JON STEWART'S NEW HBO SHOW WILL NOT BE WHAT YOU EXPECTED

After a long year without the wise media/political analysis of Jon Stewart, the former Daily Show host made a brief return to late night television last week. He sat behind Stephen Colbert's desk on The Late Show and outlined how journalists have failed in their coverage of Donald Trump. It's exactly what we've been missing since he left his job a year ago. With him scheduled to launch his next project with HBO in time for the presidential election in November, new details have emerged about what this mysterious upcoming show will be.

HBO programming president Casey Bloys outlined Stewart's new multiplatform project to the Television Critics Association this weekend. And, the show does not sound like anything we expected. As Variety reports:

"The idea is it will be an animated parody of a cable news network with an Onion-like portal," Bloys said. The project will be structured to allow Stewart to release multiple pieces of short-form content—video and text—through HBO's digital platforms, but will also include a linear-television element, likely in the form of a half-hour series."He is establishing an animation studio," Bloys said of Stewart. He added that he is hoping that Stewart could begin releasing content as soon as September or October, though possibly not until later in the fall.

It sounds like a huge undertaking, not unlike what HBO did when it acquired Bill Simmons. The former Grantland and ESPN columnist and host, established his own new show on HBO, while simultaneously launching his HBO-backed website, The Ringer.

Stewart's project, from what Bloys describes, is taking the same approach but with a bigger scope. According to Bloys, an entire animation studio will give Stewart the opportunity to respond to news events in real time. Additionally Stewart is working with a 3D graphics firm that HBO recently acquired.