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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet?

04-07-2015 , 12:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbfg
Btw, is it really common in the USA that people have already forgotten about Snowden? They were asking people in NYC of all places, where you expect people to be more aware of the news than the lesser populated areas... I think in Europe if you'd find a way to poll who the most famous person is that was not commonly known at all 5 years ago Edward Snowden would be top 3, probably number 1. And most people would be able to say "NSA whistleblower".
Glenn Greenwald (one of the journalists who worked with Snowden) wrote an article about this today: Why John Oliver Can’t Find Americans Who Know Edward Snowden’s Name (It’s Not About Snowden)

Quote:
The befuddled reactions of the Times Square interviewees when asked about Snowden illustrate little about the specific surveillance issue but a great deal about the full-scale political disengagement of a substantial chunk of the American population.

...
A 2010 Findlaw.com poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans — 65 percent — were incapable of naming even a single member of the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2010 Pew poll discovered that 41 percent of Americans are unable to name the current vice president of the U.S; in other words, Oliver could just as easily (if not more easily) compile a video of Times Square visitors looking stumped when asked if they knew who Joe Biden, or Antonin Scalia, is.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
04-07-2015 , 04:30 PM
This show is great. USA is surreal to me.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-22-2016 , 05:36 PM
I thought his piece on Trump last night was the funniest he has been in a while. Surprised it's not blowing up more.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-23-2016 , 02:12 PM
used to watch every episode.

now it seems like every piece is about trump so I've been skipping it a lot.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-24-2016 , 12:42 AM
Agree on the every episode about Trump criticism. When the show started I feel like he was giving interviews about how they were gonna cover issues and stories that kind of fell through the tracks, but for the last few months it's been a whole lot of covering the same Trump **** as everyone else.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-24-2016 , 04:37 AM
Yeah I don't like how they're milking Trump, it's going for the low hanging fruit. Also didn't like their bit about the failed coup in Turkey, where they painted Gul as some random, harmless dude, that seemed (at best) a bit under-researched for a topic that caused people to actually die.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-24-2016 , 11:21 AM
He openly says he hates every time he talks about Trump and he's done it in 3 or 4 episodes if you ignore the quick remarks. Compare that to any other news/entertainment show and it's not significant at all?

And he kinda has to talk about it anyway, this crazy guy that shouldn't even be mayor of a small town has significant equity to become the next president of the USA. It's not John Oliver that got him in that position, btw. It's every other news show out there.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-24-2016 , 12:23 PM
he absolutely does not have to do Trump stories.

his show's main premise seemed to be in depth coverage of stories that other networks were ignoring.

In fact, you could easily argue that with all the other networks spending all their time covering Trump, there should be even MORE stories that they aren't covering, that deserve coverage, and that Oliver could use to fill his half hour.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-24-2016 , 05:35 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RollWave
he absolutely does not have to do Trump stories.

his show's main premise seemed to be in depth coverage of stories that other networks were ignoring.

In fact, you could easily argue that with all the other networks spending all their time covering Trump, there should be even MORE stories that they aren't covering, that deserve coverage, and that Oliver could use to fill his half hour.
Nearly all of his 15-20 minute pieces the last few months have been non trump. The core of every show is still built around an interesting and mostly undercovered topic.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-25-2016 , 08:53 AM
I liked the show a lot in the first season, but as season 2 unfolded it seemed to shift from left-centric to pretty unabashedly left, and my interest waned. I still watch, but generally now turn it off once they segue to the main story.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-25-2016 , 09:35 AM
Dafuq? The main stories are the best part of the show. A lot of it involves some pretty intense and deep investigative journalism
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-25-2016 , 12:22 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by master3004
Dafuq? The main stories are the best part of the show. A lot of it involves some pretty intense and deep investigative journalism
I agree 100% with the bold, but the tone can be so hit you over the head left leaning that it wears beyond thin. Don't believe me? Go back and compare something from late season 1 or early season 2, to the non-Trump stuff he's doing now. There is enlightening and journalistically-worthy material in the newer pieces for sure, but it's packaged in such an off-putting way that more often than not I can't bear to sit through it.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-27-2016 , 09:21 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rizzeedizzee
I agree 100% with the bold, but the tone can be so hit you over the head left leaning that it wears beyond thin. Don't believe me? Go back and compare something from late season 1 or early season 2, to the non-Trump stuff he's doing now. There is enlightening and journalistically-worthy material in the newer pieces for sure, but it's packaged in such an off-putting way that more often than not I can't bear to sit through it.
meh ur confusing the fact that he makes sense with leaning left because generally that's the side that history will judge correct.

I'd love to see some of the big divisive social issues throughout history where the far right has ended up being right.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-28-2016 , 10:20 PM
Yes unabashedly over the head left is correct. Maybe to appreciate it you need some of whatever koolaid flavor rbk and master are on?

Or it just sucks, could be either one
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-28-2016 , 10:36 PM
grape.

occasionally fruit punch, but mostly grape.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
08-28-2016 , 11:53 PM
More specifically Purplesaurus Rex.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - How is there not a thread for this yet? Quote
02-28-2017 , 03:53 AM
Bump
Excellent episode.
Would love if they cut the Trump time in half.
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