Stephen Colbert gets my vote because stand alone he is the funniest to me. Stewart needs assistance from his correspondents for laughs imo. I enjoy The Daily Show but it's hit or miss sometimes The Colbert Report always delivers.

So if I had to rank, it would be
Colbert
Stewart's correspondents
Maher
Stewart himself

Jon Stewart. He is both funny and intelligent, and if you watch any of his debates with other people then you'll see my point. Colbert is funny as well (and smart if you look at the points he's making), but his routine gets a bit old sometimes. As for Bill Maher... I just don't like him. He's rude and disrespectful to others and has a sense of egotism about him.

I agree with you, he has some good debates with the people that he interviews from time to time. He is quite intelligent but I prefer Colbert's character and he's just always on point to me, hits all the time.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert don't actually have much to say. They sit behind their desk and regurgitate what their writing staff gives them. Maher, on the other hand, seems a lot more genuine. He actually does standup, and he makes movies about his views. (Religulous = Win) Stewart did have the fantastic Rally to Restore Sanity, however. That all being said, my ranking would go like this:

Maher
Stewart
Colbert

Maher
Colbert
Stewart

I've never been a fan of Stewart. His show doesn't do it for me. I just don't really think he's all that funny. Colbert has balls and is probably the best character actor ever. His speech at the white house correspondents thing a few years back was just awesome. He's a funny dude but he's a little too much for me sometimes.

I'm not a huge Maher fan or anytihng, but I used to watch him on HBO and liked his stuff. He definitely has an egotism thing about him and kinda seems douchey, but he's more on the raunchy side of comedy and I think he's a really smart dude. Always enjoyed watching his show.

You're right, they do have writers, but Stewart writes too. If you saw his Rally not too long ago, you'd see how truly funny he is on his own (and yes, he wrote all of his material for it).

EDIT: By the way, I think some of you would like this. This is one of the few times I've ever seen Colbert be serious:

I agree with you completely about Stewart and Colbert.

I gotta give it to Stewart though, he is funny, insightful, and intelligent. Colbert's schtick can get old after awhile and the fact that he has to be in character creates limitations. He's off and on for me. Generally, I find myself watching Colbert Report as a carry over of Daily Show until the first commercial and if it hasn't grabbed my attention by that point, I don't watch anymore. I always watch the Daily Show though. :pimp:

Plus, Daily Show gave birth to Colbert Report :D

As for Maher, it's not that I'm put off by his rudeness or ego (I appreciate those qualities in other comedians), I just don't find him that funny. Dunno.

Colbert did write a book...

A comedian bashing religion, Maher is truly the cutting edge of comedy today.

See, it's all about the correspondents, Colbert was so hilarious that he got his own show from it.