On Wednesday you might have wondered why Jon Stewart hadn't addressed Glenn Beck's departure from Fox News after it was announced that morning, but Thursday night's "Daily Show" revealed the transcendent farewell Stewart and the "Daily Show" writers were working on.
For the entirety of the episode (minus the Jamie Oliver interview even Stewart said you'd probably fast-forward through) Stewart did his beloved Glenn Beck impression while at the same time commenting on Beck's departure and what it means. Donning his signature glasses, he forewent his usual opening segment and re-enacted Beck's melodramatic sign off to a tee before moving on to three more hilarious segments dissecting all his quirks.
Citing Beck having the third-highest rated show in cable news as proof, Stewart broke out the chalkboard to reveal the real underlying reason Beck is leaving the network. After comparing Nielsen families to the Manson family and making a number of other ridiculous comparisons a la Beck, Stewart broke it down with hilarious clarity: Fox wanted him on to inject ultra conservative opinions into the news cycle and make the rest of their programming seem moderate by comparison. But then things went awry:
"He started to believe his own messianic delusions and became a giant pain in the ass, so they dropped his ass," Stewart said.
And there's a second theory: Beck has to leave because he's been sent here by Jesus. He tells the truth; he knows this is the "most perilous and tumultuous era in the history of mankind" and that the rapture is near. It was Beck's destiny to do the show, and leave it, after all:
"Glenn Beck was sent here by Jesus to take the 5:00 p.m. slot between Neil Cavuto and Shepard Smith for 27 months."
Watch all four parts of Stewart's epic Beck-a-palooza below, including the final segment where Stewart acts out a Beck-style conspiracy theory involving the Mayan 2012 prediction and Obama's birth certificate.
WATCH: Part one
WATCH: Part two
WATCH: Part three
WATCH: Part four