Comedy Central, 12:09 p.m. ET
Part of today’s Jon Stewart farewell celebration is Comedy Central’s scheduling today of some of the vintage Daily Show programs it’s been streaming live all month on its website. You can catch up on this week’s programs to date beginning at 10:28 a.m. ET, and watch or revisit Stewart’s last-lap visits with Amy Schumer, Denis Leary and Louis C.K., respectively. But the true retrospective begins shortly after noon ET, when Comedy Central repeats the very first Stewart-hosted Daily Show, taking over for Craig Kilborn in 1999. (Michael J. Fox, pictured with Stewart, is the guest, and Stephen Colbert one of the correspondents.) Eight hours of additional highlights from Stewart’s tenure follow. Ones especially worthy of viewing, and recording: His first interview in 2013, with young activist Malala Yousafzai (1:51 p.m. ET); his first post-9/11 show in 2001 (2:58 p.m. ET); a 2011 visit by Bill Moyers (5:08 p.m. ET); friendly duels with Bill O’Reilly (in 2014) and Mike Huckabee (from 2010), back-to-back starting at 5:38 p.m. ET; and, perhaps the best of them all, Stewart’s 2009 duel with Jim Cramer (7:52 p.m. ET). And later tonight, of course, is the big finale…
Fox News Channel, 8:50 p.m. ET
For this first prime-time televised debate featuring the Republican politicians hoping to land the 2016 Presidential nomination, Fox News is hosting the event live from Cleveland, and allowing only “the top 10” contenders, in its own estimation based on five other polls, to participate. This means that Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, among others, are out. But it also means that Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Scott Walker and front-runner Donald Trump are in. Ten candidates in two hours leaves little time for discussion, and no time for depth – but does leave just enough time for one-liners and infighting, with Trump, Christie, Cruz and Huckabee, among others, coming in determined to be the most quoteworthy coming out.
CNN, 9:00 p.m. ET
When the Republican debate is over at 11 p.m. ET, CNN will offer its own post-debate analysis. But since Fox News is hosting the debate itself, CNN is counter-programming – starting at 9 ET with a prime-time repeat of the first episode of this new documentary series. The opening hour is all about TV in the 1970s, and I’m one of the on-camera interviewees, in case you’re curious. But let’s be honest: I’ll be watching the debates, and so should you. (You could, however, record this hour of The Seventies for later viewing. Or just wait for CNN to repeat it another dozen times, which, eventually, it will.)
FX, 10:00 p.m. ET
Johnny Rock (Denis Leary) is offered a hefty paycheck if he and his band will reunite for one concert, with Johnny stepping in again as lead singer. The band’s against it, until they learn the amount of the fee, and then they’re all in – even though, to go play, they have to travel to a place where American dollars are not the local form of currency.
Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET
SERIES FINALE: It ends tonight, the reign of Jon Stewart after 16 years as host of The Daily Show. This final program runs almost an hour, so set your recorders and schedules accordingly. And do savor this last installment, because Jon Stewart will be missed – especially as a comic commentator on politics in general and television news in particular.