When Jon Stewart announced he was stepping down from “The Daily Show” earlier this year, a handful of names popped up as potential replacements. “Daily Show” correspondent Trevor Noah ended up being the lucky one chosen to fill Stewart’s seat, but The New York Times and The Daily Beast have uncovered a few other names that were considered for the Comedy Central show.
A Times profile of the comedy network last week revealed that Amy Poehler and Chris Rock were two of the people considered for the hosting gig. Apparently, though, the “Parks and Recreation” star gave the network “the quickest ‘no’ in history,” while Rock only wanted to host through the 2016 presidential election. Kent Alterman, the president of content and original programming at Comedy Central, told the Times they eventually decided on Noah and that the young South African comedian was the “the only person [they] made an offer to.”
As it turns out, that’s not completely true.
The Daily Beast did a little digging and asked Amy Schumer, another Comedy Central star, if she was ever offered the job. “Yes,” Schumer told The Daily Beast. “I was so honored to be asked and considered.” But the “Inside Amy Schumer” star didn’t feel right committing to five years at the show.
“I thought, ‘Well, I could give everyone I love a job and we could all be together for five years,'” Schumer said. “But picturing being in a building and knowing what I was going to do for five years — I love not knowing. And I’ve never done anything safe or to make money for that reason. So, you know, I said, ‘I can’t start now.'”
Yes, that’s the sound of tears hitting the floor as we realize a Schumer-hosted “Daily Show” could have been a thing. Imagine a “Daily Show” with brilliant sketches about rape culture, cameos by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Patricia Arquette and maybe even full-episode parodies of classic movies. But alas, it will never happen.
For more, head to The Daily Beast.