"Oh man, I've missed you guys."

Those were the first words Trevor Noah spoke after The Daily Show returned with a full studio audience after over two years.

The show's return with a full live audience had been highly anticipated since being announced back in March 2022.

The show itself did not disappoint, either, with Noah being in his natural flow, speaking on a host of topics, including the infamous Oscars slap.

'The Daily Show' Returns with Live Audience

On April 11, 2022, Noah did The Daily Show with a set full of a live audience at the show's home studio, 773 11th Avenue in Manhattan. This was the first show in the studio in over two years.

Noah had a great experience with a live audience just a week before when he hosted the Grammys. But a return to this show was a return to his comfort zone, and it seemed like that from the very beginning.

For the return, Comedy Central had brought in a vaccinated, masked-up crowd. It provided Noah with the close-up audience interaction that he, and the show, had been lacking for so long.

It wasn't that The Daily Show had not been airing throughout this time. But Noah had been doing the show at the ViacomCBS headquarters at 1515 Broadway.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah returns with a live audience.

'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah' returns with a live audience after two years away from the main studio. (Photo: Trevor Noah/Instagram)

This return truly marks the end of the painful The Daily Social Distancing Show, which had been a thing since the early pandemic.

During the show, Noah touched upon various topics during the main segments but also made the audience feel welcome in the old studio.

"And I'm so sorry that we were separated for two years. In hindsight, I shouldn't have left that Tupperware open in Wuhan," joked Noah during his monologue.

And during the breaks, the host encouraged the show-goers to ask him whatever they wanted. One member asked if he had been wearing pants during the show's taping for the past two years, to which he responded with a yes.

The show was also an end to his small hiatus — there had been no new episodes of the show since March 18, 2022.

This provided him with a big opportunity to address the recent big headlines, which he did in his unique style.

Trevor Noah Addresses Will Smith-Chris Rock Slap

Noah touched upon a few major headlines over the week, like the COVID outbreak among politicians in Washington, and reiterated that "COVID is no joke!"

However, none of these topics had as much attention-gripping ability as Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, even though it has been two weeks since it happened.

The South African host began by joking that "the craziest Oscars moment in living history" was House of Gucci not winning the Best Hair and Makeup award at the Oscars.

Then, he swiftly moved on to the slap, saying, "There was also the moment where Will Smith introduced his hand to Chris Rock's face."

After raising the question of how the Academy will punish Smith for his actions, he showed clips of the news where the Academy announced banning Smith from attending any of their events for the next decade.

He then provided his thoughts on the matter.

"When I first saw the headline, I thought this was the worst punishment ever, but then I heard he still gets to keep his Oscar and he can still win Oscars," he said.

"So in many ways, this isn't a punishment. This is a favor," he then joked, saying how Smith now did not even have to get dressed, sit through other awards, and pretend to be happy when other people won.

"I wish I could get banned from the Emmys. Every year I have to go and act like I might beat John Oliver, it's a nightmare," Noah piled on the jokes.

Noah ended the show filming a TikTok in front of the delighted returning crowd, which he posted with the caption, "Welcome back, everyone! We've missed you!"

The host is truly back in his comfort zone and was beyond happy to have such an enthusiastic crowd on day one of his return.