In an interview with Vulture earlier this week, Larry Wilmore said that executive producer Jon Stewart was “just as upset” about The Nightly Show’s cancellation as he was. That sentiment was palpable when Stewart stopped by to chat with Wilmore during his last episode. Wilmore held a sort of wake for the show in its final outing—by the end his contributors simply sat around, drinking, and telling stories. But Stewart got the proceedings underway with a moving eulogy that spoke to the important work Wilmore did that diverged from TV’s white, male mainstream. “You gave voice to underserved voices in the media arena, and it was a show that was raw and poignant and funny and smart,” Stewart said.
Stewart continued by explaining that even though its run was cut short, the series will have a lasting legacy as the team that worked on it moves on to new ventures. “You started a conversation that was not on television when you began and you worked with a group of people who you invited to that conversation to collaborate with you, to sharpen that conversation,” Stewart said. “And what you don’t realize is, you walk out of this room and that conversation doesn’t end.”
Stewart’s appearance had few jokes, but he couldn’t resist one at the end. “And so, in closing, I want to say to you this, you did it my—,” Stewart began. Wilmore tried to stop Stewart before things got awkward, but Stewart when for a decidedly uncontroversial Yiddish term: “mishpocha.”