Viewers of other comedy news shows like “The Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart will most likely be big fans of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” a show that keeps taking critical news issues and bringing them to the forefront.
This HBO phenomenon that first aired on April 27, 2014 features the British comedian tackling serious political and social issues in a satirical manner, much like the Comedy Central shows that featured Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in past years. Recently though, “Last Week Tonight” has garnered significant attention for actually addressing many of the issues it covers in an active way by calling for new legislation and audience participation in changing much of the nation we live in.
For instance, in order to protect consumers and farmers in the chicken industry from unfair practices discussed in an episode back in May, Oliver called for his audience to label representatives who might vote down positive and reformative legislation as “chicken [plural expletive].”
In another case, FIFA, the non-profit organization in charge of facilitating the World Cup and other international soccer tournaments throughout the world, was called out on his show in the midst of the corruption scandal ousted by the FBI. A day before President Sepp Blatter’s resignation from the association, Oliver made a vocal outcry for advertisers including McDonald’s and Adidas to not support FIFA as long as Blatter was still in charge. As he promised to do certain things for each company that he listed, he soon followed through on all of his statements. One challenge saw him eating the fast food chain’s dollar menu items and also wearing the shoes he described as making him look like “the Greek god of aspiring DJ’s.”
While the end of every episode of his weekly show does not necessarily point to a solution, many do in one way or another. In the instances where he does not ask his viewers to do something in particular like being mindful of online harassment or accepting transgender citizens in the restrooms of their chosen gender, he still informs his millions of viewers about the intricacies of many complicated news movements in entertaining ways.
Take for example his interview with pivotal news figure Edward Snowden regarding government surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA). In such a complex and confusing timeline of government interference since the onset of 9/11, Oliver compared the whole thing to the unlawful observance of “dick pics” that helped citizens of New York understand the problem much more clearly. His interview also helped shed light on the motives and characteristics of Snowden, a man who has become one of the more divisive players in recent American history.
“Time Magazine” has also noted his contributions to the increasing activity in the public and governments resulting from his show. They use the term: “John Oliver effect” to describe how “Last Week Tonight” is changing the world small steps at a time. The article by Victor Luckerson cites an occurrence when a Washington State legislator sparked a small revolution by allowing for the general public to comment on current legislation submitted via a video format online after he saw how influential “Last Week Tonight” can be.
In little more than a yearlong run, Oliver’s flagship series has relaxed bail requirements for citizens in New York City charged with nonviolent crimes, crashed the server for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) after stirring others to speak out against the potential changes in net neutrality (which would have enacted preferences to only certain types of internet traffic), and indirectly donated up to $25,000 to the Society of Women Engineers.
And these are just some of his most notable accomplishments. In fact, this article barely scratches the surface of what impact John Oliver and his team have had on the world so far. From poking fun at the uselessness of standardized testing in the modern school system to taking a good, hard look at the marketing of prescription medications to your doctor, John Oliver is continuing to tackle varied and important stories and putting them in the newly informed hands of his television and internet supporters.
