This begins part four of a series of editorials on The Evolution of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
over the years. Read the introduction here and find previous years here: 1999, 2000, 2001.

Field

For the second year in a row the number of journalists on the show saw a significant jump. In 2001 they made up 14% of the guests on the show. In 2002 one in five guests on the show had been journalists. The number of politicians in the studio also more than tripled. The journalists and politicians replaced actors who dropped to less than 50% of the show’s guests for the first time since the show began.

2002 also saw the first military person on the show with Oliver North making an appearance towards the end of the year.

Frequent Guests

The number of repeat guests on the show increased to eight. One of them was John McCain who over the next seven years or so would make frequent appearances becoming, for a while, the most frequent guest that Jon Stewart interviewed.

        Gender

About 25% of the guests on the show continued to be female.

Age

The average age of a guest on the show increased by two years to 42.7 in 2002.

New Zealand Actress Anna Paquin was the youngest guest in 2002. Elmore Leonard was the oldest.

Wrap-Up

2002 was a year when the trends that defined the show gently continued. The number of guests from the entertainment industry fell while more serious individuals such as journalists and politicians came on the show more often. This caused the average age of the guest to continue to rise as more experienced people were brought into the studio.

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