Jon Stewart ‘Daily Show’ Final Episode Highlights: Best Moments from Finale

Tonight marked the end of comedian Jon Stewart's run as the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show. Over the course of Stewart's 17(ish)-year run, he and his staff succeeded in becoming a go-to news series for millennials and adults alike, unexpectedly morphing from a fake news comedy show to a sort-of-fake-news-but-really-delivering-the-truth kind of comedy show. And just like the rest of the episodes, tonight's finale didn't disappoint. MStars News has some of the highlights below. 

THE RETURN OF THE CORRESPONDENTS
Tonight's episode kicked off with a bang, with all of the correspondents returning to "cover" the Republican debate. Anyone from Steve Carell to Rob Corddry stopped by to pay homage to their former boss. Of course, after they ran out of candidates to talk about it was just a return-of-the-correspondent. Which, of course, was great.

And yes, Stephen Colbert showed up.

THE FACE-TO-FACE WITH TREVOR NOAH
Trevor Noah came out measuring the set of The Daily Show in preparation for his Sept. 28 premiere. It was the first time we saw the two face-to-face other than a promo for the newbie's version of the show.

THAT WEIRD CRAIG KILBORN APPEARANCE
It was odd, but ... nice?

FOOTAGE OF HATE
Some of the people Stewart bashed over the years had some things to say about him. The best may have been Senator John McCain, who called Stewart a jackass.

WYATT CENAC ACTUALLY CAME BACK
Due to his WTF with Marc Maron episode, it was uncertain whether or not the former correspondent would attend the finale episode. But he did! Wyatt Cenac's hesitation to return was due to he and Stewart not exactly getting along too well. That, and the fact that Stewart told him to "F*ck off." But hey, it looks like the two decided to make amends for the finale. And viewers couldn't have been happier.

STEPHEN COLBERT'S HEARTFELT SPEECH TO JON STEWART
Jon Stewart has apparently always been a guy who never wanted a thank you. But given what he's done for his employees – even outside of their careers – Colbert and the staff thought it best to surprise the Daily Show host with a sincere "thank you" for having not only made their careers but for also teaching them.

That small section was rather heartfelt, and Stewart's discomfort was evident, but it ended up being a perfect moment.

JON STEWART'S APPRECIATION OF THE SHOW'S PROCESS
As fun as doing The Daily Show for the past 17-ish years has been, Stewart admitted that it was the process that excited him most. Which is why he delivered a great video introducing the world to each and every member of his staff (we think). And yes, it, too, was touching.

WHEN JON STEWART TAUGHT US A LIFE LESSON
Towards the end of the finale, Stewart taught us the historical trend of, well, bullsh*t, closing out his comments with, "The best defense against bullsh*t is vigilance. If you smell something, say something." Therefore, just because he's done, doesn't mean we should stop digging for BS.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN!
Jon Stewart had Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band close out his last show. Do we need to say antyhing more?

 Don't miss @thedailyshow tonight... #repost via @officialrumbledoll

A photo posted by Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) on Aug 6, 2015 at 7:27pm PDT

Tonight's Daily Show finale had so many "best moments" it's just too hard to list them all. If you had one you enjoyed that we didn't list above, let us know below. For more of our favorite clips from The Daily Show, check out our list of Jon Stewart's best moments.

Stewart is handing off The Daily Show to comedian Trevor Noah. The South African native will kick off his version of the program this coming Sept. 28.