Channel Surfing: Last Week Tonight - "Pilot"

John Oliver
Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
This past Sunday, late night welcomed a familiar face back to the field. No, Stephen Colbert isn't on The Late Show just yet. However, a fellow alumni who worked with Colbert on The Daily Show has made his debut on HBO with his own series Last Week Tonight. Following a rather successful period as correspondent on the Jon Stewart program as well as appearing almost weekly on this year's Community, this is a great time to be John Oliver with his dry, subversive wit that has made the podcast called The Bugle a must listen every week. Much like his cohorts, he skewers the political landscape with ease through barrages of insults that thanks to his British charm all sound like pleasant critiques hidden under really crude jokes. With Last Week Tonight's main premise being that he is reporting on news of the previous week, he has his gimmicks lined up for a particularly crazy outing. There are some concerns going in. Isn't the late night scene a little too crowded with anyone and everyone? Yes it is. Doesn't HBO also have Real Time with Bill Maher: an essentially higher production political comedy show? Yes. Please consider however that what Oliver is offering isn't what Maher is offering, as least at this point. He doesn't want to have insightful conversations with politicians and celebrities. He doesn't even want to push buttons to provoke outrage. He just wants to point out the absurdity in a more specifically comedic way. In fact, there aren't that many defined segments to his program to make transitions run fluidly. Save for occasional clips and cutaways, this is essentially 30 minutes of unedited Oliver talking. For those that have loved The Bugle, this may be one of the best shows that HBO has released in awhile. In the premiere episode, he begins taking down the subjects with some familiarity. Those expecting a differentiation from The Daily Show, look elsewhere. The package is pretty much the same except for the personality. The visual presentation features political news coverage and photoshopped images heightening the punchlines to Oliver's stories. Ending on an interview with N.S.A. head Keith Alexander, the show plays like an uncensored, uninterrupted political take down full of Oliver's charm and belief that as a British person, he can make anything sound charming.


Even in its scrappy infancy, the show has a lot of fire. Oliver is running with a lot of strong aggression through the news making the 30 minutes an innocuous whirlwind for his fans. Of course, it helps that he has a strong writing staff, featuring many familiar faces from the short lived Totally Biased, that allows everything to run smoothly through the course of a half hour. It remains compelling and with segments such as Work Place of the Week, we're getting hints of what this show is going for: taking the absurdity with deathly seriousness. It challenges you to form your own opinions while noticing that things are crazy. He doesn't have definitive answers, but there is something there that inspires.
If there is one thing that will test the show in the long run, it is its ability to maintain this energy. The Bugle proves that Oliver can do this with a co-host. For all uncertainty, "Pilot" may have been a fluke. It may be the blueprint of what's to come with promise of a wider spectrum of correspondents. Even then, it will be tough to differentiate itself from The Daily Show if it chooses to go down that road. However, Last Week Tonight debuts with a lot of great moments and is a welcomed title to the late night realm. Even if it is only once a week, it feels like the writing goes into making it the best it can possibly be. It may not cover things as immediately or as relevant as its competition, but Oliver is such a defined voice that maybe he can help things transcend this  time lapse.

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