward a more relaxed attitude to time. This is sometimes used in a pejorative sense, about tardiness in appointments, meetings and events. T ...

Everything Is Stupid (June 2018–)

hosts this segment, providing commentary on ridiculous trends in the news such as

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game and game platform developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in seven distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: '' Fortnite Battle Roy ...

, luxurious doghouses, and adventure playgrounds.

Trevor Noah: Racism Detective (January 2019–December 2022)

A brief segment where after a person that is the focus of the story does something very characteristic of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

, prompting the question "Is he racist?" Noah turns to "Trevor Noah: Racism Detective", which is Noah dressed as a 1930s gumshoe in a black and white office simply confirming the person's racism.

World War D (January 2019–)

A segment focused on the Democratic Presidential Candidates seeking to win the Democratic nomination to run against Donald Trump in 2020.

F**k These Animals (February 2019–)

Noah, posing as his Australian cousin "Australian Trevor", would provide commentary on stories involving animals.

Commander in Beef (May 2019–)

A segment focusing on

's petty Twitter feud at the moment.

The Magical, Wonderful Road to Impeachment (September 25, 2019–present)

A segment that covers the

impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was initiated by then- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may ...

. Originally titled The Fantastic Absolutely Tremendous Road to Impeachment.

Is This How We Die? (March 2, 2020–2022)

A segment covering the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

A Ray of Sunshine (April 2020–2022)

Introduced on ''The Daily Social Distancing Show'' as an introductory segment showing some good news during the

Past recurring Stewart-era segments

Here is a list of past recurring segments from mostly the era in which

hosted the show, in alphabetical order:

10 F#@king Years

10 F#@king Years is a segment that was featured on the show throughout 2006, to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary. The segment usually features host Jon Stewart offering a nostalgic look back at the show's past segments (normally spanning Stewart's run as host), usually focusing on a specific theme. The segment debuted on July 17, 2006, around the time of the show's actual anniversary. The segment continued on until the end of 2006, when the anniversary was over.

Are You Prepared?!?

Are You Prepared?!? was a segment that debuted on the show on May 16, 2006 featuring

Samantha Bee Samantha Anne Bee (born October 25, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actress, and television host. Bee rose to fame as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', where she became the ...

. Focusing on preparedness for a potential disaster or bad situation, the segment was styled as a parody of the scare tactics used by

sensationalist In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotiona ...

news shows. In the segment, the correspondent normally travelled around in a large van with the words "Are You Prepared?!?" on its side, often knocking on doors of unsuspecting residents and "testing their preparedness" in the given scenario. Bee performed the segment two times, with her husband, correspondent Jason Jones hosting an installment on November 9, 2006.

Even Stevphen

Even Stevphen was a segment that was an in-studio debate about a current topic between correspondents

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He starred as Michael Scott in the NBC sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2011, 2013), and also worked at several points as a producer, executive producer, writer, a ...

and

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...

. They would often spend the time insulting each other instead, sometimes resulting in one of them breaking down in tears, due to painful childhood memories. It is very similar to the show's earlier segment, "Backfire". The segment's name is a composite of the two correspondents' homophonic first names, sometimes appearing as Even Stephven or Even Stepvhen (the ph and v appear superimposed on top of each other in the segment's opening graphic). The segment's debut, on September 20, 1999, is the source of the two soundbites used in the most frequent incarnation of the segment's opening graphic: Carell's "You just made me vomit in my own mouth!" and Colbert's "What's the weather like up your own ass?" The segment was discontinued when Steve Carell left the show, after a brief one-off take featuring

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor, musician and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sit ...

(Carell's ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

'' co-star) as Colbert's debate partner, in which Helms deliberately demonstrated that he was incapable of grasping the premise of the segment. On September 19, 2006, a montage of the best of "Even Stevphen" was shown as part of ''The Daily Show'''s "10 F#@king Years". The segment was revived on the July 7, 2010 episode of ''

'', when Carell was the guest. They debated how uncomfortable the interview was for them, leading into both insulting each other for bad career decisions, and ending with both men crying and a surprise appearance by

who begged the two to answer how they were able to leave the show. It was revived again on the May 13, 2024 episode of ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...

''. Carell is a guest for Colbert's 60th birthday and they both argue about advantages and disadvantages of getting older.

A Tale of Survival

A Tale of Survival was a segment that was always done by correspondent

Vance DeGeneres Vance Elliott DeGeneres (born September 2, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television and movies. Early life DeGeneres was born at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, Louisiana ...

, in which he would present a feature done in the style of a ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...

'' report. In it, a trivial incident was reported as if it were quite dangerous and serious, such as the time the pork chop a man was preparing caught fire and distressed his pet

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

. Between pre-filmed portions, Vance would appear in the studio hiding behind various set-decorations or apparatuses, describing the events in greater frightful detail. Unlike other ''Daily Show'' pieces, this one would be divided by a commercial break to accentuate the anticlimactic aspect. The segment first appeared in or around 1999 and was discontinued when Vance DeGeneres left the show in 2001.

Ad Nauseam

Ad Nauseam was a segment in which its host played various clips of television advertisements and then made fun of them. The original host of the segment was Michael Blieden until 1999.

was the host from 1999 to 2002, but when he left the show for his

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and television career, correspondent

began to take his place starting in 2002. The segment was discontinued around 2003. It bears some resemblance to the "Ad Absurdum" segment on the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's Royal Canadian Air Farce.

The Decider

The Decider was an animated segment done in the style of a comic book. The segment's main character was President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

as the superhero ''The Decider''. The segment originated when Bush made a comment referring to himself as " the decider" during a press conference on April 18, 2006. ''The Decider'' was only featured on the show three times, with its first appearance on April 19, 2006 (the day after Bush's use of the term). ''The Decider'' made an additional appearance on May 18, 2006. After a hiatus of two years, the segment was featured for the third and final on the June 19, 2008 episode, with an additional twist — ''The Decider'' had now become ''The Procastinator''.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis: was a segment that occurred twice, as "Diagnosis: Mystery" and "Diagnosis: Science." "Mystery" was hosted by Jason Jones in the guise of a medical interest piece, exploring cures for homosexuality. "Science" was hosted by Rob Riggle, exploring how

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

animals will affect food choices.

Digital Watch

Digital Watch was a segment hosted by

and focused on new technology. The segment began sometime around February 2003 and was discontinued sometime around the Summer of 2004.

Dollars and "Cents"

Dollars and "Cents" was a segment where two hosts discuss economics and give financial advice. It ridiculed the format of financial news shows and included a

stock ticker Ticker tape was the earliest electrical dedicated financial communications medium, transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines, in use from around 1870 to 1970. It consisted of a paper strip that ran through a machine called a sto ...

and a bug in the left corner saying "MSTDSFN", mimicking the names and logos of

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

and CNN FN. The hosts and format varied somewhat. When it premiered in early 2000 it was hosted by

and

, with Nancy Walls reporting from the stock exchange as a "Money Bunny". The "Money Bunny" was usually treated poorly by the two male hosts who would make jokes at her expense. After DeGeneres left, he was replaced by Mo Rocca. Eventually, other correspondents would appear in the rotating spots as "Host" and "Money Bunny" such as Miriam Tolan, Matt Walsh, Campbell Smith, Lauren Weedman and

. Dollars and "Cents" was last seen in 2002 when

Rob Corddry Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...

was reporting from its news desk.

Exper-teasers

Exper-teasers was hosted by resident expert

John Hodgman John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy '' The Areas of My Expertise'', '' More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is ...

, debuting on August 24, 2006. The segment was pre-recorded and featured Hodgman, as the show's "Resident Expert", discussing a different topic each week from a room full of books.

was the voice over announcer for the segment's introduction. In each segment, a question appeared on-screen and Hodgman addressed the subject, often using doctored-up photos and other humorous visual aides. Hodgman ended each segment by saying "I'm John Hodgman, and you're welcome." While the "Exper-teasers" segment only appeared twice, Hodgman continues to appear on the show as the Resident Expert.

Great Moments in Punditry As Read By Children

Great Moments in Punditry As Read By Children was a segment that featured small children reading transcripts of contentious moments from programs like

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

and

Hannity and Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final ...

. The segment was featured prominently between 2004 and 2005 and usually aired just before a commercial break.

Guantanamo Baywatch

A series of segments detailing the treatment of prisoners at the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

. It features an in-house correspondent named "Gitmo" (an

Elmo Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who speaks in a high-pitched falsetto voice and frequently refers to himself in the third person, he hosts the last full 15-minute segmen ...

hand puppet with an added Islamic beard operated by Stewart in front of a greenscreen) who details his torture and eventual release from Guantanamo, having convinced the authorities he is in fact a Uighur. Stewart voices Gitmo in a style similar to Elmo, but with a Middle Eastern accent.

Headlines

Headlines was the segment that always opened the show for the first four years that Jon Stewart hosted the show. In the segment, Stewart would focus on the big stories of the day. The segment was abruptly dropped around 2003, and no reason was given. This was one of the three divisions of the show under Stewart's first few years; the others being " Other News" and " This Just In". All three were dropped in 2003. The term is still used on The Daily Show website to categorize videos of a night's leading news story.

The Jobbing of America

The Jobbing of America was a segment about jobs, hosted by

Klassic Kolbert

Klassic Kolbert was a segment consisting of a previously aired segment featuring former correspondent Stephen Colbert. The segment first appeared on February 8, 2006, several months after Colbert left ''The Daily Show'' to host its spin-off, ''

.''

Mark Your Calendar

Mark Your Calendar was a segment in which its host went over highlights of the upcoming month. At one particular time, the segment was done on a monthly basis. Mo Rocca originally hosted the segment,

hosted it from

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and Samantha Bee began hosting the segment in 2003. At one point, the segment was known as Mark One's Calendar.

Money Talks

A segment hosted by contributor

focused on financial and wealth issues. Hodgman portrays himself as an incredibly wealthy and successful author who looks down on those poorer than him.

Mopinion

Mopinion was a commentary segment delivered in a

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of Comedy, comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant t ...

fashion by Mo Rocca.

Other News

Other News was the segment that always followed Jon Stewart's "

Headlines The headline is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th century when incre ...

" segment for the first four years of his stint as host. In the segment, Stewart would focus on the less important stories of the day, which would provide a comedic contrast to the segment "Headlines". The segment was abruptly dropped around 2003, and no reason was given. This was one of the three divisions of the show under Stewart's first few years; the others being "Headlines" and " This Just In". All three were dropped in 2003.

Out at the Movies

Out at the Movies was a segment hosted by

Frank DeCaro Frank DeCaro (born November 6, 1962) is an American writer, performer and talk radio host. He is best known for his work on ''The Daily Show'', where he appeared as a contributor from 1996 to 2003. Starting in 2004 until 2016 he was the host of ' ...

who provided the audience with a look at new

feature films A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film ( motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

in-character as a flamboyantly

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

film critic who can find gay subtext in any film. During his stint on the show,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

ran yearly extended thirty-minute-long versions of "Out at the Movies" for the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

. The segment debuted in 1997 and was one of the show's longest running segments. It was discontinued when Frank DeCaro left the show in 2003.

Poll Smoking with Dave Gorman

Poll Smoking with

Dave Gorman David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as '' The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and ''The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered a ...

was a segment in which the segment's host, Dave Gorman, credited as the show's Statistical Analyst, presents satirical views of polls and statistics pertaining to current events. In each segment, Gorman pretends not to notice the double-meaning of his segment's title (a reference to

fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act consisting of the stimulation of a human penis, penis by using the mouth. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may also be termed ''fellat ...

) and makes several accidental jokes involving the title, until the October 5, 2006 segment when Gorman "found out" the meaning of the segment's title and "decided" to go along with it. This segment first appeared on April 27, 2006 and last appeared on October 5, 2006. Gorman had originally appeared on the show as a guest in December 2001, to promote his book ''

Are You Dave Gorman? ''Are You Dave Gorman?'' is the title of a stage show by the British documentary comedian Dave Gorman and the book of the same name, co-written by Gorman and Danny Wallace. The BBC television series ''The Dave Gorman Collection''—Gorman's fi ...

''. He was hired as a contributor four years later, making him the second contributor to be hired after appearing on the show as a guest to promote his book (after

Produce Pete with Steve Carell

Produce Pete Peter Napolitano (born February 23, 1945) better known by stage name Produce Pete (sometimes referred to as Pete Your Produce Pal), is an American grocer, chef, and celebrity spokesperson who is perhaps best known for his weekly fruit and veget ...

was a segment hosted by

, in which he gave humorous advice regarding

produce In American English, produce generally refers to wikt:fresh, fresh List of culinary fruits, fruits and Vegetable, vegetables intended to be Eating, eaten by humans, although other food products such as Dairy product, dairy products or Nut (foo ...

, interspersed with comments about his life's own failures. The segment was previously-taped and first came about around 2002 or 2003 when Carell became too busy with his movie career to do live segments on the show. This segment would typically air towards the end of the show, right before " Your Moment of Zen". The segment was discontinued when Carell left the show, though it did make a brief reappearance after Carell was "discovered" to have been lost in Iraq.

The Seat of Heat

The Seat of Heat debuted on the show on September 13, 2006. The segment was featured during the guest interview; Stewart would ask the guest one question thought to be particularly tough to answer. (For example, during an interview with

Johnny Knoxville Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (franchise), ...

: "Which member of your show will be the first to die and what will his scrotum be stapled to then?"). During the segment, the screen behind Stewart and his guest filled with images of flames. ''The Seat of Heat'' was the first regular segment during the guest interview since " Five Questions". However, this segment was short-lived. It was discontinued in November 2006, two days after Stewart jokingly complained to guest

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

that "for some reason, we're married to this bit now."

Slimming Down with Steve

Slimming Down with Steve was a segment chronicling Carell's character's misguided attempts to lose weight. Among the methods suggested were eating vegetable shortening as a healthier alternative to ice cream (which Carell did in front of Stewart and the audience, to their obvious disgust) and undergoing surgery that apparently left him with

open wound A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying diseas ...

s. Humor was also derived from Carell's extremely degrading comments about his own (very exaggerated, if even existent) weight problems, such as, "I've been trying to slim down through diet and exercise, but I still feel like 190 pounds of crap in a 175-pound bag!"–announced with a cheery smile. The segment ran five times in 2001 and featured a cheesy opening sequence with a song whose lyrics, sung by Carell, consisted only of "Slimmin' down with Steve, slimmin' down with Steve!" repeated over and over.

Slow News Day

Slow News Day was a segment that debuted on the June 13, 2006 episode. The segment was a compilation of news clips, usually from

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

, which followed an unusually dull or trivial news event over the course of several hours. The segment was very short and was usually played before going to commercial, with no introduction.

This Just In

This Just In was the segment that always followed Jon Stewart's " Other News" segment for the first four years of his stint as host. In the segment, Stewart would focus on the breaking stories of the day. This was one of the three divisions of the show under Stewart's first few years, the others being "

" and "Other News." All three were abruptly dropped in 2003, with no reason given.

This Week in God

This Week in God featured the "God Machine" and a satirical run-down of "everything God did this week", very similar to the earlier ''Daily Show'' segment "God Stuff" with John Bloom. The title "The God Machine" itself is a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

of the theatrical device ''

Deus ex machina ''Deus ex machina'' ( ; ; plural: ''dei ex machina''; 'God from the machine') is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence. Its function is general ...

'', which means "God from the Machine" and refers to an almost contrived event that saves the day in a

theatrical production A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, ...

usually did the sketch from 2003 to 2005, though occasionally it was done by other correspondents. Due to the spin-off of ''

'', the sketch was handed off to

in 2005. Said Colbert on the hand-off: "God has an exclusive licensing agreement with ''The Daily Show''. We're trying to get the Devil for our show." After the July 31, 2006 episode, ''This Week in God'' went off the air for three months due to Corddry's departure from the show. On October 19, 2006, "This Week in God" returned, with

taking over as the show's "Senior

Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

Correspondent". Bee returned again for the segment's "Christmas Christacular" on December 18, 2006. Correspondent

has also filled in for the host of the segment on occasion. The God Machine normally took the form of a black post with a single large bright red button on its top, surrounded by yellow lining. It had previously appeared as the "God Lever" or the "God Rod." The host would smack the button, and it started flashing an apparently random succession of religiously themed images on a screen behind the host, while making a sound of a high-pitched voice (recorded by Colbert) saying "Beepboopboop beepboopboop boopboop. Beepboopboop beepboopboop boopboop. Beep. Boop. Boop". The images and the sound slowed down toward the end, with humorous or ironic last few images (such as

Captain Morgan Captain Morgan is a brand of flavoured rums (including, in Europe, some rum-flavoured "premium spirit drinks") produced by British alcohol conglomerate Diageo. It is named after the 17th-century Welsh privateer of the Caribbean, Sir Henry M ...

, Snuggle the Bear,

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

or Colbert himself) appearing before the screen settled on an image that prompted the next item in the segment. A frequent subject chosen by the God Machine is

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Whenever this occurred, the host would make a side comment about the religion in an attempt to placate any angry

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. These statements include, "Islam! About which there is nothing funny", or "Islam! Which I respect completely." Colbert made the "God Machine" famous as an icon for irreverent and sometimes provocative examination of religious issues. When Rob Corddry first took over God Machine duties, he indicated that he is an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

. On the April 19, 2007 episode of ''

'', during

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is known for his intense leading man roles in film. List of awards and nominations received by Sean Penn, His accolades include two Academy Awards, a Golden Gl ...

's and Stephen Colbert's Meta-Free-Phor-All, a modified version of the "God Machine" sound was used to generate subjects. The "God Machine" made an additional appearance during the June 5, 2007 episode of ''The Colbert Report''.

Trendspotting

Trendspotting was a segment hosted by comedian and "Youth Correspondent"

Demetri Martin Demetri Martin (, ''Dimitrios Evangelos Martin''; born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, cartoonist and musician. He was a contributor on ''The Daily Show''. In stand-up, he is known for his deadpan delivery, playing ...

. In this segment, Martin provides viewers with a comedic look at new, youth-targeted trends. Topics included

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

, Myspace.com,

life coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

hookah A hookah (also see #Names and etymology, other names), shisha, or waterpipe is a single- or multi-stemmed instrument for heating or vaporizing and then smoking either tobacco, flavored tobacco (often ''muʽassel''), or sometimes Cannabis (drug ...

s, and credit card companies. On July 24, 2007, correspondent

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and American comedian who hosts ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' on HBO. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work ...

filled in for a slightly altered "Political Trendspotting" segment on the YouTube Debates, wearing a

wig and attempting to adopt his hip

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

. (Ironically, Oliver is 5 years younger than Martin).

We Love Showbiz

We Love Showbiz was a segment hosted by

and Nancy Walls (who are now married). It was a parody of ''

Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', briefly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...

'', ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'' and similar shows; poking fun at their sycophantic attitude towards celebrities. After Walls' departure in 2002, other female correspondents ( Lauren Weedman and

Rachael Harris Rachael Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. The accolades she has received include nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Saturn Award. In film, Harris has had lead roles as Susan Heffley in the ''Dia ...

) hosted opposite Carell. When Carell was not available,

would host.

also hosted twice during the summer of 2003, once with

and once with

. The segment was discontinued in 2003.

Wilmore-Oliver Investigates

Wilmore-Oliver Investigates was a segment in which correspondents

Larry Wilmore Elister Larry Wilmore III (born October 30, 1961) is an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. He served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2014, and hosted ''The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore'' in 2 ...

and

parody investigative journalism. The segment has been featured three times. The first installment explored the use of the n word, and the second segment explored celebrities who utter offensive statements. The third looked into a Republican debate at a primarily African-American college which none of the major candidates showed up to; this segment was repeated on January 24, 2008. Most of the humor in the segment is drawn from the differences between British correspondent Oliver and African-American correspondent Wilmore. The segment debuted on March 28, 2007. This first segment was a focus of conversation when Wilmore appeared on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's hosts are Terry Gross and Tonya Mosl ...

with Terry Gross'' in June 2007.

Whaaa?

Whaaa? was a segment that was sometimes introduced during coverage of news stories that Stewart claimed to find particularly bewildering, such as the revelation that the Army was firing Arabic-speaking linguists for being gay, or that

AOL Time Warner Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner i ...

had managed to lose $99 billion in a single year. The device was used during 2002 and 2003 and was identified by Stewart's turning to

camera three ''Camera Three'' was an American anthology series devoted to the arts. It began as a Sunday afternoon local program on WCBS-TV in New York and ran “for some time”Mercer, Charles, Associated Press writer, Television World column, “Obscure P ...

and the appearance of a large blue logo reading, "Whaaa?"

Worst Responders

Worst Responders (a reference to

first responders A first responder is a person with specialized training who is among the first to arrive and provide assistance or incident resolution at the scene of an emergency. First responders typically include law enforcement officers (commonly known as ...

) was a segment that castigated politicians' responses to disasters. Its most famous airing occurred in 2010, when Stewart brought in first responders Kenny Specht, John Devlin, Ken George and Chris Bowman in an attempt to urge passage of the Zadroga Act. Stewart revived the bit in 2015 on Noah's show to urge reauthorization of the Act.

You're Welcome with John Hodgman

On February 12, 2009, "Resident Expert"

began a new segment called You're Welcome, in which he uses his "expertise" to permanently solve the country's most pressing problems. For instance, in the first segment, he proposed to save the struggling economy in part by making

Criss Angel Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos (; born December 19, 1967), known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, Magic (illusion), illusionist and musician. He is often referred to as one of the world's most successful illusionists, g ...

the

treasury secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

(promising that he would "levitate the economy, make it disappear, then pull it out of the

belly button The navel (clinically known as the umbilicus; : umbilici or umbilicuses; also known as the belly button or tummy button) is a protruding, flat, or hollowed area on the abdomen at the attachment site of the umbilical cord. Structure The u ...

of a

Hooters Hooters is the registered trademark used by two American restaurant chains: Hooters, Inc., based in Clearwater, Florida, and Hooters of America, Inc. based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by the private investment firm Nord Bay Capital (with Tr ...

waitress"), and instituting an "emergency Christmas" to get people shopping.

The Toss

For a time, at the end of a show, just before the Moment of Zen,

" heckedin with our good friend

at ''

''." Meant as a parody of major news shows bridging to one another on networks such as

, the sequence usually consisted of either a "sneak preview" of Colbert's show or a brief discussion about something that occurred on Stewart's. Ultimately, however, the sequence often ended with Colbert's egotistical character insulting Stewart. Usually, both Colbert and especially Stewart were prone to breaking character and laughing. Once a feature of virtually every episode, the frequency of The Toss was cut back to the point where the Toss happened only once every couple of weeks. The Toss did not appear from February 2011 to November 2014, due to scheduling conflicts between the two shows. The segment reappeared for the first time in nearly four years on November 4, 2014, when both shows aired live coverage of the 2014 midterm elections. It appeared again on Thursday, December 18, 2014, when Stephen Colbert had his final episode of his show, ''

''. From January 2015 until Stewart's departure in August 2015, the segment aired every Monday with Stewart and

bantering as a bridge to '' The Nightly Show''.

Other segment titles

As with "Indecision" and "Mess-O-Potamia," other humorous titles have been used to indicate the subject matter of various segments. Recently, these have included: * Clusterf**k to the White House, a segment on the 2008 presidential election, the title referring to the large number of candidates (which at the time was 18) running for the position. **Clusterf**k to the Poorhouse, which features news about the worsening US and world economies. ***Variations on the theme include Clustershag to 10 Downing on the 2010 British general election, and Clusterf**k to the Warhouse on the Israeli and Korean crises of late May and early June 2010. *Gaywatch / We're Here, We're Queer, Get Newsed to It, a segment focusing on issues relating to the

gay rights movement Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBTQ people in society. Although there is not a primary or an overarching central organization that represents all LGBTQ people and their i ...

, such as

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

and

Don't Ask, Don't Tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...

. *Baracknophobia, referring to news outlets and other organization that have a seemingly irrational fear of President

. * A variant on Indecision 2008, The Long, Flat Seemingly Endless

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was the Death march, forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp ...

to the White House, covering the drawn-out contest between

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

for the Democratic nomination. * You Don't Know Dick (later, "Even Dick Don't Know Dick" and "You Don't Know Richard Cheney" when Lynne Cheney was the guest), which chronicles Vice President

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

's various levels of secrecy. On the February 5, 2009 episode, Stewart officially changed the name of the segment to "Why Are You Such A Dick?" * ''¿Ay, Mami, Por Qué es El Mentiroso Todavía a Cargo de la Ley?'' (Mommy, Why is the Lying Man Still in Charge of the Law?), which features highlights from Attorney General

Alberto Gonzales Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General from 2005 to 2007 and was the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive government in American history until the appoin ...

's testimonies before Congress relating to the U.S. attorney firings scandal. * America to the Rescue, which highlights arms deals between the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

and the governments of Middle Eastern countries. The segment is introduced by a melange of powerful music, a brief segment of

speaking, and computer-generated

fighter jets Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the air ...

. A self-compounding instance that compounded U.S. weapons deals linked to

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

and

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

, "flashback" segment introductions from the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

(featuring

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and the early 1980s

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

(featuring

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

). * Maritime Salvage Update, which has appeared twice and chronicles current underwater archaeological news * I Give Up, when Stewart highlights a story which makes him upset and hopeless.

Past recurring Kilborn-era segments

Here is a list of past recurring segments from mostly the era in which

hosted the show (1996–1998), in alphabetical order:

A Moment for Us

A Moment for Us was a segment in which host

paused the show for a personal monologue with the audience. Kilborn carried the segment over when he left ''The Daily Show'' to become the host of '' The Late Late Show.'' The segment was featured during Kilborn's stint as host, from 1996 to 1998.

Backfire

Backfire was a segment that was an in-studio debate between correspondents A. Whitney Brown and

Brian Unger Brian Douglas Unger (born 1965) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and commentator. Biography Born in Dayton, Ohio to Richard ("Rich") Unger and Eleanor ("Ellie") Oprea, Unger grew up in Granville, Ohio. He graduated from Granvil ...

. It is very similar to the later segment, " Even Stevphen", which were also in-studio debates between two correspondents. The segment's title is a parody of the political debate show, ''

''. The segment began in or around 1996 and was discontinued when A. Whitney Brown and Brian Unger left the show in 1998.

Five Questions

Five Questions was a segment that was conducted during each show, when

was the show's host. The segment would always come at the very end of Kilborn's informal celebrity interviews. In the segment, Kilborn would ask a sequence of five absurd questions that often had even more irrelevant answers. Actor

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

gained notoriety for being the first and one of the few to answer all "correctly".

Kathy Ireland Kathleen Marie Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and former fashion model. Ireland was a supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s, initially known for appearing in 13 consecut ...

had the dubious honor of only getting one, and that was with Kilborn's help. A book released in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

titled ''The Daily Show: Five Questions'' (), highlights many of the best interview moments from Craig Kilborn's stint as host. When Kilborn left the show in 1998 in order to replace

Tom Snyder Thomas James Snyder (May 12, 1936 – July 29, 2007) was an American television personality, news anchor, and radio personality best known for his late night talk shows '' Tomorrow'', on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s, and '' The Late Late Show'' ...

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

's '' The Late Late Show'', he was able to take the segment ''Five Questions'' with him to the new show, disallowing any future ''TDS'' host from using it in their interviews. However, in Jon Stewart's first week as host, he slowly phased out the "Five Questions", doing "Four Questions" on Monday, "Three Questions" on Tuesday, "Two Questions" on Wednesday, ending with "The One Question" on Thursday.

God Stuff

God Stuff was a segment in which the segment's host, John Bloom, presented an assortment of actual clips from various televangelists. It is very similar to the later segment, " This Week in God". The segment began around 1996.

Public Excess

Public Excess was a segment hosted by correspondent Rich Brown. The segment began in 1996 and was discontinued when he left the show in 1998. ''Public Excess'' segments from the past were still being shown in The Daily Show episodes up to mid 2000.

Trivial Compromise

Trivial Compromise was a ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

''-like segment shown during the last commercial break during Craig Kilborn's tenure as host. It was hosted by Creator/Producer Lizz Winstead's mother and father Ginny and Wilbur Winstead via telephone.

Recurring jokes

There are several comedic themes and gags which have recurred through the series. This is an incomplete list.

Current running gags

"Senior ______ Correspondent"

When a correspondent does a purported

live shot In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast (usually just called a remote or a live remote, or in news parlance, a live shot) is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television or radio studio and is considered an electronic field ...

, the caption of his or her title will say "Senior ______ Correspondent," with an absurd subject in which he or she is supposedly expert and therefore qualified to cover the story at hand. Some of the more ridiculous examples have included "Senior

Child Molestation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

Correspondent," "Senior Conceptual Art Correspondent" and

's long-standing title, "Senior Black Correspondent." (When Wilmore first appeared on the show, his title appeared in the caption as simply "Black Correspondent," but he refused to begin his report until it was changed to "Senior Black Correspondent.")

Pun Captions

Most news stories covered on ''The Daily Show'' are accompanied by an image in the top left-hand corner of the screen and a caption that is a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

connecting the story's subject with a familiar saying or pop-culture item. Examples include " Ebony and Irony," which was used when it was revealed that

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...

's family once owned

Al Sharpton Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. (born October 3, 1954) is an American civil rights and social justice activist, Baptists, Baptist minister, radio talk show host, and TV personality, who is also the founder of the National Action Network civil rig ...

's; " Syria's Unfortunate Events" for the end of Syria's occupation of Lebanon; and " Scum-dog Million-hairs" in reference to corrupt Illinois governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

and his oft-ridiculed haircut. If the audience laughs particularly long at a joke, Stewart will often mock them with a comment to the effect of, "Really? We kinda thought we phoned that one in;" if they groan or snicker at it, he will say something defensive like, "You think it's easy coming up with these?" or "You should've seen the ones we didn't go with." One recurring joke, often used to make fun of the audience and the viewers, is to make a pun at

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing (MMORPG) video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Windows and Mac OS X. Set in the '' Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of War ...

, using its text or making the segment's name World of ___craft.

Green Screens

Stewart and the correspondents sometimes make ad-libbed references to the fact that their "live reports" are nearly always filmed from inside the studio in front of a green-screen only a short distance from Stewart's desk. This is sometimes brought up if the picture on the screen contradicts reality–for example, if it shows a nighttime view of the city where the correspondent claims to be. Other references are scripted, such as when

, Jason Jones and

Dan Bakkedahl Dan Bakkedahl (born November 18, 1969) is an American actor and improvisational comedian. He is best known for starring as Tim Hughes on the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'', as Congressman Roger Furlong on the HBO series ''Veep'', and as Steve Nuge ...

all claimed to be reporting from three different Middle Eastern cities; appearing on a split screen, they tossed the many-pocketed

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...

vest typically worn by correspondents during

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

segments from frame to frame (each of them being unwilling to deliver a report about the Middle East without wearing khaki). Another time, Jason Jones, having actually gone to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

to report a story, shoved a passerby in order to "prove" he was really there.

"Meet Me at Camera Three"

Meet Me At Camera Three is a common phrase coined by Stewart, which began in 2006, to initiate what is intended to be a direct address to the person or group with which the current topic is concerned. Typically after expressing his distaste for the subject's actions, Stewart will then request that (for example) "

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

, meet me at camera three", at which point the shot switches to a camera situated at the right of the regular camera. Stewart turns on spot to face the camera, and sends his message to the subject, possibly beginning his speech with a relevant greeting, and then the shot is switched back to its regular camera.

has continued this tradition.

Africa Jokes

Trevor Noah, being from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, started this running gag on the show in late 2016. Noah looks straight at

Camera Three ''Camera Three'' was an American anthology series devoted to the arts. It began as a Sunday afternoon local program on WCBS-TV in New York and ran “for some time”Mercer, Charles, Associated Press writer, Television World column, “Obscure P ...

after making a joke pertaining to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and says things such as "Africa Jokes; where you thought I was joking but aren't so sure anymore".

Spirit Airlines

In lieu of the Arby's jokes Stewart did on the show, Noah has since made a punching bag out of

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...

. After making a joke about them, similar to Stewart, Noah would turn to either Camera 1 or Camera 3 and make up a slogan about the poor quality of Spirit.

Look at all those faces!

As a comment on the crowded 2020 Democratic nominees, Noah would show a group shot of all the nominees, plus a joke nominee, such as the original design of the movie Sonic the Hedgehog, and the title character from ''The Mandalorian'', and say, "Look at all those faces! Look! At all! Those faces!"

Running gags under Stewart

"Arby's"

Jon Stewart would pull a fun yet insulting joke at the expense of fast food chain

Arby's Arby's is an American fast-food restaurant, fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants. The flagship property of Inspire Brands, it ranked third in systemwide sales in the United States in the quick-service and fast-ca ...

, usually claiming the food is inedible or unhealthy. After the joke, Stewart would sometimes claim they are a fine restaurant and has no reason to make fun of them. Arby's CEO Paul Brown made an appearance on Jon Stewart's final episode on August 6, 2015. Arby's also made a 'Goodbye Jon Stewart' video for Stewart's last show, which was a small compilation of all the jokes that Stewart's made about them.

Mitch McConnell tortoise impersonation

A recurring joke involving Stewart imitating Senator

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

in the voice of Cecil the Turtle, implying McConnell's

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

-like appearance and mannerisms.

NAMBLA

A running gag is the insertion of the phrase "...or NAMBLA" (an acronym for the

North American Man/Boy Love Association The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA, stylized as NAMbLA) is a pedophilia and pederasty advocacy organization in the United States. It works to abolish age-of-consent laws criminalizing adult sexual involvement with minors and ...

) instead of stating a proper

abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening (linguistics), shortening, contraction (grammar), contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened for ...

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

after mentioning a long or convoluted name, such as

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. Similarly, the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...

was dubbed "NAMBL-OPEC" and the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

was dubbed "BLAMBLA." The

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

was termed "IAEA-BLA". An advocacy group concerned about alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests was termed "Anti-NAMBLA". In August 2005, Stewart renamed

NARAL Pro-Choice America Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America and commonly known as simply NARAL ( ), is a non-profit 501(c)(4) organization in the United States that engages in lobbying, politics, political action, and advocacy efforts to op ...

"NAR-AMBLA". In the October 2005 debut of a segment called "Man vs. Nature: The War on Terra", which detailed the devastating effects of

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

, Stewart shivered as he said "NAMBLA" in reference to the

National Snow and Ice Data Center The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) is a United States information and referral center in support of polar and cryospheric research. NSIDC archives and distributes digital and analog snow and ice data and also maintains information ab ...

. Stewart will even refer to organizations that are already acronyms as NAMBLA ("...the AARP, or NAMBLA"). While covering the

2004 Republican National Convention The 2004 Republican National Convention took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The convention is one of a series of Republican National Convention, historic quadrennial meetings at w ...

, Stephen Colbert was asked who he was representing and quickly answered, "Oh, I'm with NAMBLA." Unaware of the context, she replied, "Well, have fun tonight." (Incidentally, the woman he said this to turned out to be a friend of his sister.) On July 27, 2006, a segment of the show titled "10 F#@king Years" featured many clips referring to the NAMBLA jokes. Jon Stewart ended the recap with yet another NAMBLA joke:

''"You know, it's ironic. Now that we're 10-years-old, we're exactly the right age to draw the attention of NAMBLA. However, for the record, The Daily Show has absolutely no affiliation with the North American Man Boy Love Association, or, as it's called, UNICEF."''

The joke was used once again in reference to the Mark Foley scandal, with Stewart speaking of the "North American Man Boy Love Association, or Congress." On October 30, 2006, Jon Stewart played a clip from the Ohio gubernatorial race in which

Ken Blackwell John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is an American politician, author, and Conservatism in the United States, conservative activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1979–1980), the Ohio State Treasurer (1994–1999), and ...

accused his opponent of getting support from NAMBLA. Jon Stewart stated "I knew I'd be right at some point with that acronym." On November 30, 2006, Jon Stewart played a clip from the joint news conference of President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

Amman, Jordan Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the List of largest cities in the ...

. Jon Stewart made a joke about

's announcement regarding the Joint Committee on Accelerating the Transferring of Security Responsibility, dubbing it SCRAMBLA. Stephen Colbert carried the joke over to his program, ''

''; in November 2007 when he was told by the South Carolina Democratic Council that he wasn't going to be on the primary ballot, he responded by saying "I assume you'll be donating my application fee to NAMBLA?" A reference to NAMBLA also appears in '' America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction''. A spread providing information about different lobbies includes a "stated agenda" and "hidden agenda" for each group; for example, the "hidden agenda" of

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

is, "A Baldwin in the White House by 2016." NAMBLA's entry reads, "Stated agenda: The legalization of sexual relations between men and young boys. Hidden agenda: Dude, did you read the ''stated'' agenda?"

Vilsack Duck

During 2006 the show developed a running joke based on the name and relative obscurity of Democratic Governor

Tom Vilsack Thomas James Vilsack (; born December 13, 1950) is an American politician. He served as the 30th and 32nd United States secretary of agriculture from 2009 to 2017, during the Obama administration, and again from 2021 to 2025 during the Biden admi ...

. In a joint parody of the Aflac Duck, mentions of the governor on the show are proceeded with a duck quacking his name as "Vil-sack!". When Vilsack appeared as a guest on the show in December 2006, the joke was again used with the duck initially respectfully stating Vilsack's full name and title before being urged by Stewart to return to the standard joke. Vilsack himself later in the same show made light of the joke by presenting Stewart with a talking

plush toy A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...

of the Aflac Duck with a badge reading "#1 Vilsack Fan", and saying "I'm not going to duck the issue". On occasion, the duck has also blurted out similar words such as "Brown-back!" (for

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

) and "Mor-mon!". As a result of Tom Vilsack's withdrawal from the presidential race, the joke was retired during the February 27, 2007 episode, including a CGI render of the duck wailing "Villlllllllsaaaack!!" in anguish. A similar joke was used to describe then-Presidential-candidate Barack Obama, where the duck said "half-black."

Time Magazine Person of the Year 2006

A recurring joke has involved

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

's much criticised/mocked choice for Person of the Year 2006; 'You', signified with a mirror surface on the cover. When clips are played showing an individual highlighting the behaviour of 'you' (the common people/American voter), Stewart has begun dropping quips about the Time Magazine choice. If the comment made was positive, the joke involves the notion that this is the next big thing for 'you' after Time Magazine. If the comment was negative, the joke is based on the idea things have gone downhill for 'you' after the Time Magazine highlight.

Jimmy Dean Pancakes & Sausage On A Stick

First referenced on October 19, 2006, this food item has become a recurring joke with much humor derived from its strange mix of ingredients. Baconnaise, another unusual food item, was first mentioned on February 25, 2009 and has likewise been brought out as a recurring joke. Jon Stewart combined the two foods, dipping a blueberry-pancake-and-sausage stick into a jar of Baconnaise Lite.

Giant Heads

When the set was changed for the second time on April 9, 2007, the stagehands, according to Jon Stewart, made "one glitch ... a classic mistake that people make when they first break in a new set" and "installed the giant head of

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

". Williams appears in the giant projection screen behind Jon Stewart and occasionally insults and demeans Stewart in regards to his journalistic skills on the show, including pointing out that Stewart "needs a teleprompter to read the fake news". Also, when Stewart mocked Brian Williams' service as a moderator in a Democratic Presidential Debate, Williams appeared behind him, intimidating and correcting Jon, before threatening that he found a way to appear at Stewart's home. Jon typically responds that he's surprised that Brian Williams is such a dick to him. In later shows, the giant heads of

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

Ted Koppel Edward James Martin Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is an American broadcast Journalism, journalist, best known as the News presenter, anchor for ''Nightline'', from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005. Before ''Nightline'', he spent 20 y ...

, and

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining ...

have also made an appearance.

Jon Stewart...

These segments start with Jon Stewart in the title and are often followed by something that, while related to the topic, can easily be misinterpreted as rude or unacceptable behavior. Such captions include Jon Stewart Looks at Kids junk, a look at recent technology advances, or Jon Stewart's Big Gay Problem, which was an intended name change for the Gaywatch segment, now known as We're here, We're Queer, Get Newsed to it. When the name of the segment is introduced, it is followed by Jon turning towards back stage and telling off the crew.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of The Daily Show Recurring Segments Recurring elements

Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central in the United States, with extended episodes released shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' ...