Comedy Central has reached an agreement with Jon Stewart to extend the contract of the host of the critically- acclaimed and award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, it was announced today by Michele Ganeless, president, Comedy Central.

Stewart, whose contract was set to expire at the end of 2008, will now remain with the all-comedy network through 2010. In addition to hosting The Daily Show, Stewart also serves as an executive producer and writer and is the principal behind Busboy Productions, Inc. with whom the network has a first look television agreement. The Emmy-nominated The Colbert Report was the first series produced under this umbrella and the recently announced series "Important Things with Demetri Martin" is scheduled to premiere next summer.

"I love doing this show. I feel like I work with and for the best in the business. I look forward to using this extension to having great fun at President Colbert's expense."

"Jon Stewart is an extraordinary talent and Comedy Central is extremely fortunate that he will continue to lead The Daily Show team through 2010," said Ganeless. "Since joining the show in 1999, Jon has transformed The Daily Show into the most consistently funny, thought-provoking and potent political satire of our time and we are thrilled to extend our partnership with Jon and his company, Busboy Productions."

The deal with Comedy Central was negotiated for Stewart by his attorney Thomas Hansen of Hansen, Jacobson, Teller. Stewart is managed by James Dixon of Dixon Talent, Inc.

Among the show's many plaudits since Stewart took over on January 11, 1999 are a grand total of 24 Primetime Emmy nominations for The Daily Show. It has received a record five consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series; five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music or Comedy Program; and Stewart has been nominated for four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Individual Performance in A Variety Or Music Program. The program is also a two-time winner of the prestigious Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a nightly news parody launched in the summer of 1996, takes a reality-based look at news, pop culture, politics and the media. In each show, Stewart and a team of correspondents, featuring Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Aasif Mandvi, John Oliver and Rob Riggle comment on the day's stories employing actual news footage, taped field pieces, in-studio guests and on-the-spot coverage of important news events. The series airs Monday-Thursday at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT and repeats at 1:00 a.m. the same night and at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. the following day.

Dont't forget to also check out: The Daily Show