Last Week Tonight with John Oliver isn’t going anywhere
By Matt Moore
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver doesn’t have an end in sight. A new deal between HBO and John Oliver will keep the late-night TV hit rolling.
The network announced that Oliver signed a three-year extension with HBO. The new deal keeps Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on the air through 2026.
Oliver applied his trademark sense of humor to the big news. “We’re very happy to get to keep making this show with our fantastic staff,” the comedian said. “We will continue trying to stretch the term ‘entertainment’ to the breaking point.”
Earlier this year, Deadline floated the idea that John Oliver could choose to walk away from Last Week Tonight at the end of 2023. The outlet cited changes in the Emmy categories and Oliver’s relentless mockery of his network bosses first at AT&T and now Discovery.
Clearly, that bold prediction fell flat. It’s hard to imagine Oliver doing anything else than his once-a-week show. The schedule gives him time to tour as a stand-up and isn’t as grueling as the four or five shows a week produced by his colleagues.
Oliver’s time co-hosting the Strike Force Five podcast during the writers’ strike suggested he was having too much fun to stop now. Talking shop with Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers didn’t frame Oliver as burnt out or looking for the exits.
HBO likely felt motivated to lock up Oliver, too. Last Week Tonight has won seven straight Emmys for Best Variety Talk Series and Best Writing for a Variety Series. Now, it will compete with Saturday Night Live and Black Lady Sketch Show for Outstanding Scripted Variety Series after being recategorized.
Regardless of it’s category, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is one of the best shows on television. HBO, late-night TV, and the audience are all better off with John Oliver on TV.