The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
The final episode of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" airs Thursday. Reuters

The final episode of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" airs Thursday with some healthy competition from the first Republican Party presidential debate. While no guests have been announced for the last episode, let's take a look back at Stewart's past hits.

Louis C.K. was Stewart's final announced guest Wednesday. The comedian and Stewart have long been friends and the two shared stories about working their way up the comedy scene. Both worked the craft and toiled on small stages and in front of indifferent audiences before becoming comedy superstars. "On behalf of comedy ... nice job," C.K. remarked to Stewart.

Stewart's penultimate show was filled with nostalgia, but "The Daily Show" host was never too serious and usually the butt of jokes. In the "Destroyer of Worlds" segment, Stewart quips, "The world is demonstrably worse than when I started. Have I caused this?"

With so many memorable guests, including President Barack Obama and Malala Yousafzai, "The Daily Show" has always had solid viewership and this week has been no exception. Amy Schumer's appearance on Monday had 1.71 million viewers while Denis Leary's visit had 1.58 million viewers, according to Variety.

Obama is a big needle mover and the president's "Daily Show" appearances have led to big spikes in viewership. His July appearance had 1.51 million viewers and his October 2008 appearance is the most viewed episode ever with 3.6 million viewers. On Oct. 29, 2008, just days before the general election, Obama visited "The Daily Show," and on Nov. 4, 2008, he was elected president .