Last Week Tonight & John Oliver in the Media

[Kromm]

Washington Post:  HBO’s John Oliver has found his late-night niche — viral rants

 

Hitfix/Alan Sepinwall:  'Last Week Tonight' & YouTube: When pay cable content turns free online

[trow125]

John Oliver will be the guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" radio show tomorrow (Thursday). The host, Terry Gross, is a huge "Daily Show"/"Colbert" fan, so I'm sure she's been following his career for quite a while and will ask good questions.

Also, Oliver will appear on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" on Tuesday the 24th, along with "Real Housewife" Sonja Morgan. That should be weird...

[Fremde Frau]

It's so exciting to see how people are just loving John and the show! They have really hit the spot for a lot of people. When I think of what he said in some recent interviews about being nervous and uncertain before he guest hosted last year and compare that to how journalists and fans are raving about him now, it's such a nice feeling to see that it's worked out perfectly for him. He seems too modest to believe it all (and having worked at TDS, I'm sure he takes any media coverage with a grain of salt), but I do hope he believes that he and his show are amazing, because they are.

 

This must have been what it felt like when The Colbert Report started back in 2005. (I'm guessing that when Jon started hosting TDS, the general reaction was more of a "Who is this guy? We want Kilborn!")

[Grammaeryn]

This is very good news! Is there such a thing now as the "Oliver bump"?

[Fremde Frau]

Last Week Tonight only scores a brief mention in this Variety article on the Emmys, but it's exciting to see that it's already talked about as in the race. Will the show have been on long enough by the time Emmy nominations are submitted and voting begins, or should we wait and see what next year brings? They're definitely going to be a strong contender. (As a side note: the graphic Variety has up really brings home how welcome Larry Wilmore's show is going to be.)

 

Hopefully, that will be a game-changing decision. Snyder didn't have any comment on it, and I suppose it's a long way still from resolution. I think that it's mostly a matter of lucky timing, as far as LWT's segment on Washington followed so closely by the Patent and Trademark Office's decision. His segment on it wasn't quite on the level of the net neutrality piece, as far as how detailed his coverage was and how viral the clip became. And this time, the story itself was already pretty viral in social media and mainstream media. But I think it's one of those issues where every little bit of national attention definitely helps.

[trow125]

Nooooo! Andy Zaltzman Tweeted this morning:

Buglers. I have some news. We will, regrettably, be taking a sabbatical until September. Full explanation in a sub-Bugle, due out later...

We will be putting out sub-Bugles most weeks between now and September, with (mostly) original material...

But, with John's show still in its early days, we don't have time to do The Bugle properly. As you might have noticed in recent weeks...

We're aiming to be back in early/mid September. Many apologies, hope you understand. See you all in Edinburgh. All. I mean all.

 

Can't say I'm terribly surprised. But I am sad. The only thing that would make up for it would be Zaltzman appearing on LWT.

[AimingforYoko]

John Oliver plays 'Real soccer player name or not' with GQ.

[Sharpie66]

Salon.com calls John "Our Moral Compass" and says that he is doing a lot more activism with his show than Jon or Stephen.

[Fremde Frau]

The Guardian article that they quoted made the same argument. This quote jumped out at me, from the Salon article:

 

“For one of our test shows we did a really harsh thing on General Motors and I know that ‘The Daily Show’ also did cover General Motors,” Carvell added. “But it’s nice to, at HBO, feel like there won’t be any phone call you need to deal with; nobody’s having a shitty day because you did a General Motors piece.”

 

That was an eye-opener for me, as far as TDS and TCR. It's nice that LWT has freedom and doesn't have to worry about that kind of pressure.

 

(I haven't read the Baffler article they linked to. That sounds like an interesting read.)

[HelenBaby]

 

This must have been what it felt like when The Colbert Report started back in 2005. (I'm guessing that when Jon started hosting TDS, the general reaction was more of a "Who is this guy? We want Kilborn!")

Jon Stewart was in several films and had a talk show on MTV as well as hosting a show called Short Attention Span Theater on Comedy Central (or it may have been The Comedy Channel back then-can't remember when the name changed.) So he wasn't an unknown at all. Plus, Kilborn had pretty much alienated a lot of people at that point, especially insulting Lizz Winstead, the show's co-creator in a magazine article. Kilborn was funny at first and had some good contributors on the show like Winstead and A. Whitney Brown. The show's changed so much since then you wouldn't even know it was the same show.

[fastiller]

John Oliver will be the guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" radio show tomorrow (Thursday). The host, Terry Gross, is a huge "Daily Show"/"Colbert" fan, so I'm sure she's been following his career for quite a while and will ask good questions.

John Oliver Is No One's Friend On His New HBO Show.

 

It was a great interview.  Enlightening as to his upbringing (parents were teachers in Thatcher's England, which inevitably - in his view, anyway - leads to having political leanings.  Rather, more to the point: it wasn't conducive to apathy.

 

Also: he worked for a guy who sold stolen industrial kitchen equipment.

 

Like how he considered all his answers as they relate to his wife.  (Paraphrasing: "Not sure how much I'm at liberty to speak for her here.")

[purist]

Rave review in Variety about LWT, noting how different it is from other shows. I like this part:

 

 

The show surrounds soundbites with exposition, rather than letting video stand as the sole element of a segment. It trusts the attention span of its audience, believing a viewership constantly distracted by smartphones and mobile alerts will hang in there for the duration of a story, so long as it is compelling and informative. And it believes people will keep watching even if they might walk away feeling uneasy or unsettled by the issues presented each week despite the many jokes and laughs that are also delivered.

[Fremde Frau]

That article touches on something that I don't particularly enjoy about LWT but which seems to be the aspect that the press appreciates the most: the fact that many LWT segments are styled almost like lectures, in both the preachy and the classroom sense of the word. LWT doesn't tend to assume that its audience has knowledge or interest in a topic; there is less comedic shorthand and more detailed exposition. It's sort of like the Jason Jones abroad series on TDS, where he mocks the dumb American stereotype by portraying it; LWT mocks the dumb American stereotype by pointing out how little America knows or cares, but John is also effectively speaking to that stereotype by incorporating it into his perspective of his audience. It's relevant that John is British and the focus of his show is equally distributed between international and domestic issues, but even this assumption that Americans have no interest in international stories becomes a sort of self-fulfilling joke.

 

Anyway, my point is that, with rare exceptions, TDS or TCR generally seem to assume a certain level of knowledge and interest on the part of their audience, regardless of the topic they are covering. (I think that's their response when critics say young people get their news from them: that people wouldn't even understand the jokes, let alone the stories themselves, unless they already had at least a basic framework of reference.) I like the exposition-heavy aspect of LWT, actually, but because it is often delivered with a fairly blatant moral indignation, various segments can sometimes become a little tiresome. It's the same reason I prefer NPR, PBS, and AJA to MSNBC, even though I agree with MSNBC ideologically... which is sort of paradoxical, since I've seen LWT described as the AJA of comedy news (compared to TDS as MSNBC and TCR as Fox). I think that comparison mostly speaks to the international content of the show and not the tone of delivery. The segment on the death penalty was well done, for example, but it wasn't "can you believe this?" so much as it was "this is how we all need to feel about it." I personally agree with his point of view, but I was tired of the lecture by the end of the piece. I'd rather the writing for LWT assume that I can understand the details and form my own conclusions.

 

That said, I disagree with some bloggers who see this as a deliberate shift away from the relative "fluffiness" of TDS and TCR, since John has stated that he doesn't intend to be anyone's champion. He's doing terrific, intelligent comedy, and he's a brilliant, hilarious host developing a wonderful interview style. I think interpreting him as an activist comedian projects too much onto him. He told Charlie Rose pretty flatly that he's just interested in doing comedy. So this seems like the same kind of press that TDS and TCR have had in years past, with LWT being the latest one placed involuntarily onto a pedestal.

[trow125]

Nice piece on the birth of the Bugle from Matt Walsh, who worked in multimedia at the Times when the podcast started back in 2007.

[maraleia]

John Oliver interviewed by Howard Stern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYn8xtmLXok

It's worth it to listen to the entire interview.

[trow125]

Thanks for posting that link, maraleia! I am not a regular Howard Stern listener but I do know that he often breaks out the sexytime questions. "Are you using contraception at this point? Are you pulling out and just hoping for the best?" It sounds like Hoagie (John's dog, who has been referenced a few times on the Bugle) will be the only little one in the Oliver household, at least for the time being. Anyway, it was a very interesting conversation.

[Fremde Frau]

John did an interview with PBS Newshour. I was particularly interested in the part from 2:18, when he talks about research, the net neutrality piece, and finally his "power" as a comedian or as a journalist. (It was kind of amazing that the conversation about how much power he has could have been taken almost line-for-line from the videos I've seen of Jon being interviewed on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc., dating back to 2004.)

 

Edited July 17, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[peeayebee]

Thanks. That was enjoyable.

[Fremde Frau]

Here are two articles on Last Week Tonight and John Oliver's role/impact. The second one is particularly worth reading, for LWT fans.

 

Rolling Stone: John Oliver Steps Up on 'Last Week Tonight'

Hazlitt: The Depressing Feel-Good Comedy of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight

 

Not quite a year removed from his name-making summer of guest-hosting work on The Daily Show, the crown of seven years spent as the dryly sarcastic Senior British Correspondent, Oliver still isn’t entirely out of that show’s long shadow, nor is his approach really light years away from the exaggerated exasperation that is Jon Stewart’s most exportable good. Still, if Stephen Colbert is (soon enough, was) the satirical Satanic message you get from playing TDS backwards, Oliver so far is its slowed-down SoundCloud track, explicating and dissecting exactly why so much in the news deserves to be treated with bitter irony.

...

These segments are really only unique for the intricate care Oliver puts into each one, editorial comment done with an uncommon intellectual grace and a dead eye for satirical soft spots. Where The Daily Show’s talent is in its clip-jitsu, and Colbert’s in his stone face, Oliver’s is in rhetoric—in the way he steadily builds his argument, making both laughter and unease seem depressingly inevitable. If Stewart—and, realistically here, almost any standard television talking head, regardless of intended level of humour—can occasionally be dismissed as just cleverly preaching to the choir, Oliver is explaining the choir’s songbook with musical theory and historical precedent, drilling down until he reaches the values that are being espoused (and then, usually, showing the choir where they’re hitting the wrong notes).

 

[dusang]

can occasionally be dismissed as just cleverly preaching to the choir, Oliver is explaining the choir’s songbook with musical theory and historical precedent, drilling down until he reaches the values that are being espoused (and then, usually, showing the choir where they’re hitting the wrong notes).

 

That is an impressively extended metaphor.  And... kind of hits the nail on the head.  Although, on the few topics that Ollie has covered that I've had any prior knowledge of, there have been arguments I felt he missed.  But WTH, you can't do it all in 14-minutes or less.

[Fremde Frau]

Well, I think some writers recently are also describing TDS and TCR in a very reductive way in order to justify some of the more extravagant descriptions of the "revolutionary" nature of LWT. The questions about cultural significance and revolutionary influence that John is asked in interviews are uncannily similar to those asked of Stephen in response to the White House Correspondents' Dinner, testimony in front of congress, and Super PAC coverage and of Jon at least as far back as 2004. (I wasn't watching then, but I've been binging on interviews, articles, podcasts, and the two archives since I started watching last year.) Some writers have really shortchanged the relevance of and care put into those two older shows in order to praise LWT, which I feel is more reflective of the media's insatiable need to hype the next new shiny, meaningful thing than of any qualitative difference in the three shows (and Maher). LWT is a great show, and I don't understand--except as a cultural phenomenon--why other things just as worthwhile have to be downgraded to call it great. John makes full use of the time he has (the week of preparation and the full thirty minutes of content), and that is a fantastic choice to trust the audience for so long with material that is often very dense and difficult. A lot of shows might have wanted something more immediately rewarding, cut into the 5-minute segments that people believe is all the Internet is capable of digesting at any given moment. I love that they spend 13, 15, 17 minutes on a single story. But when writers say that TDS or TCR reduce things to facile soundbites and don't/can't trust the audience for as long, that ignores how many two- or three-segment episodes they've had on issues also ignored, dense or difficult, or how many long-running segments, not to mention Jon's frequent, extended interviews on heavy topics and everything that Stephen did with the Super PAC. TDS and TCR can't really help the fact that there are commercial breaks on their channel.

 

Anyway, I'm new to all three shows, and in comparing LWT to the archives of TDS and TCR, I don't notice a drop-off in research, care, or quality, so it makes me want to pull my hair out that so many writers are running with that theme. I feel split in two: I love what they're saying about John, but why do they have to dismiss Stephen and Jon at the same time? Argh! Of course, this is always subjective, and I can only speak for myself. I'm just glad that we have three fantastic political comedy shows from this gene pool, with another on the way!

[Victor the Crab]

Maclean's magazine, Canada's weekly newsmagazine, recently gave its take on Ollie's show. Interviewed in the story, for his take, was Rick Mercer, Canada's version of Ollie, Jon, and Stephen.

[Fremde Frau]

That was a great read, Victor the Crab. I loved how Mercer phrased this comment, which explains why Stephen, Jon, Bill Maher, and now John have resonated so well with audiences:

I think when shows fail is when it’s manufactured. You go out and get some funny people and tell them to read the newspaper and make some jokes. That won’t work. It all has to do with the personality and the perspective, because, at the end of the day, it’s commentary.

 

I'd heard of his two shows, The Rick Mercer Report or This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but I've never seen them. Now that I finally made the effort to find some of their videos, I'll have to give them a look!

[Athena]

I'd heard of his two shows, The Rick Mercer Report or This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but I've never seen them. Now that I finally made the effort to find some of their videos, I'll have to give them a look!

 

Rick's commentary is the single take "rants" he does on the Report. They are often Canadian issues, but it does showcase his insight. I also love Rick's correspondent pieces which just feature him going around Canada and showcasing what a wonderful country it is.

 

As for the articles, I've also noticed how they try to downplay TDS and TCR. I don't think it's that fair to compare since John is doing something slightly different on cable. I do think there is something new and different about this LWT that sets it apart of TDS/TCR. I love its international focus. While I enjoy Stephen's interviews, I think the lack of them on LWT is a bonus. Rather, it seems John is creating a theme around his interviews like he did with the Uganda and homophobia topic. It is early days, and I don't love TDS/TCR less, but I get excited to watch John trying to find his own path.

[Fremde Frau]

Athena, thank you! Rick's show sounds interesting. I may be moving to Canada next year, so I'll definitely have to check out his correspondent pieces, too!

 

I agree with everything you said on LWT. It's so amazing that he's hit the ground running, immediately showing creative authority and command over the material. It's not just that he came from a great comedy family and brought some of that talent with him, but he's articulating his own vision for the show, and it is exciting to watch. You never know what they're going to cover, whereas TDS and TCR are generally attuned to the news cycle, except for segments like the correspondent pieces. I appreciate, also, what you point out: that he's able to create narratives that incorporate his interviews. I can't count the times I've felt deflated with the third segment of TDS or TCR; it's not their fault, since I guess they're obligated to have interviews every show, but the guests rarely have anything to do with the rest of the episode. I just get frustrated when writers interpret that, or something like the time constraints, as a creative failure on the part of Jon and Stephen, or act as though research, intelligence, and genuine care are a new thing.

[Milburn Stone]

Howard Stern did a great interview with John Oliver which I heard on Stern's Sirius XM channel on Sunday. It sounded recent, but since it was obviously a replay, I'm not sure of the exact date. Hopefully the audio can be found online somewhere.

 

In other news, I'm deathly afraid that if Rupert Murdoch succeeds in his plan to take over Time Warner, that will be the end of shows like Last Week Tonight.

[dusang]

Howard Stern did a great interview with John Oliver which I heard on Stern's Sirius XM channel on Sunday. It sounded recent, but since it was obviously a replay, I'm not sure of the exact date. Hopefully the audio can be found online somewhere.

 

John Oliver interviewed by Howard Stern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYn8xtmLXok

It's worth it to listen to the entire interview.

 

What makes me sad about TDS, TCR, and LWT is that ultimately they are ALL "preaching to the choir" -- the media landscape is so segmented that no one ever has to see or hear a dissenting opinion or contrary fact to their pre-established belief system.  Some of these articles comparing LWT and TDS really frame the issue as though they are in direct competition -- there's no way LWT will replace TDS, it's a Sunday night show on a premium cable channel!!

[Milburn Stone]

@dusang, thanks for pointing me to @maraleia 's post. I looked to see if anyone had mentioned the Stern interview but obviously missed it.

[Fremde Frau]

Milburn Stone, that story scares me to death just in general, given what it means to the distribution of information and not only for here in the US. Time Warner is resisting but is still vulnerable through shareholders. It drives me up the wall that so much of the coverage is being couched in terms of good business sense and the free market. As someone mentioned in the comments of this (worth-reading) article, when you consider the issue of net neutrality and the ramifications of the Trans Pacific Partnership, this concentration of control is a nightmare. Corporations are the new empires, and while the media watches it happening, the politicians are paid to facilitate it.

 

TDS did a segment on Murdoch last year, but if ever a story called for LWT's slow, steady, unflinching deconstruction that would inevitably go viral, Murdoch's empire is it.

 

dusang, that has bugged me, as well. It's absurd that some reviewers and such act as though a person can't watch both LWT and TDS/TCR. It's not an either/or situation at all! I also agree with your first point. The benefit of not having a central news source, like Cronkite, is that a diversity of voices are represented (theoretically). The disadvantage is that people can stick to the narrow source that reflects back their worldview and never venture out. I think the most a lot of people see of dissenting opinions are misrepresentations of content through the hyperbolic headlines by the blogs or TV news sources that they already watch.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Fremde Frau

[ALenore]

The reviewer came up with an interesting, I think appropriate name for John's pieces: "#longrants"

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2014/07/john_oliver_s_last_week_tonight_and_the_art_of_the_viral_rant.html

[maraleia]

Another article praising John and the show http://www.indiewire.com/article/why-last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-is-the-next-generation-of-late-night-20140729

[ALenore]

Still more praise for John Oliver, two articles I came across yesterday:

http://www.salon.com/2014/08/14/john_oliver_wont_be_your_therapist_how_he_torpedoed_the_reassuring_tropes_of_fake_news/

It’s been something of a shock — and a joyous one — to see how quickly John Oliver’s HBO program, “Last Week Tonight,” has gone from an awkward up-and-comer to an outright hit

 

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/how-john-oliver-is-procuring-latent-activism/376036/

 

John Oliver’s segment on net neutrality this past June perfectly summed up what his HBO show Last Week Tonight is so good at: transcending apathy.

 

 I really liked both these articles.  I did find out from the one in The Atlantic that the show is sheduled for 19 episodes, so only 5 more to go. ) -: 

[Kromm]

 I really liked both these articles.  I did find out from the one in The Atlantic that the show is sheduled for 19 episodes, so only 5 more to go. ) -: 

Apparently Oliver isn't really taking time off after that.  He's doing a 15-stop comedy tour.

 

Wall Street Journal: John Oliver, Emmy Award-Winning Comedian and Host of HBO's New Hit Show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Announces Fall 2014 Tour

 

Yes, Oliver has the Wall Street Journal documenting his comedy tour.

 

Here are the dates:

 

 

 

JOHN OLIVER FALL 2014 TOUR DATES:

*All dates, cities and venues below subject to change.

Show Date          City               Venue

November 18, 2014  Buffalo, NY *      University of Buffalo

November 19, 2014  Denver, CO         Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre

November 20, 2014  Anaheim, CA*       The Grove

November 21, 2014  Santa Rosa, CA     Wells Fargo Center for the Arts

November 22, 2014  Portland, OR       Keller Auditorium

November 23, 2014  Seattle, WA        Paramount Theatre

December 04, 2014  Atlanta, GA        Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

December 05, 2014  Durham, NC         Durham Performing Arts Center

December 06, 2014  Columbus, OH       Palace Theatre

December 07, 2014  Madison, WI        Orpheum Theatre

December 12, 2014  Westbury, NY       Theatre at Westbury

December 13, 2014  Albany, NY         Palace Theatre

December 14, 2014  New Brunswick, NJ  State Theater

December 30, 2014  Boston, MA*        Wilbur Theatre

December 31, 2014  Boston, MA*        Wilbur Theatre

* = Non Live Nation date

Tickets go on sale... today (Aug 15).

[ALenore]

Yes, Oliver has the Wall Street Journal documenting his comedy tour.

 

I noticed this at the bottom of the article: The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content. I wonder if this has anything to do with John's bit on "Native Advertising" last week, or if WSJ always prints this type of disclaimer.   (I don't know, I rarely read WSJ)

Edited August 15, 2014 by ALenore

[Kromm]

I noticed this at the bottom of the article: The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content. I wonder if this has anything to do with John's bit on "Native Advertising" last week, or if WSJ always prints this type of disclaimer.   (I don't know, I rarely read WSJ)

Hmm.  It says PRESS RELEASE.  So that could mean they're just saying they didn't write it.  

 

Does that mean it's a paid ad?  It might be.  Live Nation Entertainment (the promoter) clearly wrote it. Or it might be them simply adding a disclaimer for just publishing a press release intact.  I'm actually not convinced it made the print edition (although usually the online only stuff is labeled as blog content and this isn't.

[Victor the Crab]

I did find out from the one in The Atlantic that the show is sheduled for 19 episodes, so only 5 more to go. ) -:

But then, that means he'll have time to concentrate on his podcast The Bugle, with Andy Zaltzman, since it's been on summer hiatus.

[ALenore]

Yes, I'm looking forward to the resumption of The Bugle.   I assume he's been doing standup gigs in the past while doing The Bugle, and since he doesn't have The Daily Show to worry about, I'm hoping that he'll be able to work it into his schedule.    

[Kromm]

I don't have words for how great this is.  Words?  Get it? (you will after seeing the video)

 

 

also: outtakes of the above video:

 

Edited September 6, 2014 by Kromm

[roamyn]

Thanks, Krom! That was a freaking riot!

Literally.

Edited September 8, 2014 by roamyn

[trow125]

The Bugle is back!

[Victor the Crab]

YAAAY!!!!! Praise Jesus and Fuck You Chris!

[Fremde Frau]

John Oliver will be the cover story of Rolling Stone's TV issue (out this Friday)!

[trow125]

John Oliver will be the lead guest on "Late Show with David Letterman" tomorrow (Tuesday the 30th), replacing Rosie O'Donnell. Not sure why she won't be appearing, but hey, John Oliver should be way more entertaining!

[trow125]

20 Things You Learn Hanging Out With John Oliver

From his teenage girl troubles to a near-fight with an Ali G impersonator, here's what didn't fit into his first Rolling Stone cover story

[Irlandesa]

Here's another article talking about whether or not what John/LWT is doing is journalism.  (The verdict, according to the article, is yes.)

[Fremde Frau]

This is random, but I was reflecting on this quote from John's interview with Entertainment Weekly back in May:

How do you plan to cover darker, unfunny events?

I actually had a little taste of that last summer. That was one of the main things I was concerned about when taking over for Jon: I feel like you earn the authority to talk about subjects like that. You earn the right to be people's point of catharsis at the end of the day. And it did happen, because I went on right after the Trayvon Martin verdict. That was a tough day. I really felt Jon's absence. On a day like that, where you're trying to process immensely painful things, you want him — you want Jon, not the show that Jon has built. I tried as hard as I could to write something that felt more from the heart than you'd normally do in comedy. So it'll depend on the actual event. When those things come around, you just have to take extra care to make sure you know where each joke is coming from.

 

And I was thinking that he's met the darker events of this year with remarkable care and grace. They did such a beautiful job with Ferguson, and their coverage of Uganda, for example, and the interview with Pepe Julian Onziema was excellent and compassionate. Jon was also thrown abruptly into an extremely dark place, with 9/11. Both of these guys, and Stephen, know how to handle these extreme moments of heartache. What does it say about this particular family of hosts, writers, and crew, and the culture they foster? (I think of them as a family.) They support each other wholeheartedly; there is no competition or bickering. They care earnestly about the world, and they essentially wear that concern on their sleeve. They know how to bring about catharsis for their viewers. And they are hilarious and masterful at their profession. Some kind of beautiful gravity brought these people together, maybe.

 

Anyway, I was re-reading that interview and thinking, John, you've well earned that authority now. Just keep being you.

 

/my face is sprinkling a little, maybe

[dusang]

Apologies for being possibly slightly off thread topic here but can I ask about getting tickets for the show?  Someone reported attending a taping a couple of months ago, how did you get tickets?  Looking on the site it looks like they are released about four weeks in advance.

[A Boston Gal]

Fremde Frau, that was beautifully stated, and expresses exactly my feelings about that "family" as well. Thank you!

[trow125]

Apologies for being possibly slightly off thread topic here but can I ask about getting tickets for the show?  Someone reported attending a taping a couple of months ago, how did you get tickets?  Looking on the site it looks like they are released about four weeks in advance.

 

You are referring to me, I believe. I attended a taping in August and posted my report here. At least if you go during the colder months, it won't be so frickin' hot in the waiting area!

 

I follow LWT on Twitter and they Tweet an alert every Sunday when they have released tickets. All I did was go to the web site, fill in the form, and wait for them to confirm via email. I live in California and was only going to be in NY for 1 Sunday, so I didn't have a lot of leeway. However, it's a large studio so there's room for a big audience. That said, I believe they've already filled up their audiences for 2014 -- their last show of the year airs Nov. 9 (sob) -- so check back again in a few weeks. And if you want to pay cash money to see John Oliver as opposed to getting the free LWT tix, he has a boatload of dates coming up while the show is on hiatus.

[dusang]

You are referring to me, I believe. I attended a taping in August and posted my report here. At least if you go during the colder months, it won't be so frickin' hot in the waiting area!

 

I follow LWT on Twitter and they Tweet an alert every Sunday when they have released tickets. All I did was go to the web site, fill in the form, and wait for them to confirm via email. I live in California and was only going to be in NY for 1 Sunday, so I didn't have a lot of leeway. However, it's a large studio so there's room for a big audience. That said, I believe they've already filled up their audiences for 2014 -- their last show of the year airs Nov. 9 (sob) -- so check back again in a few weeks. And if you want to pay cash money to see John Oliver as opposed to getting the free LWT tix, he has a boatload of dates coming up while the show is on hiatus.

 

Thanks!!  I didn't realize that Nov 9 was the last date in 2014 -- that sucks on many levels.  Alas!!  Thanks for the info and I will look into the non-LWT dates.

 

ETA: Sonofabitch!  The weekend I'm in NYC he's in frakking North Carolina!!

Edited October 19, 2014 by dusang