Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne, IN, USA - After being surrounded by the dramatic heavyweight stars of the Oscars, Jon Stewart will play host again, this time amid a bevy of comedians.

Stewart will host the second biannual “Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education” on April 13 at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show will air live at 8 p.m. on Comedy Central.

The night will feature stand- up routines, sketches and short films from a gluttony of comic talent, including Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler.

It’s the second such benefit and

Los Angeles Times - CA, USA - IT is difficult to separate writer-director Kimberly Peirce's new film, "Stop-Loss," from a joke host Jon Stewart made in his monologue at the Oscars. Noting the poor box office performances in 2007 of Iraq-war-related films like "Redacted," "Rendition" and "In the Valley of Elah," Stewart issued a tongue-in-cheek, President Bush-like call for a surge of war movies.

"Withdrawing the Iraq movies would only embolden the audience," he deadpanned. "We cannot let the audience win."

He has a point. Hollywood's concerted if doomed attempts to meet the country's state of mind have yet to yield a coherent movie experience. Peirce would say that

Huffington Post - New York, NY, USA - Dana Perino gets points for bravery, both for going on The Daily Show and for doing so in hot pink — but otherwise last night's interview with the current White House Press Secretary was sort of...uncomfortable. She handled it like a pro, of course — Jon Stewart called her "unflappable" — but otherwise it did little to contradict her image as a smooth spinmeister who remains on message no matter what other human response may be required. (For example, Stewart picked up on last week's headline wherein she said that no one in the briefing room asked her about Iraq

Paste Magazine - Decatur, GA, USA - Unlike many cable TV stations that claim to focus on a topic via their name (MTV, we're looking at you), Comedy Central actually does, more than occasionally, have comedy on it. Not only that, but the station once known primarily for Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Dr. Katz has, in years since, become home to a multitude of witty, culturally relevant programming. Really, where would the world be without Jon Stewart, purveyor of nightly news to an entire generation? Brian Williams, we hardly know ye.

This week, Comedy Central announced its new shows for the 2008-2009 season, which star everyone from

Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park, NJ, USA - After being surrounded by the dramatic heavyweight stars of the Oscars, Jon Stewart will play host again, this time amid a bevy of comedians.

Stewart will host the second biannual "Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Benefit for Autism Education" on April 13 at the Beacon Theater in New York. The show will air live on Comedy Central at 8 p.m.

The night will feature stand-up routines, sketches and short films from a gluttony of comic talent, including Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman and Amy Poehler.

It's the second such benefit and was

University of Hartford Informer (subscription) - West Hartford, CT, USA - Glamour, glitter, tears and gold all define the monumental night that is the 80th Annual Academy Awards. Another big year for an award show. But the Oscars lucked out and the writer's strike ended two weeks ago so it was a not a night full of montages of past shows.

The night was full of witty introductions, and Jon Stewart was the perfect host. He brought laughs and spur of the moment jokes that kept the audience interested when some of the acceptance speeches put them to sleep. No actor or actress was safe from his biting humor.

He went after John

Town Hall - Washington, DC, USA - Did you catch the great showdown this past week? No, not Super Tuesday but the late-night television comedian battle over who discovered and "made" GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

While Republicans and Democrats were slugging it out at the polls, three kingpins of comedy were in chortle combat for the right to be called the creator of the GOP contender and his surge in this election race. Even they are somewhat surprised this 10-year Arkansas governor outlasted candidates such as Giuliani, Thompson and Romney to be among the finalists for the GOP nomination.

The sardonic segments about Huckabee on each of their

TV Squad - Santa Monica, CA, USA - Awwww, isn't it nice when one late night host gives a compliment to another?

Late, Late Show host Craig Ferguson says that he would like to see Jon Stewart take over for David Letterman if and when Letterman retires. Letterman's current contract with CBS is up in 2010, which just happens to be the same time that Stewart's contract is up with The Daily Show and Comedy Central.

But that's not the most interesting part of this interview with Ferguson over at Broadcasting and Cable. Ferguson hints strongly that if Letterman stays, he'll stay, but if Letterman does indeed retire, he'll probably

TheCelebrityCafe.com - Valley Stream, NY, USA - Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson is backing Jon Stewart to take over for David Letterman, if Letterman leaves CBS when his contract is up in 2010.

“I think Jon should replace Dave if Dave decides to go,” Ferguson told Broadcasting & Cable last week.

“I think Dave should stay, I think he ain’t done. But if Dave is finished, I think Jon has earned the job.”

It seems funny to many, including certain writers at TheCelebrityCafe.com, that Ferguson supports Stewart, and not himself, for Letterman’s current job.

Ferguson’s support is evermore interesting because Stewart is only signed with Comedy Central through 2010, making

Beacon Newspaper (subscription) - Miami, FL, USA - Without the safety net of their writing staffs to help them craft their jokes and construct their premises, many late night talk show hosts have been forced to wing it as the writer's strike has entered its fourth month.

From "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" to "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert, the late night hosts have been forced to rely more on their wits and charm than jokes, and the results have ranged from the brilliant (The Colbert-Conan-Jon Stewart 'fued') to the awful (everything Jay Leno has done, which, is actually, not a big change from normal pre-writers' strike Leno.)

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