“The Daily Show” returns with an all new set in the middle of Times Square

After a rare three month hiatus, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah returned to the air last night. The show promised a different feel to it than in the past and while without an audience – and no indication on when or if the audience will return as they’re toying with the format – the show did deliver the new studio and look as promised.

The new vibe of the show is made to feel not too different from how we’ve seen Noah over the past year+ doing the show from his house – less formal than the news show format, monologuing, pre-recorded segments, and more apt to late night hangs. The late night scene has changed a lot in the last year and it COVID has obviously allowed late night TV producers to play with the format. As of right now, Noah is not yet back to wearing a suit and tie again and has kept his hair at quarantine length. The studio itself is not unlike what we saw other hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert doing for the majority of last year. But the studio itself is in fact new, and is in the heart of Times Square.

His first show back highlighted topics such as Joe Biden’s vaccine rollout and included an interview with Dr. Fauci. And while it’s still not The Daily Show that we remember it being, unlike some of the other late night shows, the lack of an audience somehow still manages to work here. Though we do hope to see the show in full swing once again someday, for the time being, this definitely works.