About (Late) Last Night: Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’ look back fondly at 2010

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With much of traditional late-night television in reruns and the most desirable guests enjoying holidays of their own, Jon Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’ opted to use the final week of 2010 as an opportunity to look back on the year that was, month by month. On Monday night’s show, Stewart remembered the year’s action-packed second half. October, in particular, stood out.

‘Oh my God, Rick Sanchez knows my name,’ Stewart squealed before a clip montage revealed the CNN host being fired after calling Stewart a ‘bigot.’ A ‘Daily Show’ excerpt from October showed Stewart calling Sanchez ‘flawed, but fascinating to watch every week.’ And never more fascinating than during his autumn downfall, when Sanchez made his controversial comments not only about Stewart, but about how Jewish people run the media. Curiously, Stewart omitted any mention of Jews from the Sanchez portion of the October recap, just as he went easy on the former anchor at the time. Schadenfreude was kept to a minimum.

But what a month! Bruce Willis, Christine O’Donnell’s ‘I am not a witch’ ad and the Rally to Restore Sanity all made ‘Daily Show’ appearances. Additionally, Condoleezza Rice explained the benefits of reduced responsibility, while Stephen Colbert popped in to wreak a little havoc. And that’s not even the best of it.

President Obama stopped by, marking a high point not just for the show’s month, but probably its year. ‘We have done things that some folks don’t even know about,’ the president insisted. ‘Are you planning a surprise party for us?’ Stewart asked. He wasn’t, of course, but if the year-end montages are any indication, Stewart and ‘The Daily Show’ are not too shy to throw a party for themselves.

-- Joe Coscarelli

Check out more from the ‘A Look Back’ series after the jump.

For the rest of the year, click here.