Jon Stewart will host a stand-up special for HBO, his first at the cable network since 1996.
The Stewart special was announced by HBO during its presentation at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, but no date has been set, Deadline reported. Stewart has already signed on to host "Night of Too Many Stars" benefit for Next for Autism at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 18.
"We're excited to bring Jon to the network with this pair of specials," Casey Bloys, president of HBO Programming, said at the TCA tour, per Deadline.com. "We've all missed his uniquely thoughtful brand of humor."
In a statement, Stewart humorously referenced his 20-year absence from performing stand-up on HBO, Vanity Fair noted.
"I'm really thrilled to be able to return to stand-up on HBO," Stewart said in the statement. "They've always set the standard for great stand-up specials. Plus, I can finally use up the last of the Saddam Hussein jokes left over from my first special."
Bloys told TCA that HBO has been waiting for the right time to get back into stand-up comedy in a big way, The Hollywood Reporter said.
"We've done standup for a long time," Bloys said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "It was a relatively low cost way to be in the cultural conversation. But as a category, standup specials account for less than one percent of usage on (HBO) Go and Now ... so it's hard for me to pay exorbitant prices. When prices come down, or when it makes sense again, it's relatively easy to get back in. We'll wait it out."
"The Night of Too Many Stars" gig moves from Comedy Central to HBO and will be broadcast live, and will include "performances, sketches, and short films," Vanity Fair reported.
The Hollywood Reporter said Stewart's stand-up announcement comes several months after HBO and the comedian scrapped a short form animation venture from the 16-year Comedy Central vet and cloud-graphics company OTOY.
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