Jon Stewart casts long shadow over late-night TV's political coverage

Jon Stewart emerged from self-imposed exile during the Republican National Convention to obliterate both Donald Trump and Fox News, then scurried back down his rabbit hole, presumably to further develop his top-secret streaming project for HBO and his beard.

The comedian may not have treated fans with a repeat performance during the Democratic gathering this week, but his presence continues to loom large over the late-night landscape. Nearly one year after leaving the airwaves, he remains as the most influential after-hours figure.

Stephen Colbert, Larry Wilmore, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee and John Oliver all worked under his tutelage and each has adopted his rally cry: If you smell something, say something — even if it means coming across as an attack dog let loose in Gopherland.

Bee, who filed reports from both Cleveland and Philadelphia for her Monday programs on TBS, crouches over and leans in during her take-no-prisoners monologue, as if she's lining up as an offensive guard for the NFL. Oliver gets so worked up doing a Howard Beale impression on HBO that each Sunday-night episode should be followed by a cool-down session hosted by Chris Hardwick.

Like its mentor, this new wave isn't shy about waving true blue colors.

Colbert unabashedly called Joe Biden his good buddy and generally gave the vice president a pass after a Wednesday night speech reeking of ripe malarkey. Bill Maher, who filed six live editions of "Real Time" during the conventions, used much of his bonus time to compare Trump and Adolf Hitler. Noah, Stewart's replacement on "The Daily Show," is so adamant about calling out Trump supporters as idiots he sometimes forgets to insert a joke.

Late-nighters didn't always have an agenda, liberal or otherwise. Johnny Carson practically banned it. His monologues revealed little about his personal leanings; producers were more likely to book a ventriloquist over a politician.

Stewart initially adhered the Carson rules. During his first season on Comedy Central, he didn't interact with news makers, with the possible exception of Yasmine Bleeth.

The 2000 conventions changed all that. Coverage that year lit a fire under its host who would soon make lambasting Fox News coverage a full-time hobby. Squaring off against Stewart became such a rite of passage for both Democrats and Republicans that he was seriously considered as the host of "Meet the Press."

This year's convention season hasn't revealed a true successor. Colbert got plenty of ink by having his former boss temporarily take over the anchor desk and needling corporate lawyers who balked at his resurrection of his clueless character form "The Colbert Report." But Colbert, like Jimmy Fallon and Kimmel, would rather be perceived as America's favorite naughty boy than the old man telling the world to get off his lawn, a persona that Stewart more than resembled when he really got steamed.

It was giddy fun watching Colbert try to outmaneuver security in his quest to commandeer an otherwise empty stage in Philadelphia, but the bit seemed more inspired by Letterman's attempt to deliver a fruit basket to his new GE bosses than anything else.

There's a good chance that the leading contenders for the Stewart Rant-A-Like Contest might not even be on your radar.

Wilmore's age, 54, was considered a detriment when he got the assignment to replace the network-bound Colbert in January 2015, but it's turned out to be his secret weapon. A few miles on the treadmill and a solid backup career as a show runner (he could be in charge of "Black-ish" right now if he wanted to) means Wilmore isn't treating the job like a make-or-break situation. He seems less interested in how the public will react than the others, which may explain why he continues to press the Bill Cosby issue long after much of the mainstream has moved on and why he pulled out the N-word at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

His "Nightly Show" this past Tuesday, which started off with a hilarious "over-celebration" of Michelle Obama's speech and imagining how an ambitious Cory Booker might have secretly fumed at how she stole his thunder, are the best evidence so far that he's late-night's most underrated star.

Let's just pray he doesn't suddenly get more interested in other endeavors — like growing a beard.