Little over a year ago Last Week Tonight , a satirical news show hosted by British comedian and former Daily Show correspondent John Oliver, premiered on HBO. While expectations for the Daily Show alum were elevated, no one was expecting anything other than an entertaining half hour segment on Sunday Nights. However, in less than two seasons, Oliver has managed to invoke Twitter responses from the President of Ecuador, crash the Federal Communications Commission website, and interview controversial figures like Edward Snowden. He’s received critical praise for the show, and some could argue he’s changing the way we think about news satire.
However, what exactly makes Last Week Tonight such a compelling TV program? How has Oliver’s been able to generate such critical praise and massive appeal?
One element of the show’s success rests (obviously) on the appeal of its host. A look at his previous work on the Daily Show, demonstrated Oliver’s latent potential to rival his Comedy Central colleagues Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Like Stewart and Colbert, his show follows in the tradition of news satire, and his show is dedicated to lampooning pop culture, politicians, and mainstream media. He combines longer, detailed analyses of certain issues with short news recaps and smaller, social commentaries (his 3 minute “How is this still a thing?” segments are pretty fun to watch).
However, unlike his predecessors, Oliver doesn’t just hope to get his audience laughing: he gets them to care about the issues. His coverage of the FIFA World Cup scandal raised greater awareness of the damage the World Cup brought about to poorer countries ( and left soccer fans feeling more than a little guilty about tuning in to the spectacle). His detailed analysis of the real cost of the death penalty ( a topic that even he claimed during the segment was difficult to tackle) got even the staunchest death penalty supporters to reflect on the mounting social costs of the controversial practice. Even his segment on pomegranate juice was enough to get people thinking. He provides extensive context to the issues he discusses, and he uses a signature blend of humor and context to not only get his audience to laugh at his segments, but care about the topics as well. His segments stand out for their detailed analysis of both important news stories that are trending during the week ( such as the FIFA corruption scandal) or less trending but equally relevant topics, such a Civil forfeiture laws and prison reform.
His segments have generated notable responses, ranging from angry tweets from the President of Ecuador to sarcastic letters (and tons of pomegranate juice) from beverage company Pom Wonderful. He was named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2015, and TIME even noted the existence of the “John Oliver effect”. After criticizing The Miss America Beauty Pageant and the lack of scholarships for women, The Society of Women Engineers saw thousands of dollars in donations come their way. His criticism of Civil forfeiture laws garnered attention from attorney general Eric Holder , and his segment on net neutrality indirectly contributed to regulations and reforms from the Federal Communications Commission. HBO gives him free reign to discuss virtually anything, and he takes full advantage of that privilege.
With a deft blend of comedy and socially conscious satire, and a diverse array of topics and issues covered on a weekly basis, Last Week Tonight demonstrates it has the potential to not only generate uproarious laughter, but also generate public awareness and action on critical issues. HBO has renewed his contract for two more seasons, and hopefully, Oliver’s wit and spot on satire is here to stay.
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