I think it’s difficult for anybody to be as smartly analytical and politically astute as Stewart, (and manage to pull it off with a wry humor) so don’t even try.
Oliver brings his own brand of wackiness to the party (reminds me a little of Craig Fergson) so I think he was a good choice. He delights in being the self-effacing clueless bungler while being the smartest guy in the room so when he sticks to that he’s golden. He’s perfected it to a science and it makes him easy to take so I think he will get better as the summer goes along.
He has Louis Black on the other night and I remember thinking how glad I was that Stewart didn’t pick him as his replacement. Black is fine in small doses but I couldn’t take him every day for several months.
Oliver on the other hand is like a comfy teddy bear (but one with a wicked sense of humor) so ill be tuning in all summer but glad to see Stewart back in the fall. And with probably not much going on with congress during summer months, Stewart will be right back in his element when things pick up in the fall.
(I wonder if they may be thinking of spinning Oliver off into a show of his own, like Colbert, and this is sort of a trial period to see if that might work. . I’m guessing the numbers will be the deciding factor. It worked out fine for Ferguson :)