This week marks a big milestone for The Daily Show on Comedy Central, as it was 30 years ago — July 22, 1996, to be exact — that Craig Kilborn’s version of the satiric news show first aired. The show has seen several hosts sitting behind the desk in that time, including Trevor Noah, who vacated the position in 2022 after seven years. So why did the comedian leave what seemed to be such a good job? Noah had a pretty thoughtful response.Trevor Noah made a significant impact on The Daily Show over the seven years that he hosted it, winning two Emmy Awards from more than a dozen nominations. During a visit to The Diary of a CEO podcast, he said there wasn’t just one thing that prompted his exit, but he gave a couple of reasons:So here’s the thing. I think part of it comes from where I am from. In South Africa, TV shows end. We’ve never had a TV show that run for 10 seasons or 20 seasons. That’s not a thing. It ends.Fair enough. If Trevor Noah wasn’t used to seeing shows last for a decade or longer, he likely never intended to stay longer than he did. However, what was possibly a bigger factor was the realization he came to in 2020. In Noah’s words:For me I think there were multiple reasons. One was definitely the pandemic. I took for granted that the pandemic was a moment when many people were forced to be at home, but then the silver lining of that terrible period for many people was that they paused for a moment. … We didn’t. I didn’t. No, I was making the show from home. With many people forced to stay home during COVID, and as the former Daily Show host said, many found some benefits to being able to spend more time with their loved ones. Trevor Noah didn’t have that experience — and he realized it wasn’t just because of the lockdown. He continued:One of the big things I learned during the pandemic was I had made my life about work, and I’d made everything else secondary. I would see my friends — if I did not have work. And everyone in my life knew this. They were like, ‘Oh yeah, work.’ ‘Trevor, if you’re not working, can you…?’ They’d almost say that to me. Once the world started to open up again, Trevor Noah looked back at the previous seven or eight years and decided to make a change, saying:I was like, ‘You sort of can do this forever, but what else can you do? Where else can you be? How can you spend your time? What would you like to do and how would you like to do it?’ There were many things when it came to me leaving The Daily Show, but I just felt like, ‘Yeah, it’s time.’ Since he left The Daily Show, Trevor Noah has put out some comedy specials, started a podcast and served as the host of the Grammy Awards. Hopefully he’s also had plenty of time to travel and reconnect with friends and family.As for The Daily Show, new episodes continue to air on the 2026 TV schedule, but it hasn’t seen one permanent host since Noah’s departure. Guest hosts initially filled in before Jon Stewart returned to host Monday nights, with correspondents Michael Kosta, Desi Lydia, Ronny Chieng, Jordan Klepper and Josh Johnson rotating on the other days of the week.With the 30th anniversary upon us, it’s a good time to look back at the hosts — namely Trevor Noah, Craig Kilborn and Jon Stewart — who made the comedic news program what it is and how much work they put into it.Catch new episodes at 11 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central and streaming the next day with a Paramount+ subscription.