Stewart’s often-arch, despairing tone was perfect for the Bush era, when his time at The Daily Show sniping at the administration from the sidelines and mocking the ineffectual left turned him into a generation’s political conscience. But in the even more polarized times of 2016, where viral clips are the norm and viewers are more and more likely to tune in online rather than at 11 p.m., audiences are demanding passion from their late-night hosts. Full Frontal’s Samantha Bee, Late Night’s Seth Meyers, and Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver have jumped to the fore with a reliance on long-form segments that verge on the polemical, intensely “eviscerating” a certain issue or politician to cheers from an audience.