One of the great cultural phenomenons of last year was John Oliver‘s astonishingly good debut with Last Week Tonight – a weekly comedy news show that broke many television conventions and bent many more.
The show found its feet remarkably quickly, and bucked all modern entertainment wisdom by producing lengthy, un-interrupted segments that delved deep into individual topics; at once both informative and very well researched, and also entertaining and wildly hilarious. What’s more, instead of teasing fans by using select clips from the show as online advertising bait, they uploaded entire segments and gave them away for free on YouTube – subsequently raking in millions upon millions of views.
The risk HBO took in allowing a show that chiefly centres around Oliver sitting behind a desk delivering monologues was astronomical, and the rewards have been more than worth it.
Fortunate are we then that the long wait for season two is finally over, and Oliver and Last Week Tonight are now back on the air. And with absolutely no down time between brilliance either.
Far from easing straight back into things with a softball topic, Oliver went for the jugular of Big Pharma, tackling the issue of drug companies that market directly to Doctors and medical professionals, and the unfathomably enormous amount of money that both requires, and rakes in.
It’s seventeen absolutely hilarious and gripping minutes of footage. As always, it’s well worth every second.
It’s good to see you and your mighty brain again, John. Welcome back.
