HBO will remain in the Last Week Tonight business until at least 2023. The network has renewed the comedy news show for three more seasons, and host John Oliver is taking the renewal with a healthy dose of realism given the state of, well, everything.
“We’re all extremely happy to be able to continue to do our show on HBO for another three years, or until the end of the world, whichever comes first,” Oliver told The Hollywood Reporter.
Here’s the official statement from HBO chief content officer Casey Bloy:
“For the past seven years, John and his incredibly talented team have taken on topics that are both in the public mind and off the beaten path, always managing to shed new light on these subjects with intelligence and searing humor. We are beyond thrilled to continue this relationship for three more years.”
Like his counterpart Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, Oliver and Last Week Tonight have been a welcome voice of sanity and reason during the pandemic, which has seen everything from nationwide protests against police brutality to the rise of QAnon conspiracy theories in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election.
But while Oliver has been making headlines with his scathing takedowns of Fox News personality Tucker Carlson, who recently defended white teen vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, the Last Week Tonight host has also brought some levity to the proceedings. Most notably his “feud” with Danbury, Connecticut. After he made an off-handed joke about the town, the mayor threatened to rename a sewage plant after Oliver, who was immediately on board with this hilarious rivalry. Oliver even went so far as to promise a donation to charity if the town went through with it, and sure enough, the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant is now waiting for the host to show up for a ribbon-cutting.
“Come up to Danbury and sit on your throne,” the mayor told Oliver in a video roasting the late night host.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)