Last Week Tonight with John Oliver season 3
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | |
---|---|
Season 3 | |
![]() Promotional poster for the season | |
No. of episodes | 30 |
Release | |
Original network | HBO |
Original release | February 14 November 13, 2016 | –
Season chronology | |
The third season of late-night talk and news satire television program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver originally aired between February 14, 2016, and November 13, 2016, on HBO in the United States. The season was produced by Avalon Television and Sixteen String Jack Productions; the executive producers were host John Oliver, Tim Carvell, and Liz Stanton, with Paul Pennolino as director.
Last Week Tonight aired on Sundays at 11 pm, and had a total of 30 episodes in season three. The season was generally well-received, receiving four Emmy Awards, a Television Academy Honor, a Peabody Award, and one WGA Award. The show continued to release the main stories of each broadcast on its YouTube channel after each episode aired. Episodes in the season were credited with influencing US law and culture, a phenomenon dubbed the "John Oliver effect". Prominent instances include the main segment of episode three, titled "Donald Trump", which set an HBO viewership record and received widespread media attention; and the main segment of episode fourteen, about debt buyers, in which Oliver forgave almost $15 million in medical debt for 9,000 Americans.
Production[edit]
Season three aired from February 14, 2016, to November 13, 2016.[1][2] The season was produced by Avalon Television and Sixteen String Jack Productions;[3] it aired on HBO in the United States at 11 pm on Sundays.[4] Tim Carvell, John Oliver, and Liz Stanton were the executive producers on the season. Writers included Oliver, Carvell, Kevin Avery, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, Scott Sherman, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, and Juli Weiner. Paul Pennolino directed the season.[3][5] The team also included researchers with journalistic backgrounds at The New York Times Magazine, ProPublica, CNN, and MSNBC.[6]
Promotional material for the season displayed various negative blurbs criticizing Oliver or Last Week Tonight, like a quote from The Wall Street Journal that the show "makes people dumb".[1][7] Continuing an idea from season two, Oliver said that the Last Week Tonight production team wanted to create longer segments that went more in-depth into topics. This differed from season one's idea of having many short segments to cover the week's news.[8]
Last Week Tonight intentionally did not cover the 2016 United States presidential election in season two; Oliver called it a "massively overblown occasion" and explained that the team decided to concentrate on "other things that seemed a bit more relevant last year".[6] At a press event for season three, Oliver explained that they may discuss the electoral processes and the candidates, but that the "daily dramas of the campaigns" would not be covered; he explained that "there’s plenty of other people who will do that".[9] On the topic of then-Republican candidate Donald Trump, Oliver said that Last Week Tonight would not cover his campaigning, but expressed interest in discussing "what is happening underneath";[6] however, many episodes of season three contained segments about the election and Trump's campaign.[10][11]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
The third season was generally well-received. Critics continued to praise the show's comedic but still in-depth segments on current events.[12][13] Variety commended Oliver's persona as host, describing him as having a "beautifully calibrated, extremely articulate rage".[12] Some critics said that Oliver's quick humorous interjections had "lost its charm", according to The Daily Free Press,[14] but others found that these quips were what made the show compelling.[15] The season's third episode, "Donald Trump", received widespread media attention;[16][17][18][19] many writers criticized the segment's satirizing of "Donald Drumpf", a spin on Trump's name using that of his ancestors, for being xenophobic.[16][18]
Ratings[edit]
Last Week Tonight received an average 5.6 million viewers in season three, which HBO said was boosted by its digital streaming services.[20] The show continued to release the main stories of episodes on the Last Week Tonight YouTube channel.[21] "Donald Trump" set an HBO viewership record, according to a spokesperson from the network; a month after airing, it had 23.3 million views on YouTube, 62 million views on Facebook, and an average gross television audience of about 6 million, totaling about 86 million views.[22][23]
Awards[edit]
Last Week Tonight received eight Emmy Award nominations for season three, winning Outstanding Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Interactive Program, and Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming for the segment "F*ck 2016" in episode thirty.[3] After season three aired, Last Week Tonight received a Television Academy Honor for "[offering] an intellectually unique perspective mixed with the perfect balance of thoughtful jest";[24] the show also received a second Peabody Award for "crafting a form that pushes both comedy and journalism in new, fresh, and publicly important directions".[5] Additionally, Last Week Tonight received the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy-Variety Talk Series.[25]
Influence[edit]
Coverage of an issue by Last Week Tonight has been credited with influencing US legislature and culture, a phenomenon dubbed the "John Oliver effect".[26] Episode three of the season covered Donald Trump's career and 2016 presidential campaign.[17] Immediately after airing, web searches for "Donald Drumpf" went viral. By March 1, the date on which the "Super Tuesday" primaries were held, Google Searches for "Donald Drumpf" had surpassed those for two of Trump's opponents.[27] Other media also started reporting on Trump's "short fingers" shortly after the episode's broadcast,[28][29] prompting Trump to write a Twitter post on March 1 inch (2.5 cm) which he stated that he was not aware of any mockery of his "short fingers".[30] After Oliver promoted a Chrome extension that automatically replaced the word "Trump" with "Drumpf", multiple spinoff extensions were created; as a result of a spinoff extension, Wired magazine accidentally published multiple articles replacing Trump's name with the phrase "Someone with Tiny Hands".[31] In addition, episode fourteen covered debt buying in the United States, a practice that Oliver criticized for allowing companies to manipulate people with extreme medical debt.[32] At the end of the episode, the host personally bought almost $15 million in medical debt and forgave it for 9,000 Americans.[33][34] The following year, a Reddit user claimed to have received a letter explaining that their debt had been paid off due to Oliver's philanthropy.[35]
Episodes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Last Week Tonight Promo: John Oliver Responds to Critics Like Donald Trump, Cher". The Hollywood Reporter. January 15, 2016. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
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- ^ Goldberg, Lesley (October 25, 2016). "TV Premiere Dates 2017: The Complete Guide". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 13, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ a b "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)". Peabody Awards. 2017. Archived from the original on May 18, 2020. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c Miller, Matt (February 4, 2016). "John Oliver Is Finally Ready to Take on Donald Trump". Esquire. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (January 15, 2016). "Last Week Tonight Season 3 Trailer: John Oliver Returns". Collider. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Marchese, David (February 22, 2016). "In Conversation: John Oliver". Vulture. New York. Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Framke, Caroline (February 14, 2016). "John Oliver on making Last Week Tonight and why he won't focus on the 2016 election". Vox. Archived from the original on March 20, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Lyons, Joseph D. (October 17, 2016). "7 Painfully Accurate Ways John Oliver Has Described This Election". Bustle. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
- ^ Bradley, Laura (November 7, 2016). "John Oliver Admits He Was 'Spectacularly Wrong' About Donald Trump". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
- ^ a b Ryan, Maureen (December 9, 2016). "Maureen Ryan's 20 Best TV Shows of 2016". Variety. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (November 17, 2016). "HBO's Last Week Tonight returns in February, even though we all need it now". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Bastress, Samantha (February 18, 2016). "Review: "Last Week Tonight" returns weakly". The Daily Free Press. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ DeJarnette, Ben (February 18, 2016). "What Journalists Can Learn from John Oliver and Last Week Tonight". MediaShift. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ a b Victor, Daniel (March 2, 2016). "Donald Drumpf: A Funny Label, but Is It Fair". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017.
- ^ a b Matyszczyk, Chris (March 2, 2016). "John Oliver slams Trump for 22 minutes, creates new hashtag for him". CNET. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ a b Rosenbaum, S. I. (March 3, 2016). "John Oliver's 'Donald Drumpf' jokes play on the same ugly xenophobia Trump does". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016.
- ^ Lee, Benjamin (November 14, 2016). "John Oliver on Trump: 'A Klan-backed misogynist internet troll' is president". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (July 18, 2016). "HBO's Digital Platforms Push Game Of Thrones, Veep & Others To Series Highs". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 3, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Cabin, Chris (July 11, 2016). "John Oliver Views YouTube Comments for Last Week Tonight". Collider. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Stelter, Brian (March 30, 2016). "Even John Oliver enjoys a Drumpf bump". CNN. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
- ^ Hensch, Mark (March 30, 2016). "Report: 'Donald Drumpf' nets John Oliver ratings high". The Hill. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ "A Clear View". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 2017. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Pedersen, Erik (February 19, 2017). "WGA Awards: Moonlight & Arrival Win Top Film Prizes; FX's Atlanta & The Americans Lead TV – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
- ^ Luckerson, Victor (January 20, 2015). "How the 'John Oliver Effect' Is Having a Real-Life Impact". Time. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- ^ Wolfers, Justin (March 2, 2016). "'Donald Drumpf' Is Beating Rubio and Cruz for Second in Google Searches". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
- ^ Nelson, Libby (March 2, 2016). "Donald Trump's deep insecurity about his 'short fingers', explained". Vox. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ Kelly, Jon (March 7, 2016). "How Donald Trump Became 'The Short Fingered Vulgarian'". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ "Donald Trump denies knowing anything about people making fun of his 'small fingers'". The Week. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
- ^ Bonazzo, John (March 9, 2016). "Wired Called Donald Trump 'Someone With Tiny Hands' in Several Articles". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
- ^ "John Oliver on HBO uses RIP to Relieve nearly $15M in Medical Debt for 9,000 Americans". RIP Medical Debt. June 6, 2016. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Grant, Kelli (June 6, 2016). "John Oliver takes a $14M bite out of medical debt". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
- ^ Rogers, Katie (June 6, 2016). "For His Latest Trick, John Oliver Forgives $15 Million in Medical Debt". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 29, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
- ^ Dockray, Heather (January 4, 2017). "Man who had his medical debt paid by John Oliver speaks out". Mashable. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (February 17, 2016). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.14.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ Porter, Rick (February 23, 2015). "Sunday cable ratings: Walking Dead steady, RHOA and Shameless improve". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
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- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 8, 2016). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.5.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (March 15, 2016). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 3.13.2016". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on March 15, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
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- ^ Porter, Rick (August 23, 2016). "Sunday cable ratings: Fear the Walking Dead returns to series low". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
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