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      Season 1 – Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

      2014 Talk Show Comedy List
      94% 31 Reviews Tomatometer 94% 100+ Ratings Audience Score Comedian John Oliver hosts an in-depth, satirical look at developments from the past seven days in news, politics and current events. Read More Read Less

      Where to Watch

      Last Week Tonight With John Oliver — Season 1

      Prime Video

      Buy Last Week Tonight With John Oliver — Season 1 on Prime Video.

      Last Week Tonight With John Oliver — Season 1

      What to Know

      Critics Consensus

      John Oliver successfully transitions from correspondent to host in Last Week Tonight, a biting, often brilliant addition to the satirical news circuit.

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      Audience Reviews

      View All (9) audience reviews
      Michael G Funniest and most informative current events comedy show on TV. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/24 Full Review Audience Member This show is absolutely amazing, and one of the only liberal leaning shows I've found with a high audience rate which shows how funny it is. It never relies on typical political jokes, such as orange man bad, and don't get me wrong it's different then most daily comedy shows because it's a weekly show that gets to take lengthy breaks so it shouldn't be held to that standard. Overall, hilarious. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Very entertaining, very addictive and very informative. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member entertaining format. Well worth the 20 minutes. You may not agree with all his views, but you have to admire his brutal honesty and willingness to show how entities with an interest shape the truth in their favour - usually with the intention of maximizing their power/finances, and at to the expense of the general public ie the environment & oil co's, predatory lending, tobacco co's, sugar & health ramifications, etc etc etc). Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Every week John Oliver details the main events of the week, makes a few jokes about them (often at politicians' expense) and then unveils a piece of damning investigative journalism so important and thorough you wonder why some more mainstream news show didn't do it. The revelations often leave you appalled at what is going on, and wonder why nothing is being done about it. Not only do Oliver and his team expose the injustices and scams of society, they often do something about it, creating characters or organisations to mock the villains. Now, if you're thinking, well Jon Stewart did this first, on The Daily Show - not really. Yes, John Oliver was a contributor to The Daily Show and, to an extent, honed his craft there, but this is far better than The Daily Show in terms of investigative journalism. In fact, calling The Daily Show investigative journalism does journalism a disservice. Stewart's idea of journalism was to take a story, generally involving a right wing organisation or person, and mock it/them, sometimes using disinformation or misinformation, in what was really a a very primitive, uninformed editorial. If somebody pointed out the inaccuracy of his editorial, his defence was always "Hey, we're a comedy show, what do you expect!?". Fine, but then don't behave like you're an authority on the matter... Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed The Daily Show immensely..for its comedy. Stewart should avoid trying to pretend he is an authoritative political pundit. This is why I preferred The Colbert Report - Colbert never took himself seriously. On the other hand, John Oliver is setting out to objectively, thoroughly and accurately expose evils in society. No half- measures, no playing to the gallery, no lazy journalism, no relying on political stereotypes. Most importantly - no safety net. No fallback of "it's just comedy" as that would totally devalue his show and any future articles. Well, that was until late-Season 3. The lure of easy, cheap Trump jokes could not be resisted and unfortunately that's all the show now seems to consist of. I'm no fan of Donald Trump, and the man and his antics beg to be parodied, but Oliver's obsession with him and his one-dimensional, cheap-laugh ridiculing of him got very tedious very quickly. It all just smacks of lazy writing and lack of originality. Gone are the fresh perspectives and thorough research, replaced by predictable jokes. After, at one stage, being a massive fan of the show, I gave up after two episodes of Season 4. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Audience Member Way way way better than Stewart, Colbert, Noah. The way he combines comedy with real life issues in America is just tremendous. His coverage of FIFA and embattled president Sepp Blatter was ahead of the curve. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Episodes

      Episode 1 Aired Apr 27, 2014 POM Wonderful v. Coca-Cola An interview with Gen. Keith Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency. Details Episode 2 Aired May 4, 2014 Capital Punishment News, politics and current events. Details Episode 3 Aired May 11, 2014 Climate Change Denial News, politics and current events. Details Episode 4 Aired May 18, 2014 The Right to Be Forgotten Interview with journalist Fareed Zakaria. Details Episode 5 Aired Jun 1, 2014 Net Neutrality News, politics and current events. Details Episode 6 Aired Jun 8, 2014 FIFA and the World Cup News, politics and current events. Details Episode 7 Aired Jun 15, 2014 Immigration Reform News, politics and current events; cosmologist Stephen Hawking. Details Episode 8 Aired Jun 22, 2014 Dr. Oz News, politics and current events. Details Episode 9 Aired Jun 29, 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby News, politics and current events; Ugandan LGBT activist Pepe Julian Onziema. Details Episode 10 Aired Jul 13, 2014 News, politics and current events. Details Episode 11 Aired Jul 20, 2014 Incarceration in the United States News, politics and current events. Details Episode 12 Aired Jul 27, 2014 Nuclear Weapons and the United States News, politics and current events. Details Episode 13 Aired Aug 3, 2014 Native Advertising News, politics and current events. Details Episode 14 Aired Aug 10, 2014 Payday Loans News, politics and current events. Details Episode 15 Aired Aug 17, 2014 Shooting of Michael Brown News, politics and current events. Details Episode 16 Aired Sep 7, 2014 Student Debt News, politics and current events. Details Episode 17 Aired Sep 14, 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum News, politics and current events. Details Episode 18 Aired Sep 21, 2014 US Embargo Against Cuba & Miss America 2015 News, politics and current events. Details Episode 19 Aired Sep 28, 2014 Drones News, politics and current events. Details Episode 20 Aired Oct 5, 2014 Civil Forfeiture The 2022 Winter Olympics; civil forfeiture. Details Episode 21 Aired Oct 19, 2014 Military Translators News, politics and current events. Details Episode 22 Aired Oct 26, 2014 Sugar Jane Goodall; sugar; Toronto politician Doug Ford, Jr. Details Episode 23 Aired Nov 2, 2014 Nick Offerman, H. Jon Benjamin, Sarah Baker; U.S. state legislature elections; American Legislative Exchange Council. Details Episode 24 Aired Nov 9, 2014 The Lottery News, politics and current events. Details
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      Critics Reviews

      View All (31) Critics Reviews
      Willa Paskin Slate Incisive, earnest, and, yes, also funny, Last Week Tonight is some supremely watchable wonkery: a curator of news, a filterer of junk, a purveyor of the silver lining, the perfect-and perfectly on trend-news show for now. Jun 25, 2018 Full Review Maureen Ryan Huffington Post Oliver's concise takedowns are must-see TV (or must-watch-on-YouTube), not just because they're entertaining, but because they're thought-provoking and unafraid. Jun 21, 2018 Full Review Dennis Perkins AV Club Oliver's great strength as a satirist is how incredulity at the world's latest stupidity is transformed into comic momentum. Jun 21, 2018 Full Review David Bianculli NPR's Fresh Air I think [John Oliver] defined himself in that show so much in its first season that it deserves prominence. Jun 21, 2018 Full Review Luciana Villalba The Young Folks While I do believe that what makes the show stand out is Oliver's exceptional delivery (and British accent), the writing is definitely what makes this show gain so much popularity. Jun 21, 2018 Full Review Jesse Carp CinemaBlend Last Week Tonight should be mandatory viewing. Jun 21, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

      Season Info

      Executive Producer
      John Oliver, Tim Carvell
      Network
      HBO
      Rating
      TV-MA
      Genre
      Talk Show, Comedy
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date
      Apr 27, 2014