The Daily/Nightly Show (Trevor Noah)

There is of course only one topic tonight as our attention turns from College Basketball (told you the Lady Huskies would win) to other subjects and that is Trevor Noah.

I’ll spare you the tribalism of his ancestry except to note that as a South African with mixed parentage of a type forbidden under apartheid he certainly brings a different global perspective to The Daily Show

Feeling the exceptionalism?  I’m sure that’s one of the things that attracted Jon to the idea of Trevor Noah as a host.

Initial reaction was generally positive-

• Why Comedy Central thought Trevor Noah was perfect for ‘The Daily Show’, By Emily Yahr, Washington Post, March 30

• Trevor Noah to Succeed Jon Stewart on ‘The Daily Show’, By DAVE ITZKOFF, The New York Times, MARCH 30, 2015

• Trevor Noah – from Soweto to The Daily Show, by Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, Monday 30 March 2015 18.04 EDT

To over the top ecstatic-

• Good riddance, Jon Stewart: How Trevor Noah could revitalize “The Daily Show”, by Peter Finocchiaro, Salon, Monday, Mar 30, 2015 07:00 PM EST

There were some quibbles, one of which was his general lack of experience as a Daily Show correspondent (he only has 3 appearances).  Another reservation was under representation of females as Late Night TV hosts-

• Daily Show: now it’s not all white on late night, but what about the women?, by Ashley Clark, The Guardian, Monday 30 March 2015 17.03 EDT

And whether he had the background knowledge to handle the 2016 election (frankly I’m surprised Jon didn’t wait until after, but maybe he was tired of interviewing empty chairs)-

• Can Trevor Noah fill Jon Stewart’s big shoes for ‘Indecision 2016’?, by Elise Czajkowski, The Guardian, Monday 30 March 2015 11.03 EDT

But we were also warned that a more serious backlash might be coming-

• Trevor Noah in our crazy birther age: Right-wing rage at “The Daily Show” is about to get very, very ugly, by Sonia Saraiya, Salon, Monday, Mar 30, 2015 02:55 PM EST

And sure enough, there were the tweets- all 8 out of 8000 or so for a percentage of 0.01 (for the record I’ve tweeted exactly once and while I thought it was screamingly funny at the time I can’t remember what I said).

(To be continued…)