Trevor Noah underwent an emergency appendectomy early Wednesday, Comedy Central announced.
“We’re happy to report the procedure went well and he is currently recuperating from the surgery,” the network said in a statement. “As a result, ‘The Daily Show’ will air an encore tonight. We expect him back with an original episode tomorrow.”
Noah took over “The Daily Show” from Jon Stewart in Sept. after Stewart hosted the faux news series for 16 years. While Noah has been no Stewart as far as ratings are concerned, there are bright spots even per those possibly antiquated measurements.
Noah’s first four weeks delivered double-digit growth (up 20 percent) among adults 18-24 versus the final quarter of Stewart’s run. Filtering that further to just men of that age range, “The Daily Show” is up 32 percent. Those numbers are particularly impressive considering the diminishing TV viewing habits of the youngest adult demo.
The South African comic has also shifted linear viewership younger: two years on a median basis, to be exact. And the new users are diverse, much like their mixed-race, foreign host. More than a quarter of Noah’s adults 18-34 audience is African-American or Hispanic.
Feel better @Trevornoah #DailyShow pic.twitter.com/DufLzEn3SD
— Comedy Central Press (@ComedyCentralPR) November 4, 2015