No, you're not the only one to make a NBC Nightly News with Jon Stewart joke following the news of the The Daily Show host's departure. Sorry.
But you were fair to do so, especially on a day that saw Jon Stewart announce he was ending his run on his Comedy Central program later this year and Brian Williams get slapped with a six-month suspension. The pieces stacked themselves.
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The big question, though, jokes aside: What the heck is Jon Stewart leaving The Daily Show for? Sixteen years after taking the reigns from Craig Kilborn, why now?
Stewart himself did little to clear up his motivation on Tuesday night's program when announcing his exit, saying only he doesn’t have “any specific plans [but] I got a lot of ideas."
But there isn't a network that wouldn't want to get into business with Stewart, who took Kilborn's Daily Show and transformed it into a program that in its time managed not only to evolve with a new generation of news consumers but pave the way for a new era of TV news.
His accomplishments in that regard can not be undervalued, and, to be sure, Stewart was not undervalued at Comedy Central. He brought home 18 Emmys for the network and arguably put it on the map. They no doubt would have loved to see him stay through the upcoming presidential election -- Larry Wilmore, who took over Stephen Colbert's timeslot, is by all accounts still growing into his position -- but as it is, Stewart is set leave sometime late this year.
This current timing gives the network little to groom his successor -- and yes, there will be one -- but also leaves Stewart ripe for the picking.
Or, really, it's the other way around -- Stewart has his pick. And, in fact, it would be thrilling to see Stewart find a home -- and wider audience -- on a major network during an event like an election. Work his magic on a large stage.
That's assuming he wants to take part at all, though.
Yes, it's hard to imagine an election cycle without Stewart. But it could happen (in the darkest timeline).
Remember that it was just year and a half ago that Stewart took a break from his program to direct Rosewater, a film that chronicled a journalist's captivity in Iran. Film is certainly an option.
In that lies an important point, though. Ratings for The Daily Show during John Oliver's 8-week tenure managed stay on par with Stewart's in the show's 18-34 key demo.
The Daily Show has marched on without Jon Stewart before and will learn how to do so indefinitely this time, as its fearless host attempts to do the same.