Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

2024-10-22T16:13:25Z

188.176.168.141: Also a US citizen.

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'''''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver''''', or just '''''Last Week Tonight''''', is an American [[W:Late-night talk show|late-night talk]] and [[W:News satire|news satire television]] program hosted by British-American [[W:comedian|comedian]], [[writer]], [[W:producer|producer]], [[w:political commentator|political commentator]], [[W:Actor|actor]], and [[w:Television host|television host]], [[W:John Oliver|John Oliver]].

The half-hour-long show premiered on Sunday, April 27, 2014, on [[W:HBO|HBO]]. Last Week Tonight shares some similarities with [[W:Comedy Central|Comedy Central]]'s ''[[W:The Daily Show|The Daily Show]]'' (where Oliver was previously featured as a correspondent and fill-in host), as it takes a satirical look at news, politics and current events, but on a weekly basis.

== ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'' and furry ==
[[File:John Oliver 2016.jpg|right|thumb|Host John Oliver]]
There are various elements in the series of interest to [[furries]]. The show's theme song starts off every episode containing images relating the world at large (with one or more related to that episode) with satirical captions written in [[W:dog Latin|dog Latin]].

Opening sequence of season 5:

* f.6 "Bolivian Zebra" / "Equus Stripedus" ([[W:La Paz traffic zebras|La Paz traffic zebras]])
* f.(33?) "Jeff" / "Logos Marlborum" ('''Jeff the Diseased Lung''' in a Cowboy Hat)([[anthropomorphic]] lung)
* f.(34?) "Ginsburg" / "Justice Es Adorabelium" (from the series' dog-version of U.S. Supreme Court Justice [[W:Ruth Bader Ginsburg|Ruth Bader Ginsburg]])

A reoccurring element of the show is Oliver's use of [[mascot]]s. The mascots used in the show include '''Jeff the Diseased Lung''' in a Cowboy Hat, '''Hoots the NSA Owl''', '''Taryn the Tinder Chicken''', and the Last Week Tonight [[puppet]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ranker.com/list/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-mascots/ranker-tv |title=All the Mascot Costumes from Last Week Tonight, Ranked |date=2020-05-07 |access-date=2021-12-30}}</ref> Oliver told Vulture in February of 2019:{{q|I mean, the truth of the mascots is that we have a gigantic room filled with spectacular mascot costumes now. [Executive producer] Tim Carvell and I — I think we’ve always seen the show as our attempt to make The Muppet Show and failing to do so. But occasionally, just occasionally, you get the kind of Muppet Show adoration in the ludicrous mascots<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-hbo-interview-mascots.html |title=John Oliver Really Just Wants Last Week Tonight to Be The Muppet Show |work=[[w:Vulture.com|Vulture]] |publisher=[[w:New York (magazine)|New York Media]] |date=2019-02-07 |first=Elise |last=Czajkowski |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330183217/https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-hbo-interview-mascots.html |archive-date=2019-03-30 |access-date=2021-12-30}}</ref>}}

== Relevant episodes ==
=== Season 3, episode 15 ===
In "Retirement Plans" segment: at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZSpET11ZY&t=605s 10min6sec point]] "The Cat of Wall Street" image is shown (image edit combining [[W:The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film)|The Wolf of Wall Street (2013 film)]] movie poster of with face of [[W:Orlando (cat)|Orlando the stock-picking cat)]] instead of Leonardo DiCaprio's head and cat paws instead of Leo's hands... resulting in a cat anthro).

=== Season 4, episode 21 ===

During the information on President Donald Trump's message of "Fire and fury" to North Korea, John brings up the typo on the Kennebec Journal's front page quoting "Fire and Furry" from the president. John reacts to this by saying, "Fire and fury! The only way that is not terrifying, is if you report it like one newspaper actually did in Maine (the newspaper in reference is the Kennebec Journal) saying 'Trump warns of fire and furry' in which case, Trump is threatening to send this to North Korea, which is a very different kinda of threat.". [https://i.imgur.com/pkEghZ4.png This], a fox and chicken photo from [[Furry Kama Sutra]], was shown on screen and to the audience.

=== Season 5, episode 1 ===

While talking about YouTube (starting at 27minutes into the episode) John briefly talks about inflatable [[Tyrannosaurus]] ('''T-Rex''') [[costume]]s, while some video clips play of T-Rex costumes on dirtbikes, ballet dancing, exercising and "car repair". And for the closing segment, a bunch of people went on stage including some T-Rex costumes.

=== Season 5, episode 2 ===

Segments at the start: followup to season4 segment about Coal and the series (Last Week Tonight) being sued by Bob Murray for defamation. The judge said he was planning to dismiss the lawsuit, and then giant squirrel Mr. Nutterbutter showed up and displayed a sign that said: "Eat Shit, Bob!" Mr. Nutterbutter also did gestures and costume emoting.

=== Season 5, episode 4 ===

(during a segment about cryptocurrencies):

* (14 minutes into the episode) John says he would like to make fun of a Bitcoin bro in a "stupid costume", but "it is literally the entire business model of this fucking television show" with eight thumbnails from previous episodes
** row 1: John and Jeff the Diseased Lung in a Cowboy Hat; and John and space gecko suiter (season 1, episode 12?)
** row 2: John and two suiters ([[pig]] and [[hedgehog]]?); John and Mr. Nutterbutter.
** row 3: John and unicorn; John and pole-dancing(?) headless de-feathered (oven-ready?) bird.
** row 4: John and 1 or 2 customers (moose and owl?); John and polar bear.

* (21 minutes into the episode) John mentions startup companies sometimes sell cryptocoins to raise money as an alternative to stock, but sometimes as tokens to be used for services that the startup may eventually offer and compares it to tokens at [[Chuck E. Cheese]]. (with an image of Chuck E. Cheese character)
* (23 minutes into the episode) discussion of [[w:Dogecoin|Dogecoin]] where [[w:Shiba Inu|Shiba Inu]] paw presses a key on a computer keyboard and then a Shiba Inu rides a rocket in an animation. John compares Dogecoin (started as a joke) to a theoretical situation of someone starting a joke band named The Woofles (named similar to [[W:The Beatles|The Beatles]]) that was all [[W:St. Bernard (dog)|St. Bernard dogs]], (The Woofles image seems to be dog-heads on clothed humanoid bodies) but the band becomes incredibly successful.

=== Season 5, episode 5 ===

2018 Russian presidential election segment: (6 minutes into the episode) Russian children's drawings of Putin (organized by [https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/russian-pupils-draw-putin-sun-god-giant-astronaut-1661381 Resource Center Information Agency Infrastructure of Charity]) where one drawing (as John put it) depicting Putin "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/frolicking#English frolicking] with two extremely [[w:Down to fuck|DTF]] furries" (a brown bear and a polar bear).

** After doing a segment about USA vice-president [[W:Mike Pence|Mike Pence]], gay [[w:Conversion therapy|Conversion therapy]] (and [[w:Focus on the Family|Focus on the Family]]), John talks about Pence family having a bunny (Marlon Bundo) and that Pence family writing and illustrating a Marlon Bundo book. John announced the show had come up with their own Marlon Bundo book ([[W:A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo|A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo]]) and their Bundo is gay and falls in love with another boy rabbit. And that the book can be bought from Amazon.com, [https://betterbundobook.com/ BetterBundoBook.com] and [https://focusonthefurmily.com/ FocusOnTheFURmily.com] plus an audiobook version available from [http://audible.com/marlonbundo Audible.com]. The show presented a video version of some of the audiobooks.

=== Season 5, episode 6 ===

* Episode opener (in addition to usual elements of zebra, Jeff, and dog-version of Ginsburg) included "f.37 Marlon Bundo / In Bookstoresum".
* in 2018 Egyptian presidential election segment: (4 minutes into the episode) graphic of [[W:FarmVille|FarmVille]] with a sheep driving a tractor.
* in Executive Office for Immigration Review [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fB0GBwJ2QA segment]:
** (at start of the segment): 11 minutes into the episode: brief mention and image of Mr. Nutterbutter shit-talking coal CEO Bob Murray.
** (13 minutes into the episode): bad ideas include "doing coke in a [[w:Build-A-Bear Workshop|Build-A-Bear Workshop]] including an image (relevant due to plush toy)
** (17 minutes into the episode) (includes two images): saying 2-year-olds can't represent themselves in court because you can't even explain to them that muppet [[Elmo]] isn't their best friend.
** (26 minutes into the episode or 15 minutes into the segment on YouTube): Tot Bench (courtroom staffed by children) spectator area is populated with plush toys (about 13 toys including 2 primates (monkies?), a frog, a tiger(?), 2 elephants, pink dragon(?), yellow dog, rabbit, and husky) that seem to get moved around in between some video-shots.

=== Season 5, episode 7 ===

* segment 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election: (10-12 minutes into the episode) joke parties include [[W:Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party|Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party]] who have a spokesperson dressed in a chicken costume.
* segment Crisis pregnancy centers:
** (14 minutes into the episode): John says the name of Barbara Beavers (a founder of a CPC) sounds like the name of a sassy mother in a TV show of a family of [[beaver]]s and the TV series would be named ''Hot Dam!'' (including logo with an image of four anthro-ish beavers)
** (18 minutes into the episode): John compares CPCs luring women under false pretenses to [[w:Catfishing|Catfishing]], with an image of catfish in clothing (hat and necklace) using a laptop.
** (19-20 minutes into the episode): images include one from the [[w:The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)]] with the [[Cowardly Lion]]. One abortion clinic painted their ramp bright yellow in an attempt to avoid their clients getting hijacked by a CPC, John likens the ramp to the [[w:Yellow brick road|Yellow brick road]] in The Wizard of Oz and that is appropriate because that Oz movie "involves a young woman getting stopped several times by idiots bothering her with their own fucking issues as she just tries to get where she needs to fucking go."

=== Season 5, episode 8 ===

* Corporate tax avoidance in the United States ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKjk0ECXjiQ YouTube]):
** (15 minutes into episode or 9:44-9:53 into a segment on YouTube): Image of a dog in clothing (dress shirt, suit jacket, necktie, and monocle) accompanied by John saying "the reaction to the sentence 'I pay all my taxes' should never be incredulous laughter unless you are a very wealthy dog who's just spoken for the first time."
** Blockbuster Video in Alaska: (23 minutes into the episode) art depicting a [[w:Bigfoot|Bigfoot]] (aka Sasquatch) with John saying (about Blockbuster locations closing) "we seem to be rapidly losing something I didn't even know we had, which is a weird feeling. It's like if Bigfoot walked out of the woods with a gun to his head saying he exists, there were four of him, but he just brutally murdered his wife and two kids and he's not feeling great about it."

=== Season 5, episode 9 ===

* Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (Iranian nuclear deal)([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xnZ_CeTqyM YouTube]):
** (23-24 minutes into the episode or 15:13-15:35 into a segment on YouTube): (image of a cat parachuting) "You can't just be against something without having any plan for what comes next. Trump is like a cat on an airplane trying to escape from its carrier. Ok, but if you get out, then what? Do you have a cat-sized parachute in there with you? What's your fucking plan here? And obviously, I'm not going to say cat-sized parachute without showing you a cat in a parachute."

=== Season 9, episode 3 ===

* '''''Wrongful convictions''''' ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpYYdCzTpps Youtube]): 16 minutes into a segment on Youtube) "Yeah, he’s right. Fucking duh! You’ve probably already been screaming it at your tv for the last 15 minutes, along with “talk slower!” And “this guy’s a furry, right?” That’s my business. But I will say, the clues are all there."

=== Season 9, webisode ===
[[File:Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Web Exclusive, Season 9).png|right|thumb|'''''Rocks''''' (Season 9, webisode)]]
* '''''Rocks''''' ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEa3sK1iZxc Youtube]): (From 5:39) John discusses [[American conservatism#Mainstream|false rumors]] about furry behaviors in schools, and highlights furry Twitter responses to ex-Georgia Governor candidate [[W:2022_Georgia_gubernatorial_election#Republican_primary|Kandiss Taylor]]'s tweet that "The furry days are over when I'm governor."

:John highlights that many furries "offer [[Commission|art commissions]], where you can get yourself done up as [[Otter|sexy river otter]] at very reasonable prices" while showing a picture of himself done up as just that

== YouTube ==

The show's production has also created content specifically for [[furry fan]] use.{{cn}} For the March 19, 2017, episode, which reported on Bolivia's growing coalition of workers clad in [[zebra]] [[suit]]s to educate civilians about traffic laws, the show's production recorded 23 minutes of a person in a zebra costume dancing and gesticulating before a green screen so that viewers could edit it into other videos for humorous effect.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bradley |first=Laura |title=John Oliver Slams Trump's Budget, Lightens Mood with Dancing Zebras |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/03/john-oliver-donald-trump-budget-proposal-dancing-zebras |work=[[w:Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=2018-06-19|date=2017-03-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608152244/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/03/john-oliver-donald-trump-budget-proposal-dancing-zebras |archive-date=2017-06-08}}</ref>

A similar video called "Real [[Animal]]s, Fake [[Paw]]s" for use in reenacting [[W:U.S. Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]] cases was released after the October 19, 2014, episode where dogs were used instead of justices to make listening to oral court cases more amusing to the general public and to increase interest in the subject.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=tug71xZL7yc|title=Real Animals, Fake Paws Footage: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)|last=LastWeekTonight|date=October 19, 2014|publisher=|via=YouTube|access-date=June 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620155905/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tug71xZL7yc|archive-date=June 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

== ''A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo'' ==
[[File:A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo cover.jpg|right|thumb|''A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo'', cover by illustrator [[W:Gerald Kelley|Gerald Kelley]].]]
On March 18, 2018, Oliver announced the publication of a children's book, ''[[W:A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo|A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo]]'', which parodies a book that [[W:Mike Pence|Mike Pence]]'s family wrote about their family rabbit, ''[[W:Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President|Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President]]''. Oliver used his book as a platform to criticize Pence's positions on LGBT issues, as it featured a rabbit in a same-sex relationship.<ref name="Daily Beast Bundo">{{cite news |last=Stern |first=Marlow |date=2018-03-19 |title=John Oliver Trolls Vice President Mike Pence With Gay Children's Book of His Pet Bunny |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-trolls-vice-president-mike-pence-with-gay-childrens-book-of-his-pet-bunny |work=[[wikipedia:The Daily Beast|The Daily Beast]] |access-date=2018-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319104738/https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-trolls-vice-president-mike-pence-with-gay-childrens-book-of-his-pet-bunny |archive-date=2018-03-19 }}</ref> The book became the number-one book and e-book on [[W:Amazon (company)|Amazon]] the next day, and the top-selling audiobook on [[W:Audible (store)|Audible]].<ref name="Politico Bundo">{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Louis |date=2018-03-19 |title=Comey's memoir tops Amazon's best-sellers list |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/19/james-comey-memoir-sales-470281 |work=[[wikipedia:Politico|Politico]] |access-date=2018-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319140528/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/19/james-comey-memoir-sales-470281 |archive-date=2018-03-19 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/03/john-oliver-marlon-bundo-book-mike-pence-troll|title=John Oliver's Gay-Bunny Book Is Outselling the Mike Pence Book It's Trolling|first=Hillary|last=Busis|work=[[wikipedia:Vanity Fair|Vanity Fair]]|date=2018-03-20|access-date=2018-06-19}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== See also ==

* [[W:Last Week Tonight with John Oliver|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver]] on [[Wikipedia]]

== External links ==

* [https://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver ''Last Week Tonight with John Oliver''] official website

{{Wikipedia|Last Week Tonight with John Oliver}}
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver