With Stephen Colbert stepping away from his Colbert Report persona to take over for Letterman soon, there’s an impending vacuum of caustic (and utterly necessary) satire and criticism of the news media on TV. While it hasn’t quite hit its stride yet, the HBO weekly ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ appears ready to help fill the void. A couple of weeks ago, Oliver rather beautifully tore into the FCC and the debacle over Net Neutrality. This week he tackles the essentially unregulated dietary supplement industry and one of its head cheerleaders, Dr. Oz. I know it sounds kind of dull, but it’s pretty funny. Also: tap-dancing Steve Buscemi. Check it out after the jump.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs each Sunday night on HBO.
I bet Comedy Central wishes they had John Oliver lined up to replace Colbert. He is brilliant. Best show on TV right now.
I’m still kind of warming up to his show, but I really love the direction it’s going. Definitely Comedy Central’s loss, but it would’ve been tough for them to keep anyone who had an offer from HBO.
I can’t decide whether I’d rather he was on every night or if once a week is better.
I honestly think weekly format works. I was skeptical that it would be. But it’s a terrific program and is a great fit on HBO.