Danke, Mr. Stewart!

Much has been written and said about Jon Stewart's decision to leave his iconic satirical news program "The Daily Show" after he made the announcement in February. His reasons to do so have been dissected, his legacy has been analyzed and possible successors not just for "The Daily Show," but also for his brand of humor have been mulled over. And, of course, there has been a tremendous outpouring of sadness from his fans, coupled with the fear that his exit will create a void that cannot be filled. Not to forget the numerous listicles featuring Stewart's best hits. All of that has its place and is justified.

But with Jon Stewart's final show now really upon us, this is simply the time to thank him for an amazing rollercoaster ride. So here goes.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart, for being hilariously funny! With all the (deserved) praise for the political nature of your show, the many excellent interviews you conducted and the educational quality of the program, your most basic and important trait often gets overlooked: You're a real funny guy with a great sense of timing and delivery, a knack for topics and great facial expressions - even without all the political content. In your best moments, and there were many during your run at "The Daily Show," you were simply thigh-slapping funny.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart, for providing comic relief! For many in the US, but probably for even more people abroad, your show offered a much needed alternative take to the official politics coming out of Washington. This may sound trite, but especially during the gloomy years of the Bush/Cheney presidency "The Daily Show" was like a small ray of sunshine emanating from New York.

You didn't just debunk many of the misguided policies and the often noxious rhetoric of the Bush administration by simply making fun of it the way most comedians do. Instead, by researching issues thoroughly, you literally proved their arguments wrong and offered alternatives, thereby providing an antidote to Washington and elevating political comedy to a new level at the same time. Particularly during the Bush years, for many people in Europe and beyond, your show was one reason not to lose faith in America.

And thank you finally, Mr. Stewart, for providing much needed development assistance for the German comedy scene. As you are probably aware, Germany is not exactly known as the home of humor in the world. That is why "The Daily Show" for German comedians was like a free, hands-on online seminar in how to fuse hard politics with humor in a way that appeals to more than a handful of policy wonks.

And guess what. It worked. Since 2009, Germany has its own teutonic clone of "The Daily Show." It's called "Heute-Show," and - in spite of its title, meaning "The Today Show" - airs only once a week, which in and of itself gives you a small taste of German humor. And while our show can't hold a candle to yours, it is funny - at least to Germans.

So thank you again for all of that and all the best!

Michael Knigge

P.S. Couldn't you have postponed your retirement by one day to cover the first Republican presidential primary featuring nine candidates and Donald Trump?

Have something to add? Leave your comment below.