NEW YORK: Jon Stewart, one of America’s greatest satirists, opened the final episode of “The Daily Show” to cat calls and cheers, the end of an era for fans after 16 years as a unique voice in US broadcasting.

Loved by liberals as a voice of reason, distrusted by conservatives for his left-of-center perspective, the clever, biting and funny Stewart was joined by some of the talent he has helped to nurture to bid farewell.

There was a farewell message from Secretary of State John Kerry and rock legend Bruce Springsteen was spotted outside the studios ahead of the show’s taping as the hash tag #JonVoyage trended on twitter.

The 52-year-old dissects politics, journalism and entertainment, hosting a show four nights a week that skewers politicians, the ways of the world in general and sensationalist cable news coverage in particular.

Since 1999 he has been a liberal conscience, from the end of the Clinton presidency and the arrival of George W. Bush, through the 9/11 attacks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the financial crisis.

Fans are left wondering how they will navigate the 2016 presidential campaign — even Thursday night’s Republican debate — without Stewart.

He announced his departure last winter, saying he wanted more flexibility in his schedule, and in September the show returns with new host, South African comic Trevor Noah.

Noah made a fleeting appearance on Stewart’s final show, sauntering out to measure up the set and cheekily hold up the measuring tape to Stewart’s crotch before promising to come back later.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Chris Reilly, a homemaker from Connecticut in the queue to attend the taping of the final show for what will be her fourth time in the Manhattan studio.

“It just feels like this is going to be a tremendous void and it’s hard to see how it can be filled.”

Besides taking politicians and TV networks to task — CNN and Fox News in particular — his show had a guest list second to none.

Among those to appear were President Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai — the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban — Republican politicians and Hollywood actors.

Winning 22 Emmy awards, the show has also been a springboard for talent, launching the careers of comedians who are now stars in their own right, such as Stephen Colbert and John Oliver.

Watched by a modest TV audience of 1.3 million a day, the Pew Research Center says “The Daily Show” reached an online audience of 2.7 to 4.4 million a month in the first half of 2015 — many of them young viewers.

“He was the one bastion of sanity in a world that, to liberals at least, seemed like it had gone completely mad,” wrote The Guardian newspaper of Stewart’s importance during the Bush years.