Late Night Last Week: John Oliver Returns, NBC Celebrates Saturday Night Live, and More
Our long national nightmare is over. No, not that one. The other one: John Oliver, the intrepid host of Last Week Tonight, returned to the air last night for the first time since November. And boy have we missed him.
Much has happened in the world since Oliver’s last broadcast. But thankfully, the man has a gift for concise, probing summation. Sunday’s episode was no exception.
Oliver’s first monologue of this, his 12th season on HBO/Max, focused, naturally, on the onslaught of executive actions Donald Trump has taken since his return to power. As a preface to his analysis, Oliver returned to Trump’s first term and a Steve Bannon interview, in which the disgraced Trump advisor explained their strategy: flood the zone, build momentum, distract the media.
This strategy is why the structure of Oliver’s program makes for such an effective antidote. He takes the long view, focusing not on the turbulent bickering of the day-to-day, but on issues systemic in nature. Such was the case on Sunday, with Oliver dedicating his monologue specifically to the efforts of the Trump administration, led by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to render the federal government ineffective.
The reporting on Musk, Trump, and DOGE’s efforts has been overwhelming: employees fired, funding abruptly pulled, life-saving programs around the world ended. Oliver sums it all up in a way that is not only digestible, but that makes clear just how capricious and devastating the effort has been. Oliver has no patience for Musk’s DOGE staff, which includes a host of unqualified individuals, some of whom are recent college graduates now interrogating seasoned government employees over the value of their work.
“It is madness,” Oliver said. “Imagine being a federal worker and having to listen to a guy who wasn’t alive for 9/11, Shrek 1, or Shrek 2.”
The man is as funny as ever, but there is an anger in his voice that is refreshingly palpable and–forgive the cliche–feels very needed right now. Welcome back, Mr. Oliver. Welcome back.
Oh, and in a surprise move, HBO actually uploaded the main story from last night’s episode to YouTube, something they generally stopped doing after Discovery took over Warner Bros. And since last night’s main story was basically its only story, that means you can pretty much watch the entire episode right now.
John Oliver Returns to The Daily Show
You didn’t think we were done with John Oliver already did you? On Monday, February 10, Oliver returned to his old home, The Daily Show, where he helped out his friend and fellow master of the monologue, Jon Stewart, discuss all the Trump madness.
Like Oliver, Stewart’s monologue got specific, focusing on the implications of Trump’s executive orders and his increasingly unchecked hold on power. Stewart exposes the hypocrisy of so-called conservatives allowing for such overreach, and the embarrassing. ineffectual responses of the so-called opposition party.
“It looks like we’re becoming less like the constitutional republic it’s been for 250 years,” Stewart said, “and more like the monarchy we all fought to escape from. But I think the important thing …”
He is soon cut off by clapping. Enter: America’s favorite British-guy-turned-American-citizen, John Oliver, who, he made clear, was there to gloat. America had a good run since fleeing mother England, he said, but it’s over now.
“Don’t fight being a monarchy, Jon. Embrace it,” Oliver suggested. “Kings get shit done. Now, is it stuff that you want done? Not necessarily.”
Stewart was quick to point out that things, well, haven’t gone so great for the British Empire.
“First of all, how dare you,” Oliver said. “We are technically between empires at the moment. But we’re keeping our castles warm and our crowns bejeweled for the day we get back on our feet.”
David Letterman Returns to The Tonight Show
You didn’t think we were done with late night hosts returning to programs they used to guest host did you? (Sorry.)
Also on Monday, Paul Schaffer, the longtime band leader for David Letterman, and the World’s Most Dangerous Band began a week-long stint as the in-house band for Jimmy Fallon (The Roots were busy this week at work on SNL50). A few minutes into The Tonight Show host’s monologue, a bearded, Rip-Van-Winkle-looking fellow wandered out onto the stage: Letterman himself.
The drop-in marked Letterman’s first appearance on The Tonight Show since Johnny Carson stopped hosting the show in 1992. “Paul and I used to do a show like this,” the semi-retired host told Fallon. “We didn’t do the Chuck E. Cheese crap. But we … it’s very similar.”
Fallon then graciously invited Letterman to deliver some jokes of his own. Letterman then began examining the cue cards, after which he simply said, “I’m good, thanks.” Perfection.
Getting Ready for SNL50
The 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live was, naturally, a big topic of late night content on NBC this week. In fact, it so dominated the discourse that CBS late night programming took the week off (no official reason was given, but it seems like an odd coincidence!).
SNL stalwarts stopped by The Tonight Show and Late Night with Seth Meyers, two programs famously hosted by alumni of the program. This included an appearance on The Tonight Show by Mary Ellen Matthews, the longtime photographer of Saturday Night Live. Fallon and Matthews staged a fake photo shoot as part of her appearance, with Fallon dressing up as various rockstars.
Two days later, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey stopped by to take a trip down memory lane. The pair discussed with Fallon some of their iconic work on SNL and preparations for the upcoming anniversary show. Fey shared that the work never gets any easier. In preparing for the show, she described a tense writers meeting.
“And then an angel appeared in the form of Bill Murray,” she said. “He came in and he was just in this incredibly wonderful mood and he was like, ‘Hey guys, what’s going on in here? Maybe open a window you seem like you’re all about to cry.’” Fey then said he began to give the staff a pep talk and she almost did, in fact, start crying. “And I kept waiting for it to turn into a bit,” she said, “and it never did.”
On Late Night, Meyers was joined by longtime SNL writer Harper Steele, star of the recent documentary about her friendship with Will Ferrell, Will & Harper. Steele and Meyers were co-head-writers at the same time, prompting the two to reminisce.
In December 2000, Jay-Z appeared on the show. For a sketch with Will Ferrell, then playing his lounge lizard character Robert Goulet, Jay-Z asked for a real joint to be used in the sketch. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re Jay-Z. Of course you can,’” Steele said. “I went and found the person on the staff who you and I both know—and I can’t say any names—who can get that joint. I got that joint. Jay-Z used it on air.”
Will DiGravio is a Brooklyn-based critic, researcher, and late night comedy columnist, who first contributed to Paste in 2022. He is an assistant editor at Cineaste, a GALECA member, and since 2019 has hosted The Video Essay Podcast. You can follow and/or unfollow him on Twitter and learn more about him via his website.