In fact — in an opening that veered dangerously close, for a comedy show, to reverence — Mr. Noah framed his job as extending Mr. Stewart’s work. Referring to the previous host’s farewell desk bit, Mr. Noah said he hoped to “continue” the show’s battle against phoniness.
The major change was Mr. Noah himself, and much of his material riffed on the transfer of power. A bit with the correspondent Jordan Klepper speculating on Mr. Boehner’s replacement became a meta-commentary on Mr. Stewart’s replacement, including the buzzwords that have been floated to describe how Mr. Noah’s show might be different: “I just keep hearing ‘global’!” Mr. Klepper said.
Mr. Noah read his material with good timing, shifting from sly to authoritative to snarky. What’s less clear yet is if he can be off-the-cuff funny. His first interview, with the comic and actor Kevin Hart, was mostly Mr. Hart energetically holding forth and Mr. Noah laughing
But as host, Mr. Noah has a hand in writing and approving jokes, and setting the tone. A back-and-forth with the new correspondent Roy Wood Jr. about the chances of black people colonizing Mars (“A brother can’t catch a cab,” Mr. Wood said, “you think we can catch a spaceship?”) highlighted Mr. Noah’s willingness to handle race, an acknowledged past blind spot of the show. And a “Daily Show” hosted from a place of chipper confidence could become very different from Mr. Stewart’s world-weary shiva for humanity’s lost marbles.