The Apiary has the news: Ben Karlin, Executive Producer of both The Daily Show and co-creator/EP of The Colbert Report alolng with Jon Stewart has allegedly just announced his resignation from The Daily Show. The Apiary also reports that Karlin will likely be replaced by Daily Show head writer David Javerbaum.
If this is true, it's a major shakeup at the Daily Show, and here's why: Javerbaum had just announced that he was leaving, at the end of December. As it turns out, Javerbaum has a pretty successful little side career as a — wait for it — Broadway lyricist. Javerbaum is working on the Broadway-bound musical version of John Waters' Cry-Baby, set to workshop this spring (this totally explains the "Telephone Hour" segment last summer, by the way). No replacement head writer has been officially announced, though ETP has heard some off-the-record rumors that we can't share (sorry).
Separately, new producing blood has been brought in at the Daily Show, suggesting that this move has been in the works for a while: Longtime producer Kahane Corn, who has been with the show since it's start, was promoted to co-exec producer in early October, with LA transplant Daniel Sterling joining later that month (Sterling was previously a writer and producer at "King of the Hill" and "Kitchen Confidential," as well as previously executive producer on Sarah Silverman's eponymous show).
No rumors — except Javerbaum's previously planned departure — have been confirmed, but several sources indicate that the intel is reliable. If so, it should be interesting to see where this goes; Karlin and Stewart run Busboy Productions, which produces The Colbert Report and which has several projects in development. Meanwhile, Stewart's contract is up in 2008 (in time for a Presidential run, hmmm?). That's all we know right now; details as they develop.
Update: Confirmed.
