John Mulaney Turned Down Replacing Jon Stewart On ‘The Daily Show’ Because The Timing Was Off

John Mulaney appears to be in a good place these days. He’s sober, he’s a father, he’s got a new, acclaimed stand-up special. But his life could have been even more different than it is now. During an appearance on Doug Herzog and Jen Chaney’s podcast Basic! (as caught by The Hollywood Reporter), Mulaney revealed that back in the mid-teens he was asked to replace Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. But the timing was way off.

“It was shortly after the SNL 40th anniversary,” Mulaney said. “I had a sitcom on Fox. They’d aired all 13 [episodes], but it was canceled. It didn’t do good numbers, but at least critics reviled it. So, it was a fun time.”

So when then-Comedy Central president Kent Alterman came to him with one of the biggest gigs in the comedy world, he wasn’t ready to commit.

“I was extremely flattered that y’all were asking me about it,” Mulaney remembered. “I sensed they would be big shoes to fill. I think I also was gun-shy from putting myself out there at that moment after the Fox run. And I sensed all eyes would be on whoever came after Mr. Stewart.”

He went on:

“It wasn’t the right thing at that moment, but I remember saying to Kent, ‘I wish it was five years from now.’ And he went, ‘Yeah, but it’s not.’ I mean, I just remember Kent had a great tone of, ‘I hear you. I’m here to hear out anything you have to say, but it’s now, and we’re asking you about it, and we can’t talk hypothetically for that long at this dinner, John.’”

Instead, of course, the job went to Trevor Noah, who lasted a good seven years and left his own stamp on the place. The job is vacant once more, with guest hosts filling in.

Hosting The Daily Show isn’t the only gig Mulaney turned down. He also recently revealed he did the same thing at his old job at SNL, who wanted him to host Weekend Update.