Last Week Tonight & John Oliver in the Media

[OneWhoLurks]

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The comedian, who was nominated for his Crackle web series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” didn’t understand why he was at the award ceremony, considering the show is not actually on television. (It’s a new day and age, Jerry, but we feel you.) Still, despite all that, he didn’t even think he stood a chance when it came down to the competition, telling us that he “would vote for” John Oliver. Luckily for Oliver, Seinfeld’s good juju worked and he took home the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Talk Series for “Last Week Tonight.”

Jerry Seinfeld Binge-Watches ‘Nothing,’ Because He’s Jerry Seinfeld

ETA:

John Oliver on Emmy win, "gift" of politics and satire

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Whoever saw this coming? Not me. In the early 2000s, as a comedy critic, I used to watch Oliver in the same sweaty hundred-seaters at the Fringe as I watched dozens of other, now-forgotten almost-weres. He would perform pointed, politicised stand-up shows that were full of good material, yet didn’t always feel entirely finished. He was a good performer, not quite a natural.

Sometimes he would pop up in shows supporting other members of what was dubbed “the Chocolate Milk Gang”: a bunch of proudly geeky comics led by Daniel Kitson and including Alun Cochrane, David O’Doherty and a young Russell Howard. Sometimes he would perform with Andy Zaltzman, the comic with whom he would later reunite for hundreds of episodes of The Bugle podcast — launched in tandem with this newspaper in 2007 — until leaving in June after struggling to keep up his commitment to Zaltzman. “I have a television show and a baby,” he said on his final podcast, “and I’m trying not to f*** up either of them.”

Watching him now, even if he’s sitting behind a desk wearing jacket and tie, computer graphics abetting his points, it’s extraordinary the extent to which he is the same comedian. Just with the rough edges, the element of “ahhh, close enough, that’ll do”, knocked out of him. Ask him, and he’ll pin this on working for his perfectionist former boss for nine years. “There is no one in England that is or has been as good as Jon Stewart,” he told New York magazine.

 

John Oliver: the British comedy failure who makes America laugh

Edited September 23, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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When compiling a list of who commands the most power in financial markets, some decisions are easier than others. Jamie Dimon is an obvious choice—he heads the world’s most valuable bank, after all. Same goes for Zhou Xiaochuan, because when you run the People’s Bank of China, moving markets is part of the job description. You’ll find both on Bloomberg’s 50 Most Influential—now in its sixth edition and appearing in Businessweek for the first time—along with a few unexpected names, to keep things interesting. The list’s publication is timed to coincide with our Most Influential Summits in New York, London, and Hong Kong on Sept. 28.

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John Oliver (#50)

Host, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

His sweet spot as a comedian is the manic explanation of complex financial matters, delivered with outrage and interspersed with hilarious digressions. This year, in his third season on HBO, Oliver covered topics as arcane as subprime auto lending, special borrowing by governmental districts, and credit reporting standards. His segment on Puerto Rico’s debt debacle has racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube.

 

Fifty Most Influential

[OneWhoLurks]

Hey White People! With Jon Batiste And Friends

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Birmingham-born comedian John Oliver now lives and works in America where he won an Emmy for his show Last Week Tonight.

But now he is to voice a villain on the hit children’s show Danger Mouse.

His tones appear in the series one finale as the wonderfully-named Dr Augustus P. Crumhorn III.

 

John Oliver to voice a supervillain in Danger Mouse

Edited October 1, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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Only Make Believe, a nonprofit organization that creates and performs interactive theater for children in hospitals and care facilities, has announced that it will be honoring Oscar and two-time Tony nominee Jude Law at its annual gala, Make Believe On Broadway. The event, hosted by Emmy winner John Oliver, will be held November 14 at Broadway's St. James Theatre.

Only Make Believe to Honor Jude Law at Annual Gala
 

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Page Six has exclusively learned that Seth Meyers will host the Natural Resources Defense Council’s starry Night of Comedy benefit the day after the election.

Performers include Sarah Silverman, a Bernie Sanders-turned-Hillary Clinton supporter, and John Oliver.

Tickets for the pricey affair start at $1,500.

 

Seth Meyers and other comics ready to laugh off the election

Edited October 4, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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Origin:On 7 October 2016, various conspiracy theory web sites posted articles alleging that a hacked e-mail from the personal account of a former Hillary Clinton employee at the U.S. State Department, Capricia Penavic Marshall, suggested "some level of collusion" between the Clintons, HBO, and British-born comedian and television host John Oliver:

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While acknowledging that the spelling of Oliver's name is off by one character — "We've made contact with John Olivier," the e-mail reads — InfoWars goes on to claim that "the context makes it clear that the email is in reference to the comedian." That's patently false, however, considering that the entire message consists of 20 words:

We are unable to explain why InfoWars wanted to convince us that the e-mail provides enough context to conclude that "John Olivier" is "John Oliver" — unless it's because they don't want us poking around and finding out there are more e-mails in the exchange that not only establish the context, but also prove that the Clinton associates reached out to Oliver for a perfectly above-board reason: to invite him to make a guest appearance at a March 9, 2015 event being planned in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

 

Jumping to Collusions

[OneWhoLurks]

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Only Make Believe, the non-profit organization that creates and performs interactive theatre for children in hospitals and care facilities, will present its annual gala, Make Believe On Broadway, November 14 at 7 PM at the St. James Theatre.

The evening, which will honor Oscar nominee Jude Law, will be hosted by Emmy winner John Oliver.

 

More Stars Join Make Believe On Broadway Concert Honoring Jude Law

[OneWhoLurks]

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In the opening segment of The Daily Show tonight, host Trevor Noah presented a possible vision of the United States if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump were to win election next week.

Acting as if he was doing the broadcast from an abandoned studio in 2020 just days before the election, Noah lamented that the American voters were distracted by emails, that merely turned out to be thousands of “Antony Weiner’s dick pics,” which explained why the Washington Monument was changed to the Weiner Monument. “One dick got another dick elected,” Noah shouted.

Moving onto the media, he showed that it was now just TNN due to the “Trumpaganda forces” shutting down all other news sources. He even showed former Daily Show correspondent John Oliver getting taken away by the police while on air. According to Noah, he himself escaped because he snuck into Steve Harvey’s house and stole his mustache.

 

‘One Dick Got Another Dick Elected!’: Trevor Noah Imagines America in 2020 Under President Trump

[OneWhoLurks]

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“I was trying to think of a way to tell you everything’s going to be okay - I’m not sure, practically, how I can do that. That depends who you are, and what your definition of ‘okay’ is. Looking out, most of you [will be] fine," he said, lampooning the one-percenters in the audience.

"But that’s not the point. The point is, will America be okay? That’s a difficult question to answer," he continued. "I will say this — you are a defiant nation. This is the most defiant nation on the planet Earth."

"The fact that some of you are probably sitting there going ‘No, we’re not’ proves my point. You are defiant in the face of everything, from a threat to a fact — you do not let those things push you around."

 

John Oliver's take on Trump: America is 'the most defiant nation on Earth'

[OneWhoLurks]

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“John is just as genuine as he’s on camera, most gracious, witty and he will pretend to know my name if we were in the same room,” laughs Warren.
Warren would edit piece and pitch in ideas for the show that covers global topics, from the chicken farming to the porn ban.

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The show was conceptualised to concentrative on alternative topics, but as the election drew closer Oliver seemed to join the mainstream bandwagon in bashing Donald Trump and rightly so, especially with the racist rants of the now President-elect. However, very less attention was paid by John to exploring the Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s mail leak. Was that a concious decision? “Most news sources were biased to Hillary, so there have been times when there’s joke on Clinton that did not make it to the script. I don’t know if that’s because people see her as lesser of two evils,” he says.

So, was it a conscious decision to drop jokes on Clinton? “The voice of the show is the host and the executive producer, so you try to write stuff that you think he’ll find funny and will pick up, because that’s how you got paid. If you write for him, it is most certainly true that you agree with him,” explains Warren.

So, does he agree with content that goes on the show? “Most of the times, but I agree with you that there was plenty of fodder to make jokes on Clinton. Comedians who do stage time go- I don’t understand how he won, while those on the road are like - I don’t know how she was even close,” he laughs.Warren however says, that while the Daily Show did a lot of pieces on Trump, Oliver restricted it to a few. “In the beginning, John didn’t even want to cover it, back in 2015,” he concludes.

 

‘Hillary jokes nudged out’

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At a New York event honoring Jude Law for his charity work, the British actor - and TV host John Oliver - discussed the political climate on both sides of the pond. (Nov. 15)

Jude Law's measured view on politics

Edited November 16, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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The sixth and final season of Girls returns to HBO Sunday, Feb. 12, leading into the fourth season premiere of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.

‘Girls,’ ‘John Oliver’ Return on HBO Feb. 12

[OneWhoLurks]

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Mr. Oliver said soberly, “Someone who’s always acted like the most powerful man in the world has now actually become the most powerful man in the world.”

His show, and Mr. Colbert’s show, will “need to work out what we become next,” Mr. Oliver said.

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Discussing the apparent rise of websites that traffic in bogus news stories, Mr. Colbert objected to this content being described as “fake news.”

Referring to his and Mr. Oliver’s time at “The Daily Show,” he said, “What we did was fake news. We got on TV and we said, ‘This is all going to be fake. We’re going to make fun of news.’”

Mr. Colbert added, “The fact that they call this stuff fake news upsets me, because this is just lying.”

Just a Friendly Chat Between 2 Worried Late-Night Hosts
 

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Colbert and Oliver agreed that the Trump campaign wasn’t good for comedy, despite what fans may have assumed. Oliver said that this election actually gave his writing staff less material to work with than a typical race would.

“It’s an inverse version of what we normally do. With a campaign, you try to take something of substance, and then put some sugar on it. But there was so little of substance this whole campaign, it was just like a diabetes-inducing amount of sugar, and your job kind of flips on its head. Because you’re just trying to find a way to inject substance into sugar,” he explained. “So much time we were spending just trying to think about framing devices. How to make something out of what felt like nothing.”

 

John Oliver: “Not Everyone’s Going to Be O.K.” Under Trump Administration

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“If it was a one-off, it’d be a big deal,” says Robert Weissman, president of the nonpartisan consumer rights group Public Citizen, about Oliver’s coverage of obscure financial issues. “But he’s doing it in one area after another. The heightened public awareness creates an environment in which it’s possible to win reform.”

That’s a big claim to make about a comedian. But truth be told—and his own protests notwithstanding— Oliver is doing a lot more than telling jokes. The show’s format allows for 20-minute deep dives, complete with detailed explanations, investigative reporting, exhortations for viewers to take action, and even practical advice of the kind MONEY routinely offers (albeit without expletives).

 

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But Oliver’s impact is arguably even subtler—and more powerful. “He’s really building a case for more control over predatory financial institutions,” says Public Citizen’s Weissman. Powerhouse Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren agrees. “John Oliver shines a light on some really big problems,” she told MONEY. “He makes us laugh and teaches us something, but he also calls on the audience to take action to influence public policy. He helps make change.”

How John Oliver Became Our Money Champion of the Year

Edited November 21, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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As Kelly Clarkson once said, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s a life lesson that stand-up comedians like John Oliver have to learn the hard way early on in their careers, when they’re dying onstage during particularly awful gigs. “I’ve had many bad gigs, and they’re all much more character-forming than good gigs,” Oliver told to Stephen Colbert when the Daily Show veterans met for their post-election conversation, “Wow, That Was Weird,” held on Nov. 19 as a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival.

Watch John Oliver Tell Stephen Colbert About His Worst Stand-Up Gig Ever

[peeayebee]

OMG! My face hurts from laughing! I hope all of this conversation is online. I need to search.

[OneWhoLurks]

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While many shows would have folded when a founding member and co-host walked away, Zaltzman is bringing the show back from what could have been its second death, and not letting reports of its possible demise slow it down. Instead, he is determined to reanimate the show that has been part of his life for years and is something he clearly loves. “It’s the thing I’ve enjoyed most in my career,” says Zaltzman. “Obviously a big part of that was working with John. I just had to decide whether to start something fresh or ‘reboot’ – in the modern parlance – The Bugle with different people. I thought it would be interesting to use the existing format and the existing following to create a show that’s not entirely new, but has new elements while keeping the old stuff.”

Now The Bugle is firmly in Zaltzman’s hands and after a successful comedy tour of the US, he’s back in England hard at work getting The Bugle back on a regular schedule. “It’s what we did for the first seven years or so of the show, before it started getting more irregular,” said Zaltzman. “Now I’m aiming for it to be properly weekly again.”

The result is a newly invigorated version of The Bugle, with a series of co-hosts replacing the dearly departed Oliver, including comedian Hari Kondabolu, former Daily Show contributor Wyatt Cenac (“John knows him very well and recommended him,” explains Zaltzman), Nish Kumar, and Helen Zaltzman, Andy’s sister and the host of both Answer Me This! and the etymology podcast The Allusionist. (“She’s one of the most successful podcasters there is,” says Zaltzman, proudly.) “I wanted a range of different perspectives from around the world, a broader range than just two white guys who went to Oxford and Cambridge,” says Zaltzman. “It’s a good thing, I think.” The show also has a new home, joining The Allusionist at the Radiotopia podcast network.

 

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As for those new hosts, Oliver had a bit of advice: “You’re going to need to develop a physical ability to withstand puns. That’s not easy, and it’s not a natural state for the human body, but it’s important if you hope to survive,” he wrote. “Also, do not under any circumstances try to ‘out-bullshit’ Andy, because you’re going toe-to-toe with the master there. He has weapons-grade nonsense at his disposal, and is more than happy to use it.”

The Bugle: Andy Zaltzman revives 'satire and bullshit' podcast sans John Oliver

[dusang]

"Walked away" seems a harsh description of John's departure.

[OneWhoLurks]

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John Oliver made Delhi airport a little bit cooler by being spotted there. The British comedian was on a mysterious trip to the country since nobody knows if it was a leisure or business trip.

The Delhi Airport Facebook page shared Oliver talking about “the magnificent, large, pointy award” of excellence.

John Oliver Shows Up at Delhi Airport, Jokes About ‘Soupy’ Air

[OneWhoLurks]

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The event, hosted by Bob Saget, an SRF Board Member who lost his sister to scleroderma, was joined in the fundraising effort for this life-threatening disease by fellow SRF Board Member Dana Delany, who co-hosted the auction with Bob, followed by the brilliant and hilarious comedians Michael Che, John Oliver, and Jeff Ross.

Bob Saget, Michael Che, Dana Delany, John Oliver and Jeff Ross Along With Top Chef Masters Raise Nearly $800,000 at Cool Comedy- Hot Cuisine New York

[OneWhoLurks]

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HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” finished No. 2 after “GMA,” although it’s technically not an actual “news show.” The Joe Scarborough-hosted morning show finished third, followed by “Fox & Friends” and “Meet the Press.”

The annual list showcases the people, topics, events and news that captured the world’s attention this year. Google’s Year in Search uses data from multiple sources, including Google Trends, and explores trending topics from more than 70 countries.

 

‘GMA,’ ‘Morning Joe’ Among Most Googled News Shows of 2016

[wknt3]

On 12/18/2016 at 2:31 AM, OneWhoLurks said:

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HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” finished No. 2 after “GMA,” although it’s technically not an actual “news show.” The Joe Scarborough-hosted morning show finished third, followed by “Fox & Friends” and “Meet the Press.”

‘GMA,’ ‘Morning Joe’ Among Most Googled News Shows of 2016

It's not the only show on the list that isn't really a news show so why single it out?

[Skyfall]

Loved Ollie on The Men In Blazers yesterday even though he's a Liverpool fan and I was still salty over that late goal.

[dcalley]

Chris Matthews is America’s greatest champion of ‘Love Actually.’ So we watched it with him.

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Chris Matthews, one of Washington’s great talkers, loves “Love Actually,” and he loves to talk about “Love Actually.” So much so that HBO late-night host John Oliver called him out for it, with a video mash-up of all the times Matthews has managed to name-drop it on air.

[OneWhoLurks]

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“We end up sounding evangelical in a certain way, talking about ‘the Daily Show process,’” John Oliver says. “You sound like you are trying to sell Scientology equipment. But Jon taught people to do a version of their job that the whole machine needs.” Which elements of the Daily Show process did Oliver try to replicate when launching Last Week Tonight on HBO?

“Oh!” he says, laughing. “Everything!”

 

Jon Stewart’s Secrets for Managing Creativity on ‘The Daily Show'

[peeayebee]

Thanks for the article. I'm curious about this quote:

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... says Dan Bakkedahl, who spent what he says were two mostly miserable years as a Daily Show correspondent

I wonder why he was miserable.

[OneWhoLurks]

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We wanted to highlight the education-focused political satire in 2016 because it’s an underrecognized source of information about issues related to schools and higher education. Late-night comedy shows may even have a pronounced impact on the way viewers react to the information they’re receiving. According to Young’s research, the reason its often highly polemical commentary can be so compelling is because of the way the brain processes humor and criticism simultaneously. When a brain is engaging in humor, it’s attempting to understand a joke—to, effectively, solve a riddle. The goal, of course, is to laugh. That gets complicated when the brain is also trying to navigate what young described as “serious, didactic, persuasive rhetoric”—the kind of speech, in other words, that you’d hear from your everyday politician or political commentator.

“In humor, because we have this other simultaneous goal of getting the path of the joke and finding the missing piece of information to solve the riddle, that other process—of actively scrutinizing and preparing to counterargue—is deemed less appropriate,” Young said. “We are not good at processing toward two goals at the same time. And this is why some of my colleagues have even gone so far as to say, ‘Laughing and counterarguing are mutually exclusive.’”

 

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Becker in her own research has focused on the “experimental effect” of Last Week Tonight and found that Oliver can have extensive influence on political participation. After his segment on net neutrality, in which he called on readers to comment on the Federal Communications Commission in response to a proposed regulation, the FCC site got so much traffic the day after the show that it crashed. Interestingly, Oliver’s segment had a marked impact on the number of women commenters on the site; traditionally, the people who’d commented were predominantly male. “He narrowed the gender gap,” Becker said, “so he made it more of a democratic discussion online.”

How Comedy Became Education's Best Critique

[wknt3]

On 12/26/2016 at 8:46 AM, peeayebee said:

Thanks for the article. I'm curious about this quote:

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... says Dan Bakkedahl, who spent what he says were two mostly miserable years as a Daily Show correspondent

I wonder why he was miserable.

I always got the sense that he was never able to reach his full potential for whatever reason. He was solid, but never quite broke through. And came in right after Steve and Stephen left with Ed Helms and Rob Corddry getting offers so there was sort of the expectation that this was THE launching pad for comedy success and to not have that happen had to be disappointing especially since he was watching Jason Jones, John Oliver, and Rob Riggle who came in after him overtake him in many ways. I'm not sure if there were any backstage issues or if he had creative differences with the writers, but getting your shot to join the '27 Yankees of topical comedy and coming up just short would probably make anyone unhappy no matter what else was going on.

[zxy556575]

Correspondent is kind of a shit job, too, right? Or at least requires a certain type of person who thrives on travel and doesn't mind acting like somewhat of a dick to strangers on remote pieces.

Or maybe it's just my personal idea of work hell.

[OneWhoLurks]

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We kinda flipped when we heard that comedian John Oliver made a stop at a somewhat low-key Corktown eatery after wrapping up his NYE performance at the Fox Theatre.

We might have expected him to hit up Café D'Mongo's Speakeasy, always a popular hot spot for visiting celebrities. Or maybe the much lauded Selden Standard, or even one of the casinos.

But we were somewhat delighted to learn that he paid a visit to Bobcat Bonnie's, the laid back gastropub that otherwise does not get a whole lot of hype.

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"Seriously, he has us sit with him and he talked to us like we were actually friends," Buskard tells us.

But the dinner party didn't just come in for a quick bite and drink, before heading off to some swanky party. Buskard says they asked if they could stay until midnight.

They wound up staying until 2:30 a.m. Oliver sampled the fried goat cheese and beef and broccoli, and plenty of Michigan pale ales, and took photos with the staff.

John Oliver makes this Corktown restaurant owner's night when he shows up unexpectedly

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Billy Eichner, great investigator of our time, braved the streets of New York to get answers to the timeless question: do gay people care about John Oliver?

The Last Week Tonight host actually joined Eichner for a hilarious edition of Billy on the Street, where he had to face some hard truth about his audience.

 

Billy Eichner gets answers to age-old question: Do gay people care about John Oliver?

Edited January 4, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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Kids Wish Network, which has been fulfilling wishes for sick children since 1997, flew Wish Kid Josh Danielpour from Ohio to New York where the hit show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is produced. It was there in The Big Apple the teen was able to do some sightseeing as well as meet John Oliver and the writers of the hit HBO show.

It was also a special time for John Oliver who enjoys brightening a young person’s day. “It was really great spending time with Josh. He is not only smarter and funnier than I was at his age; he’s smarter and funnier than I am now,” Oliver explained. He continued in a joking manner stating, “I loved hanging out with him and watching him slowly realize that he should have probably wished for something else. He’s welcome back here anytime!”

“Can you imagine the excitement Josh felt when he traveled almost halfway across the country to sit on the set of his favorite TV show and then to actually spend time and talk with his favorite entertainer?” said Anna Lanzatella, executive director for Kids Wish Network. “This is the joy we’re able to give our Wish Kids when we partner with people like John Oliver.”

 

John Oliver Grants Once-In-A-Lifetime Experience To Ohio Wish Kid

[Princess Sparkle]

On 12/26/2016 at 7:46 AM, peeayebee said:

Thanks for the article. I'm curious about this quote:

I wonder why he was miserable.

This is an oh-so-late response (I'm timely as always....) but I recently finished The Daily Show Oral History, and there's some insight in there.  Basically, Dan's style of comedy never entirely meshed with Jon's and they got started off on the wrong foot - there was a piece Dan pitched that he wanted Jon's advice on, and when Jon asked him "Why don't you think it's working", Dan's response was "I don't know."  I guess from Dan's perspective, he thought he was being honest and really wanted Jon's advice, whereas Jon didn't necessarily want people asking him why something wasn't working, he wanted the correspondent to be able to figure it out.  So from that day, Dan felt like Jon wrote him off, and the other writers basically say "Dan's a good comedian, but not for this style of show."

For what it's worth, he did come to Jon's final show and said that after he left the show in 2007, he could see that he and the show just weren't the right fit, and that he's genuinely grateful to Jon (and told him that at the final show).  

[OneWhoLurks]

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The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Season 3) (WINNER)
Producers: Tim Carvell, John Oliver, Liz Stanton

'La La Land' Wins Big at Producers Guild Awards -- See the Complete List

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Steve Brown: You said the results show people who had a lower interest in politics preferred satirical news. This makes sense for people who generally prefer entertainment over straight news. But it's also slightly worrisome, because people are having their beliefs reinforced by really what amounts to comedy shows.

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick: Yes very much so. This was one motivation to do this study because we all would like people to engage also with views that they are not holding already so that they engage in deliberation and also see other people's viewpoints. And we were hoping that satire might actually help with that so that you might be more willing to look at something that does not align with your views if it's meant to be funny, so that you're not feeling that you are being persuaded.

But we didn't really find that. Only the Democrats were more open toward other viewpoints in the satire clips. The Republicans were very much showing, if you will, a confirmation bias: They would always go for the Republican-leaning clips, no matter whether they were real news or satirical news.

 

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Steve Brown: If there's a message here for the hosts of these shows, people like Trevor Noah or John Oliver, what would you say it is? Is it that they have a lot of sway over their viewers, or is there a message for them here?

Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick: The message might be people pick out what they believe in already, so oftentimes these shows might be reinforcing pre-existing views, which is something that you find in other shows as well.

So research does not dismiss those satire shows as just being funny and inconsequential. They definitely have an impact. We also found that they have an impact on people's political efficacy, how much they feel that they can influence politics. So your own everyday engagement in politics might be affected by watching these shows as well. 

 

Satirical News Makes Real Impression On Viewers

Edited January 31, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[scarynikki12]

On 1/27/2017 at 4:32 PM, Princess Sparkle said:

This is an oh-so-late response (I'm timely as always....) but I recently finished The Daily Show Oral History, and there's some insight in there.  Basically, Dan's style of comedy never entirely meshed with Jon's and they got started off on the wrong foot - there was a piece Dan pitched that he wanted Jon's advice on, and when Jon asked him "Why don't you think it's working", Dan's response was "I don't know."  I guess from Dan's perspective, he thought he was being honest and really wanted Jon's advice, whereas Jon didn't necessarily want people asking him why something wasn't working, he wanted the correspondent to be able to figure it out.  So from that day, Dan felt like Jon wrote him off, and the other writers basically say "Dan's a good comedian, but not for this style of show."

For what it's worth, he did come to Jon's final show and said that after he left the show in 2007, he could see that he and the show just weren't the right fit, and that he's genuinely grateful to Jon (and told him that at the final show).  

I agree with this. I wasn't a fan when he was a correspondent but I love him on Veep. 

[Traveller519]

Yes, I feel like a big part of being a good correspondent is being able to balance the performance art as well as your own persona. Bakkedahl is a great actor. I'm amazed he can play two completely different characters and still be funny in both roles on Veep and Life in Pieces. But I don't know that I've seen him as humorous as himself the way a Carrell, Colbert, Oliver, or Cordry normally is. By the same token, I don't know that Will Ferrell would make a great Daily Show correspondent because he can't make the break out of character so easily.

 

All that said. Come back, John! We're ready, we need you!

[OneWhoLurks]

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In May 2016, voters of all political stripes were becoming understandably frustrated by the arcane and inaccessible primary systems. Oliver, true to form, produced a lengthy segment explaining some of the crazy nuances built into that system and showed they, for both Democrats and Republicans, the ability to pick presidential candidates is less in the hands of the voting public than most of us would like to believe.

Unfortunately for us, though, Oliver noted, “we only get angry about the primary process during the primary process, when it’s impacting the candidate we care about.” His solution for that? Pick a day where voters contact the heads of their respective parties to demand the rules be changed.

That day is today, February 2. “Now that will be easy to remember,” Oliver said, “because it’s Groundhog Day, which does seem appropriate because unless this primary process is fixed, we are all destined to live through the same nightmare scenario over and over again until the end of fucking time.”

 

Today is John Oliver's "Day to Remind Party Leaders That Primaries Suck"
 

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Every time we book a guest, we sit down and say to ourselves, What would be funny to do with this person? Is there something about them, about their essence? About what they put out there that would be funny, either to celebrate in an excessive way or spoof in some way? In the case of John Oliver ... You know, I have a lot of gay writers that work with me. I'm a pop culture guy and I'm a big current events nut and so I love John Oliver. I've done his show and we're friends, but my gay friends who are not in entertainment — I don't really see them making as big of a deal about John Oliver or Jon Stewart or any of these guys as the culture-at-large would make you believe that they do.

Yet I know that they DVR Wendy Williams, who's not nearly as celebrated in that way in certain circles as my gay friends celebrate her. As a gay person myself, I've done the John Oliver show and I've done Wendy Williams and I love them both. But I would say someone like Wendy Williams maybe doesn't quite get the respect that John Oliver gets. I think that's an interesting question. Why not? Does it have anything to do with who's watching? With who looks up to this person? And so we eventually landed on a very simple question: Let's take John Oliver out to a gay neighborhood in Manhattan and ask gay guys, Do you care about John Oliver? 

 

For Billy Eichner, pop culture and politics intersect on the street
 

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Finally, the first gent’s face appeared on a screen: Harry Styles. After struggling to see him at first, Barrymore declared, “No! He’s like 2!” John Mayer then received a swipe left without any commentary and Prince Harry, too, was a pass. “Not realistic,” she said. Later, she had no qualms turning down Brad Pitt, Lenny Kravitz, Jake Gyllenhaal, and more.

“Even I would have chosen four of those guys,” DeGeneres said. But when she showed her guest a photo of John Oliver, Barrymore became extremely excited, screaming, “Yes!”

“Totally for me, John Oliver would be the one,” she added. “But he’s married, so I’m so sorry to his wife, by the way. I’m not being lascivious.”

 

See Drew Barrymore swipe left on Brad Pitt and pretty much everyone

Edited February 2, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[trow125]

John is scheduled to appear as a guest on "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

[OneWhoLurks]

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Boston comedian Josh Gondelman, who’s a writer for Late Night with John Oliver, tweeted Thursday he thinks Tom Brady has “garbage politics.” As a result, he says he’s going to donate $100 for every Patriots touchdown and $50 for every New England field goal to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. He and his friend Emma Sandoe, who gave him the idea for the project, are encouraging other fans to do the same, using the hashtag “#AGoodGame.”

Disgusted by ‘Tom Brady’s garbage politics,’ anti-Trump Patriots fans pledge to donate to charity during Super Bowl

[OneWhoLurks]

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When, say, you do a long segment on “Last Week Tonight” about the importance of the so-called fiduciary rule, and then Trump signs an executive order that could put a halt to it, does that frustrate you?

No, but it hurts more. We’ve spent so long looking at those stories, we know how important it is. Even something like the fiduciary rule, which can seem like a luxury issue — that, in very meaningful ways, affects people’s lives down the line. Our researchers have been looking at the [hiring freeze on federal workers] — there’s a lot of veterans who are going to be adversely affected and they don’t even realize it yet. With some of these E.O.s [executive orders], it’s like a tsunami warning. You’re in real trouble and you don’t yet know because the sea looks calm.

Do you accept the argument that late-night comedians helped Trump win, either by insulating Clinton voters from the possibility she could lose or egging on his supporters to vote for him?

That is just a stick to hit someone with, knowing that it’s something that could hurt someone. What’s a thing that you like? I’ll attach something you don’t like to it. “Pancakes — this is why Trump won.” But I like pancakes! I’m not saying that comedians are not, by their nature, self-centered. But if you, as a comedian, think you got Donald Trump elected, you’re a sociopath.

The election and its aftermath have brought attention to the problem of fake news. Do you think shows like “Last Week Tonight” contribute to this problem?

The phrase “fake news” has now been used so liberally, it’s meaningless. The problem with aggregation is that the very act of aggregating a piece of information assumes that somewhere along the line, there was a level of fact-checking. We are very, very strict about making sure that every piece of information that we pass along, we fact-check independently. I do not, for a second, say that our sourcing is transferable across other political comedy shows.

 

John Oliver Returns: ‘I’m Not a Complete Nihilist’
 

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"We'll work it out. I don't know," he said. "I think we're very anxious to not make it all Trump, all the time — both on a level of interest and on a level of what the human soul can sustain."

For the past month, Oliver and Co. have been working on longer-term pieces that both require a great deal of lead time and have nothing to do with Trump.

"He moves so fast that there's no real point in spending a month on something that he's said until you work out what the consequences of that are going to be," said the host.

 

John Oliver "Very Anxious" to Keep 'Last Week Tonight' From Becoming "All Trump, All the Time"

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How was your mood over the holidays?
Oh, pretty bad. We had one show to do after the election.

That was the one where you did the now-famous "Fuck 2016" segment, which ended with you blowing up a giant 2016 sign set up in an empty stadium?
We'd already planned the demolition, because it had already been a really bad year in many ways. It had been a fucking awful election campaign, humanity at its worst. And Prince died, and everything else. It was supposed to be a separate story after whatever we did at the top of the show, but it turned out to have direct connective tissue, so we did one story for 30 minutes, and then blew it up and walked away.

The morning of Election Day, we went through all the safety stuff, and the guy had said, "Hey, you're standing, like, in the blast radius." Like, "This wave is gonna come through you, through your ribs, and it's gonna move your heart." And I'm a natural coward, with all the self-preservation skills of a coward, which is flee and flinch.

But you looked stoic as hell in the final clip.
We did the actual explosion the day after the election. I was so dead inside emotionally that I didn't flinch – because I didn't really care [laughs]. "Hmm, maybe a piece of something smashes into me and kills me. Would that be the worst thing?" I mean, he'd been elected less than 12 hours ago, so you'd think, "Yeah, I'd like to blow something up and see if I feel anything." So it wasn't bravado, it was total nihilism.

 

 

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Did parenthood crack you open emotionally, as it does for many people?
Definitely. Definitely. Definitely – and I'm British. So you're cracking a pretty dormant volcano [laughs]. He had a pretty difficult time, and it was not the easiest pregnancy as well. It was a level of trauma throughout his gestation and birth, and in the aftermath. So, yeah, it did feel weird doing a comedy show during some of that. And you probably feel things more keenly. I guess I've generally done that through other people.

How did that manifest itself?
[Somberly] I think that's why I found Trump's treatment of Khizr Khan and his wife [after the Democratic National Convention] – the parents of a soldier who was killed – I found that so heinous. That's probably through my [Army veteran] wife, right? So that's having some skin in the game with the military, or knowing the military through my wife. I found that so appalling that it was the only time last year I couldn't think of a joke. And we went around and around and around on finding a joke to get out of that segment, because it was going to be the last part of that story. We could never come out with a joke that didn't feel too glib. So we ended up just saying something that sounded like a joke but wasn't. And that feels like a failure, to be honest, because I think it's our job to put jokes on things. I think I was too personally offended by it. But that's a failure. I don't think that's an excuse. I think that's not doing your job properly.

You should probably resign.
Well, it definitely kind of sticks in my throat. We did come up with loads of jokes, just nothing that I felt like I could say.

 

John Oliver Takes on the Trump Era: The Rolling Stone Interview
 

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It's hard enough for news organizations to be taken seriously at a time when the president himself is labeling those whose reporting he disagrees with "fake news." Oliver, who continues to insist that what he does isn't journalism, does want people to believe what they're seeing on Last Week Tonight, even if it's presented in ways meant to leave them laughing. 

"Everything is rigorously fact-checked," he said. "So I hope that we've earned people's trust. The information that we're giving is, yeah, quadruple fact-checked. We fact-check every single thing we say," doing more work than most people probably realize.

"It's almost humiliating the amount of work we put into it, considering it's just half an hour."

 

John Oliver doesn't want his HBO show's new season to be 'all Trump all the time'
 

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“As a white, male human being, with a generic first and last name, coming from Great Britain, sponsored by a series of TV production companies in America, and [speaking] absolutely crystal-clear, perfect English, I’ve seen the system at its easiest,” the Last Week Tonight host told Dan Rather.

“So if I’m getting the best of the system, I really fear for the people getting the system at its worst,” Oliver said. “And also, as an immigrant, I guess that’s one of the reasons I find some of these actions taken through the executive order so viscerally offensive.”

“It is offensive to me to see how immigrants are being treated,” he added.

 

‘I’m very concerned as a human being’: John Oliver slams Trump’s ‘viscerally offensive’ Muslim ban

Edited February 8, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[peeayebee]

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I think that's why I found Trump's treatment of Khizr Khan and his wife [after the Democratic National Convention] – the parents of a soldier who was killed – I found that so heinous. That's probably through my [Army veteran] wife, right? So that's having some skin in the game with the military, or knowing the military through my wife. I found that so appalling that it was the only time last year I couldn't think of a joke. And we went around and around and around on finding a joke to get out of that segment, because it was going to be the last part of that story. We could never come out with a joke that didn't feel too glib. So we ended up just saying something that sounded like a joke but wasn't.

Can someone remind me what the joke-that-wasn't-a-joke was?

[OneWhoLurks]

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Colbert also asked Oliver whether he was scared about being deported to his native England. Oliver has a green card, but is not an American citizen. “The crazy thing is it’s probably not gonna happen, but there is a nonzero chance of it happening now. So yeah, I am slightly concerned.”

“Having a green card used to be enough,” he continued. “And yet what we saw with that executive order on immigration, that debacle, things are not what they’re supposed to be. We held up translators — Afghan and Iraqi translators — at the border who have bled for a country they’ve never visited, have sacrificed family members for this country. This president has done neither of these things, so it’s a little hard to swallow him telling people whether they should be a benefit to America or not.”

 

John Oliver is preparing to take on President Trump, but he isn’t exactly excited about it
 

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“We’ve been pushed into covering things that no one in their right minds would cover for comedy,” he said, adding that this originality is a means of not repeating what has already appeared on the nightly shows. “It’s some of the more difficult work, but it’s also where we’re the happiest.”

There was last season’s 31-minute segment on multilevel marketing, for example, which took many weeks of researching and fact-checking. While this topic may seem a bit niche and intricate for a late-night comedy show, it ended up being well-received. The English version garnered over 7 million hits on YouTube, and the Spanish version—that’s right, they redid the whole segment in Spanish with Mexican actor Jaime Camil to appeal to a South American audience—has nearly 2 million views.

“The most humiliating thing about that was we were wearing the same suit, the same suit, and it just looked so much more pleasant on his elegantly proportioned body,” Oliver laughed, remembering Jane the Virgin’s Camil.

 

John Oliver Talks Trump, Snowden And Season Four Of 'Last Week Tonight'
 

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Elsewhere, the pair united for another installment of Community Calendar. The segment previously featured Aaron Paul and Adam Driver to cover events happening in small towns, and now it’s focus is on “Bedford, the county town of Bedfordshire, and the greater region of…I’m gonna say Bedfordington,” Colbert said.

Watch them discuss events in Bedford, including “Badgers in a Box” and “Circus of Horrors,” in the video above.

 

John Oliver, Stephen Colbert discuss Donald Trump: 'It's exhausting'

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Those behind the event saw the funny side - and have even thanked the show for its 'invaluable' coverage.

A spokesman for the Forest of Marston Vale said: "As a small, local charity being mentioned on a popular TV show is invaluable to us.

"Our events are very popular locally and help us to raise money for the Forest of Marston Vale. We've already planted over 1 million trees, but we've got a big vision of planting 5 million more. Any money we raise helps us towards this target.

 

Badger in a Box, anyone? How you can actually attend the events on John Oliver's Community Calendar

ETA:
 

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The alt-right has adopted the frog as its mascot. What do you consider the least racist animal?
I don’t know because you’ve got to believe there’s a lot of f—ing racists in the animal kingdom. I want to say the penguin. Because it’s black and white, has wings, can’t fly, can’t swim. You feel like a penguin should understand others’ life experiences more than perhaps another member of the natural kingdom. Having said that, you know, if you gave them the ability to talk, would they use the N-word? I hope not.

What is your most Trump-like quality?
I do not think I have a Trump-like quality because anything that he would refer to as a quality is something I don’t have.

And what is your least Trump-like quality?
Self-loathing. A willingness to analyze my motivations for things. But most of all, it’s probably curiosity. I don’t think he’s a remotely curious man, so I think that is it. I think he has a smorgasbord of defining deficiencies. That is just one of them. I am a quite curious person and I think he is the opposite of that.

 

John Oliver answers our stupid questions

ETA2:
 

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On the day of our interview – in a windowless conference room at HBO’s headquarters near Times Square – Oliver is genial and polite and relaxed. When he warms to a topic, he slides his swivel chair backwards to gesticulate. One of the singular things about Oliver as a comedian is that those topics can range from U.S. politics to, say, the process of demonetization in India (the government took much of the country’s paper currency out of circulation to combat the underground economy, causing chaos).

A little bit before our meeting, Trump spoke at a military base and accused journalists of not reporting on terror attacks for unspecified reasons. Such claims strike Oliver as both ludicrous and dangerous.

“The only thing you can do now is take him at his word, right?” he says. “There’s no reason not to believe that he means everything he says.” Oliver recalls a remark once made by former president Barack Obama, who asserted that the office of the presidency humbles its occupants. “He was wrong about that,” says Oliver dryly.

 

John Oliver wants to carve out a space on television for Trump-free topics

Edited February 11, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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He is also wary of devoting too much time to Trump. Last year, the Republican and his campaign were the bulk of just eight of 30 shows. This season Oliver says he wants “to make sure that we don’t get sucked down the easy road of making everything about Trump.” As with last year, when he tackled Brexit and the coup in Brazil, Oliver again wants to give viewers a sense of what is happening abroad – the French presidential election and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen included.

While Oliver doesn’t hide his left-leaning tendencies, he likes to believe that the rigor of his approach plays beyond his natural audience.

“I would hope that even people that are diametrically opposed to how I might be politically might still find interesting things in the show,” he says. “They wouldn’t be able to say, ‘the facts are wrong’ but they can absolutely disagree with my conclusions to those.”

 

John Oliver, the British king of U.S. political satire

ETA:

Edited February 15, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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John Oliver thinks the reporters are missing the boat in a big way by boycotting the White House Correspondents' Dinner for 2 reasons ... it's unproductive, and the dinner itself is ridiculous.

We got Oliver outside of 30 Rock in NYC where hours earlier, his old boss, Jon Stewart, told our camera guy journos should attend since the dinner provides several scholarships.

 

John Oliver White House Correspondents' Dinner is Frivolous

[OneWhoLurks]

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In addition to planning a story on Australia’s immigration policy, Oliver said he planned to focus on post-Brexit Europe and the rise of nationalism.

“There is so much in Europe this coming year which is going to be much more important than people understand,” he said.

“You don’t need to be a history buff to understand that nothing in Europe happens in isolation. There are serious consequences to each nation’s actions, and when there is this surge towards the right, it’s bad news for everyone.”

 

John Oliver warns his new season of Last Week Tonight may skewer Australia’ detention centres

[purist]

I can't read that article, @OneWhoLurks - it is subscription only. Oddly, this link worked for me. As an Australian, I am DELIGHTED to hear this news. The situation is a constant source of shame and distress for many of us. I'm not sure Last Week Tonight's coverage will have any effect on our disgraceful government and opposition policies, though.

Edited February 19, 2017 by purist

[OneWhoLurks]

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John Oliver and his team picked up a Writer’s Guild Of America gong last night.

The 11-strong writing crew behind his HBO series Last Week Tonight scooped the award for comedy and variety series.

 

Writing award for John Oliver's team

[OneWhoLurks]

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Asked if he feels lucky to do his job without fear of the repercussions facing comedians in more authoritarian countries, Oliver says: "I really do, which is why I want to use it to its full capacity.

"People ask, 'Are you not concerned about what might happen to your show or to you by criticising the administration or a company?'. But I'm vehemently against the concept of that question because if you have no reason to be scared about consequences, you do not get to feel scared.

"I think about Bassem Youssef, who had a similar kind of show in Egypt. He and his family were threatened and the show was shut down. He was justified in feeling concerned about personal consequences to jokes he made. I definitely do not get to feel that."

 

Last Week Tonight's John Oliver is adamant that he is not a journalist

[OneWhoLurks]

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John Oliver went back to his old stomping grounds on Monday night as a guest on The Daily Show. While there, him and Trevor Noah discussed a wide variety of things, including whether Oliver has ever liked Trump and if he ever envies shows like The Daily Show that run every day instead of once a week.

They also discuss the fact that Oliver's segments often "accidentally eviscerate" whatever's at the center of the segment. In discussing this idea, Oliver inadvertently makes a dig at Noah.

 

John Oliver appears on 'The Daily Show' to call Trump a clown

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John Oliver has a message for people still freaking out over Donald Trump pulling out of the White House Correspondents' Dinner ... "WHO GIVES A S**T?!"

The "Last Week Tonight" host thinks the dinner is "bulls**t" anyway ... and the fact Trump's the first prez in forever to skip the event is like the 250th thing on his list of gripes with POTUS.

John Oliver On Trump Skipping Correspondents' Dinner: 'Who Gives a S***?!'

Edited February 28, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

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And the fourth-season premiere for Last Week Tonight was the most-watched episode of the series ever on HBO Canada, nabbing an average audience of 403,000 viewers. That's double the average audience for the season three bow.

The Trump bump for U.S. late-night talkers in Canada mirrors the performance stateside as the president's first 100 days in the White House has generated record ratings for American chat shows.

Elsewhere, pan-European pay TV giant Sky's Sky Atlantic network in the U.K. has seen Last Week Tonight post its highest ratings yet in 2017. "The success of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver reflects the excellent format the show offers — a stand-out host who instantly appeals to the Sky Atlantic audience, the satirical tone and the ongoing backing and support of Sky Atlantic," said a Sky spokesperson.

 

Trump Helps U.S. Late-Night Shows to Record Ratings in Canada, U.K.

[OneWhoLurks]

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Ahhhhhhhhhh.

HBO’s newest campaign, “It’s What Connects Us,” created with agency Mekanism, promotes its programming with the recognizable moment of on-screen static followed by a satisfied exhale that precedes all of its shows.

If you find that a little bit ridiculous, you’re not alone. One very meta spot in the campaign features John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, questioning the approach with his trademark sardonic wit. “What is the point of this whole concept?” he asks, while admitting that getting actors from the network’s most popular programming to contribute is “impressive, if it isn’t some form of corporate bullying.”

 

John Oliver Can’t Resist Hating on the New HBO Ads He’s Forced to Do

[OneWhoLurks]

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Your background is primarily improv and sketch, but you dabbled in stand-up a couple of years ago. Have you ever thought about doing it again?

When I was on The Daily Show, I shared an office with John Oliver. I used to drag him down to the UCB Theater to do improv with me on the condition that he would drag me down to comedy clubs to do stand-up with him. I kind of dragged him into my world, so he dragged me into his. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I ended up building a set and really enjoying it. I even started touring for awhile. I did that for about three or four years, actually. But it’s a hard life, especially when you have a family back home, so after hosting the ESPYs I kind of backed away from stand-up.

 

Rob Riggle Used To Drag John Oliver To Improv Shows And Recommends Watching ‘Angie Tribeca’ On Repeat
 

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John Oliver

Host, 'Last Week Tonight'

"Just a book would be great. It can even be one of the books he 'wrote.' But he has to read every single word, cover to cover. No skimming. No audiobook bullshit. The whole thing."

 

Judd Apatow on the Books Trump Must Read: "He Definitely Needs Some Self-Help"

Edited April 18, 2017 by OneWhoLurks

[attica]

Slate gives LWT credit for highlighting civil forfeiture abuses that in turn effected a SCOTUS ruling.

[OneWhoLurks]

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“The Daily Show” alumni Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Ed Helms, and Rob Corddry will reunite May 9 with Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show.”

Bee, Oliver, Helms, Corddry and Colbert were all correspondents on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” at various points during Stewart’s tenure as host, which lasted from 1999 to 2015. Each went on succeed elsewhere in television and film after leaving — Bee as host TBS’ “Full Frontal; Oliver on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight”; Helms in “The Office” and “The Hangover”; and Corddry as creator and star of Adult Swim’s “Children’s Hospital.”

 

Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and More ‘Daily Show’ Alums to Reunite on ‘Late Show’
 

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Having praised the comedian and Christ’s alumnus John Oliver for his dismantling of the American political scene on Last Week Tonight, Fry dismisses some popular conceptions about satire.

“I really like the idea of satire. But most people seem to think if it as being political, topical humour.  Actually satire tells the viewer that they are disgusting: ‘I am worthless; I am a hypocrite. I demand cheaper fuel for my car and, at the same time, a green planet. I am the reason the world doesn’t work.  It’s not them, it’s me.’” 

Increasingly animated, Fry exclaims; “It’s so easy to mock Trump, for heaven’s sake – there’s never been a more obvious c***! It’s absurd! But no one dares attack those that voted for him because it looks like snobbery.”

 

Stephen Fry: ‘Looking back, we were unbelievably lucky – outrageously so’

Edited May 6, 2017 by OneWhoLurks