Do they give Emmys for Best Press Release? The one announcing that Trevor Noah’s term at “The Daily Show” has been extended to 2022 is worth a prize.

Trevor Noah of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show."
Trevor Noah of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Image via YouTube.com
“It’s really exciting to renew this contract for either five more years or until Kim Jong Un annihilates us all – whichever one comes first,” Noah says in the memo from Comedy Central.

Deadline.com notes the new contract has host/writer/executive producer Noah also producing and hosting annual year-end specials, beginning this year.

“‘The Daily Show’ will no longer take for granted that humankind has made it to another December 31st and from here on out will celebrate in annual year-end specials,” the network said Thursday.

“Trevor makes us look smart on a daily basis, and for that we’re grateful,” said Comedy Central president Kent Alterman.

He describes Noah as “super smart, very thoughtful…really funny and also he’s unflappable. He’s one of the most self-possessed people I have ever come across.”

The South African comic was familiar with the United States from his touring career, “but now he’s living here. In the beginning it may have felt like an outsider poking fun at America.” It has changed the way he relates, and the way the audience relates to him.”

Variety added: “By extending Noah’s contract, Comedy Central is signaling its confidence in the host, who spent some time under intense critical scrutiny after inheriting the ‘Daily Show’ seat from his predecessor, Jon Stewart, in September of 2015.

“The program, as it has been since it launched with Craig Kilborn as host in 1998, serves as the linchpin to the network’s late-night schedule, and has become, along with ‘South Park,’ a signature series.”

Said Alterman: “We realized if the goal was to replace Jon Stewart with just a younger version of Jon Stewart, that would have been a fool’s errand. I really looked at an opportunity to try to think about bringing someone who would turn it into their own thing.”

Comedy Central said ‘Daily Show’ ratings are up 17 percent so far in the current quarter among viewers between 18 and 49 compared with the year-earlier period, and up 28 percent among total viewers.

Noah’s salary wasn’t disclosed, but celebritynetworth.com says he’s paid $4 million a year.

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