Jon Stewart made quite the pivot last night—from a fiery, record-breaking 28-minute monologue on global unrest and domestic dysfunction to a breezy sit-down with John Mulaney. Now we know how he helped his studio audience make the emotional leap: with a mood-lifting surprise featuring one of The Daily Show’s own crew members.
In a web exclusive video posted Tuesday afternoon, Stewart is seen during the commercial break introducing the crowd to George Gountas, the show’s longtime lighting designer—and, as of this past weekend, a certified Pedro Pascal doppelgänger.
“That Pedro Pascal,” Stewart said, showing the crowd video of Sunday’s’s Pedro Pascal lookalike contest in New York City, “is our lighting designer.”
The audience erupted as Gountas joined Stewart at the desk to describe how it was that he came to win a year’s worth of free burritos and—unexpectedly—a whirlwind of press attention.
According to Gountas, the adventure began when Daily Show stage manager Tyler Goldman sent a group text encouraging him to compete. “He was like, ‘Yo, you should go win a year of free burritos,’” Gountas said. “And I was like, okay.” After initially forgetting, Gountas’s wife and a stylist neighbor rallied to pull together the perfect Pedro look, complete with sunglasses and streetwear flair.
“I showed up on Father’s Day,” he recalled. “You were supposed to, like, pre-sign up. I did not sign up. I rolled up and I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m here.’ And they’re like, ‘You’re gonna win.’”
He did win—and soon “Pedro number five,” as he was known at the contest, found himself at the center of a media frenzy. “This happened like literally 24 hours ago,” Gountas told Stewart. “I’ve been doing all kinds of press. I’m gonna be on, like, the CBS News tomorrow morning… there’s a photo shoot with the New York Post coming up. It’s a thing.”
None of that phased Gountas, he told Stewart—instead, it was facing his coworkers that he feared most. “Everyone here are my dear friends. Like big brothers,” he said. “And I knew I was gonna get roasted.”
Enter camera one operator Phil Salanto. According to Gountas, “All of a sudden outta nowhere, Philly just walks in the back, doesn’t say hello or anything. He’s like, ‘Oh look. It’s the new Hawk Tuah girl.’”
The segment ended with a direct plea to Pedro Pascal himself. “Pedro,” Gountas said into the camera, “you’re right there. I’m here though… it would be great if you could meet my wife Jenny. She would—it would mean the world to her.”
Stewart didn’t miss a beat: “I don’t see how Pedro number one could turn down Pedro number five.”
Watch the full behind-the-scenes clip at the top of this post.
