Jay Leno didn't invent late-night TV, but his contributions went a long way in defining what the genre could be. However, the former Tonight Show host's style wasn't for everyone ... including some of today's stars. John Oliver took it upon himself to push back against Leno's recent criticism of late-night in 2025.
According to Leno, today's hyper-politicized late-night shows aren't what audiences want to see. “I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, you know, the pressures of life,” Leno said in an interview with David Trulio. “I love political humor, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other. Why shoot for just half an audience all the time?”
John Oliver isn't interested in that take, or any opinion from Leno. "I’m going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno,” Oliver said to The Hollywood Reporter when the issue came up. The Last Week Tonight host suggested Leno's perspective is more in line with executives than comedians or the audience.
"Comedy can’t be for everyone," Oliver continued. "It’s inherently subjective. So, yeah, when you do stand-up, some people try to play to a broader audience, which is completely legitimate. Others decide not to, which is equally legitimate. I guess I don’t think it’s a question of what you should do because I don’t think comedy is prescriptive in that way. It’s just what people want."
Leno spent 20 years as host of The Tonight Show, perfecting a broad, down-the-middle comedic style designed to appeal to the widest possible audience. But Oliver sees that approach as just one of many valid paths, not the gold standard for the late-night TV genre.
While Last Week Tonight is undeniably political in tone, Oliver emphasized that the show isn’t built to promote one particular party. “I think our show clearly comes from a point of view, but most of those long stories we do are not party political. They’re about systemic issues,” he explained. “Our last few shows were about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, [and] air traffic control.”
Oliver’s approach is in line with the current crop of late-night shows. Hosts like Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert have embraced a more overtly political tone, often in response to the news cycles of the Trump era. But that shift has drawn criticism from comedy veterans like Leno, who long for a more neutral approach. In fact, it may have cost Colbert his job at The Late Show.
But Oliver sees no reason to back down from his current direction. He's got the audience and awards to prove that there is no "right" way to do late-night TV.
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