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Comic Roy Wood Jr. says he will not return to his position as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show when the show resumes new episodes later this month, ending a job he first started eight years ago.
The reason: Since he hasn’t been offered the job as permanent host of the show, Wood wants some time to figure out his next act.
Wood says he doesn’t know if his name is under consideration for the top job and he has already informed Comedy Central of his intention not to return. (“What could they really say?” he adds when asked how the cable channel responded. [They’re] not going to give me the job just to keep me.") But if Comedy Central offered him the permanent host job now, the comic says he would still consider it.
The show began presenting a succession of guest hosts starting in January after South African comic Trevor Noah left the job
According to figures provided by Comedy Central in April, Wood had the second-best ratings of the show’s first 11 guest hosts, second only to Al Franken and beating Minhaj.
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Fans have debated online whether Wood should get the permanent job, particularly following reports earlier this year that former correspondent Hasan Minhaj was a leading candidate to land the position.
The show began presenting a succession of guest hosts starting in January after South African comic Trevor Noah left the job.
Wood seemed to make a strong case for taking over the top job earlier this year, after a successful week guest hosting The Daily Show in early April and an attention-getting set at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the end of that month.
According to figures provided by Comedy Central in April, Wood had the second-best ratings of the show’s first 11 guest hosts, second only to Al Franken and beating Minhaj.
Still, Variety broke news in August that Minhaj, who guest hosted the show the week of Feb. 27, was a leading candidate for the job, according to several unnamed sources.
He stresses that he doesn’t hold a grudge against Comedy Central, which he credits for working with him on several non-Daily Show projects, including the standup specials, two podcasts, a filmed pilot for a TV series that never aired and three scripts they bought but never produced.
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