Variety: Jon Stewart, "A One-Man Brand"

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A one-man brand
Stewart's central to Comedy's plans

By DENISE MARTIN



Comedy Central may have locked up "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" exclusively through 2008, but other networks will soon be able to aggressively pursue Stewart's talents via his Busboy Prods. banner.

Laffer net has enabled the comic anchor to revive his Busboy shingle -- dormant for several years -- agreeing to finance company in exchange for first-look rights to all of its TV projects. Stewart, currently enjoying the success of his book, "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," and "Daily Show" exec producer Ben Karlin will head up the company, with Richard Korson onboard to run development and Chris McShane managing talent.

Busboy, now with the aid of Comedy Central, will make his first foray into series development -- a deal that gives other channels the opportunity to cash in on the Stewart brand, albeit on projects that Comedy Central passes up.

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Stewart, who is usually mentioned as a potential heir to David Letterman's CBS slot, is coming off an outstanding 2004, a year in which the presidential elections catapulted him and his satirical news show back into the spotlight. "Daily Show" reached record ratings -- the post-presidential debate episode on Sept. 30 achieved a series high of 2.4 million viewers -- and "America" is on its way to surpassing 1.5 million copies sold for Warner Books.

In its previous incarnation, Busboy produced 1994's MTV series-turned-syndicated hour "The Jon Stewart Show" and inked a multiyear overall deal with Miramax Films shortly thereafter. That pactpact committed Stewart to star in at least two projects per year and offered him the chance to write and produce as well. None of the feature projects the company was attached to produce, however, got off the ground.

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more at www.variety.com (subscription site)

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