One could be forgiven for missing it, but The Daily Show‘s original host made a surprise appearance on last night’s show—or at least his voice did.
Craig Kilborn, who helmed Comedy Central’s signature series for two years starting in 1996, narrated a nearly seven-minute “DailyShowography” lightheartedly skewering bombastic sports commentator Stephen A. Smith (who himself was a guest on the show earlier this week).
For longtime Daily Show viewers, there was no mistaking Kilborn’s voice as the former ESPN host poked fun at the current ESPN host, at one point referring calling Smith, “the best ESPN had ever seen,” before adding “I mean, not as good as in the golden age, but since then…”
As archival footage of Kilborn himself on ESPN then played, Kilborn digressed in trademark fashion, “Ah, there he is—the natural. He was poetic. It was Shakespearean… and he never yelled.”
It’s only the second time Kilborn has returned to The Daily Show in any form since departing to host The Late Late Show on CBS in 1998. His other appearance came in 2015, when he pretaped a message for his successor Jon Stewart for the last episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Commenters on YouTube cheered Kilborn’s unexpected return. “All hail Craigers, the TDS OG,” wrote one fan, while another said “I’m transporting to my childhood hearing Craig, just beaming here.”
Kilborn’s tenure at The Daily Show was a formative, if sometimes controversial, period in the show’s history. Kilborn brought a sports-highlight slickness and deadpan arrogance to the satirical news desk, helping define the show’s early tone as more smirking than sharp.
Under Kilborn, the show leaned heavily on pop culture and absurdity rather than political commentary, with segments like “Five Questions” and “Your Moment of Zen” launching the program into the cultural conversation, helping Comedy Central find its late-night identity.
But his time at the helm wasn’t without turbulence. Kilborn clashed with producers and gained a reputation for arrogance off-screen as well. The most infamous incident came in 1997 when he made crude, sexist remarks about the show’s co-creator Lizz Winstead in an interview with Esquire, leading to a suspension and public backlash.
While he returned to finish out his contract, his eventual exit paved the way for Jon Stewart, who would shift the tone dramatically toward political satire and reshape The Daily Show into the show it is today.
Watch the Kilborn-narrated Stephen A. Smith “DailyShowography” at the top of this post.
