Who Should Take Over When Jon Stewart Leaves 'The Daily Show' This Year?

Almost two decades ago, "The Daily Show" lost its host, Craig Kilborn, and needed a replacement who could carry on the show's satire-fueled mission to mock other cable news shows. They found exactly the right person in Jon Stewart.

Now, Stewart is leaving the show. He announced today during a taping of "The Daily Show" that he'll be stepping down later this year at a to-be-determined date.

That will leave some pretty big shoes, not to mention a desk, to fill. So, who should take over for Jon Stewart?

At a different time, the easy answer would have been John Oliver: the British comedian guest hosted the show last year when Stewart took a break and did so well that he landed a new show with HBO soon after: "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."

However, Oliver's HBO show has been picked up for a second season, premiering soon, which nixes Oliver as a candidate.

So, here are some of the other potential hosts we could see taking over for Stewart when "The Daily Show" reboots after his departure:

Jason Jones

Jones is the only current or former "Daily Show" correspondent besides John Oliver to have sat at the anchor's desk, after he filled in for Jon Stewart when the host had to call in sick for the day. Jones has also been a correspondent since 2005, making him one of the longest-running cast members on the show.

Samantha Bee

With all the talk about late-night hosts being largely white men, and with practically none of that having changed with the replacements of Stephen Colbert and James Corden for David Letterman and Craig Ferguson, it's likely that "The Daily Show" will make a big push to hire a woman as the new host.

Samantha Bee is the longest-running correspondent for the show, having joined all the way back in 2003, so she's definitely qualified. Bee will have to work around the fact that she, like many of the other correspondents, has created a character for her segments. Stewart always acted as the straight man to the wacky cast of correspondents, and that balance would be thrown off if Bee, Jones, or any of the other current cast members take over.

Ed Helms

Of the early correspondents for the show, a few have launched major careers: Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and Ed Helms are perhaps the three biggest names.

Helms' star status isn't quite as big as Carell's, so he could still potentially be interested in this particular gig. But Helms' schedule will be a big question as he's starring in the upcoming series "The One Percent."

Mo Rocca

Like Helms, Mo Rocca has been away from the show long enough that he shouldn't have to carry his previous character into a role as host. Rocca has gone on to make plenty of other appearances on television shows including "Iron Chef America" and various VH1 talking head shows, so he most likely has the chops.

Amy Poehler

This is a long shot, but hey, "Parks and Recreation" is ending this year so Poehler's schedule could open up. She's a big name and is beloved by pretty much everyone, so there shouldn't be a problem retaining audience or even bringing in new viewers. Plus, as she has proven by her advice videos she's incredibly smart. We can dream, can't we?