I find that this show is incredibly insightful and entertaining every week. I thought it would be nice to have a discussion thread on it's topics! The great thing is that the show is on youtube every week so you don't need HBO to watch them!
Last week was the Scottish Independence and USA entering Iraq again. I know there is a thread on the Independence already.
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I thought that I would get annoyed by the format of him ranting about one topic for most of the show, but it actually works really well. You get a lot of information and a better understanding of things. Plus, he gets so worked up about it that he just hooks you.
I think its on par or sometimes better than Colbert and the Daily show.
It's better because it's only one show a week, and it's on HBO so there's zero censorship. If you look at a whole weeks worth of shows for both TDS and Colbert, there's a lot of great material but also quite a bit of filler. But when they get really passionate about something (Jon Stewart with the veterans healthcare mess, Colbert with Super-PACs) it's still some of the best TV around
That's why I'm really sad that Colbert is leaving his show and joining a network, I doubt we'll see the brilliance of his Super-PAC campaign on a regular late night show
Last time I watched anything related to pageantry it was Miss Congeniality... Before that it was the first example used to illustrate LWT's story. This is an archaic part of US society that should disappear, but while Last Week Tonight talks about this topic. they should be including the entire "beauty industry".
I really enjoyed the Cuban embargo story. It's clearly an embargo that is controlled by a few individuals and not a world view. Even in the USA.
I think its on par or sometimes better than Colbert and the Daily show.
John Oliver is pretty fresh and I am loving his show, but Jon Stewart is still the king in my books.
I'm a little tired with Colbert's shtick now. The over the top faux conservative caricature just takes away from the message sometimes IMO. It worked better when he was a "correspondent" on the Daily Show than as a host.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Yeah, Obama has really f-ed up on the whole drone thing, I'm surprised there isn't more outrage about it. I suppose it's easier to get upset about 'real wars' for a few reasons, the first being a lot of people who oppose them aren't necessarily against the violence of them, as long as it's the enemy getting killed, it's when soldiers start coming back they get upset. So it's less that they are 'against war' and more that they are against domestic soldiers getting killed.
The second being the the whole drone war is far more subversive. You don't hear about it, you don't see it. Your not forced to think about it.
I would wager that it's fueling a lot of terrorist activity though. Can you imagine if the spectre of death hung over your head 24/7?
John Oliver is pretty fresh and I am loving his show, but Jon Stewart is still the king in my books.
I'm a little tired with Colbert's shtick now. The over the top faux conservative caricature just takes away from the message sometimes IMO. It worked better when he was a "correspondent" on the Daily Show than as a host.
The thing with Colbert is, he is a little less consistent that John, but when he knocks it out of the park, there is no one funnier. Some of his segments, especially the interviews are funny enough to make you cry and make your belly hurt.
I agree the character has gotten a bit stale lately, but he has had his show for what, 8 years? He had many good years after leaving The Daily Show, I wouldn't say he was at his best as a 'correspondent'. Though the partisan argument segment with Steve Carrell were as classic as it gets!
As for the new show, the first few episodes were great, but I've been finding the laughs come a lot less now. Still very informative, and I love how they tackle one big issue a week, but it seems to be slowing down already as far as the laughs go anyway. John Oliver already has a very predictable joke cycle, he needs to switch it up a little. Maybe it's just been a depressing few shows, haha, we'll see.
They are also able to do some things the other two can't, only having to do one show a week. So that'll keep it fresh for a while.
Oliver does a great job and usually has different types of stories (I find Colbert and Stewart cover similar things which I find odd with back to back shows). I think the differences are: Stewart is more news and more directly points out hypocrisies in media and government; Colbert exposes it with an exaggerated version of a conservative person (although it has, sadly, become less of an exaggeration and more of an accurate reflection); Oliver just seems to leave out the hypocrisy angle and focus on doing/not doing things based on common sense, and his directness about it is funny.
I also find his Now This segments like "How is This Still a Thing?" and "F*** That Guy" to generally be hilarious.
But yeah I think seriousness of the news lately has hurt all 3 in the comedy department, but it certainly makes things interesting.
ya, I am loving this show. I like the way he's switched up the format from Stewart and Colbert by doing an in-depth 'report' on one issue each week. I wish he would do one more pre-recorded segment each week, just because they're typically so damned funny and they provide nice, quick breaks to the show.
Relatedly, I have to say that John Oliver is a great 'personality'. Just seems like a really genuine guy and is unbelievably funny and quick-witted as his turns as temporary host of The Daily Show and as professor on Community have shown. Definitely deserves all of his success.
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"That's because the productive part of society is adverse to giving up all their wealth so you libs can conduct your social experiments. Experience tells us your a bunch of snake oil salesman...Sucks to be you." ~Calgaryborn 12/06/09 keeping it really stupid!
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My favourite all time John Oliver was from his Daily Show days. The gun control series. Just brilliant - the best of what political satire can be. Continues his great work on his own show.
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