Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Gay Marriage Turns 10, GM Recalls 11M Vehicles, Fareed Zakaria
May 19, 2014 7:51 AM - Season 1, Episode 4 - Subscribe

Episode 4 of John Oliver's satirical news program. Highlights are a video of Mario kissing Link, a disturbingly hilarious internal PR document from GM, John Oliver posting embarrassing pictures of himself to the internet, and an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. Next week the show is on break.
posted by JHarris (10 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
  • The Turkish Prime Minister slaps a detractor
  • Gay Marriage in Massachusetts Turns 10
  • Nintendo criticized for not allowing gay relationships in upcoming game
  • The Past Week In Bullshit National Holidays (with 17 examples)
  • General Motors recalls 11 million vehicles this year, and is now run by female lady-woman Mary Barra (with fake GM commercial)
  • European Union Court Of Justice rules Google must remove embarrassing information from search if asked (with embarrassing childhood pictures of John Oliver and #mutuallyassuredhumiliation)
  • "Shame" (use of the word 'shame' by pundits and newscasters)
  • Indian Election Results & Interview with Fareed Zakaria (Extended interview on YouTube.)
The Nintendo videos: Mario kissing Link, Princesses Zelda and Peach about to get it awn, Toad and Yoshi getting married, and Bowser crying at Donkey Kong's funeral (but he gets better). Surprisingly, most of the characters are pretty on-model, much more than they had to be. Maybe there's a Nintendo fan on the staff.

The list of bullshit holidays: National Buscuit Day, National Nylon Stockings Day, National Odometer Day, National Third Shift Workers Day, Piercing Day, Hepatitis Testing Day, International Museum Day, Pack Rat Day, National Ride Your Bike To Work Day, Wear Your Life Jacket To Work Day, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Day, Dance Like A Chicken Day, National Limerick Day, Apple Pie Day, National Hummus Day, National Pizza Party Day, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.

The words John Oliver read from GM's actual, internal banned list of words not to use to describe their defective cars: deathtrap, decapitating, grenade-like, hindenberg, kevorkianesque, powder keg, rolling sarcophagus and you're toast.
posted by JHarris at 9:35 AM on May 19, 2014


I wonder if this is so quiet because it takes so long to put up on HBO Go?
posted by Brainy at 9:36 AM on May 19, 2014


It's so quiet because the post went up not long ago, and because there's a Metafilter post on the episode.
posted by JHarris at 9:38 AM on May 19, 2014


That fake GM commercial was gold!
posted by Night_owl at 1:13 PM on May 19, 2014


The American Dream: catching something from a t-shirt cannon. Brilliant.
posted by Partario at 10:00 AM on May 20, 2014


My favorite part of this show, as a long time Bugle fan, is hearing "John Oliver's" voice from within "the writers" voices.

He really is fascinated by t-shirt cannons.
posted by absalom at 7:49 PM on May 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


It was a T-shirt cannon that killed Maude Flanders. Never forget.
posted by JHarris at 7:51 PM on May 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm a little sad that Bike To Work day was lumped in with all of the bullshit holidays, but I suppose let's be honest here, it is a little of a bullshit holiday. (In its defence, it's trying to promote something that is both not very popular -- looking at you, Apple Pie Day and Chocolate Chip Cookie Day -- and would be beneficial if more people did it -- right, Dance Like A Chicken Day?)

The GM recall was a really good segment, in particular the commercial. But a long, detailed look at corporate malfeasance - I hope that this is something they keep doing. Nintendo Gay Marriage was also brilliant-but-silly. I liked the banality of the media angle kept to the two 30 second bits; bullshit holidays and shame - The Daily Show bangs that gong very well but very heavily. To me, the only good thing about the whole internet segment was the two dorky photos of John Oliver.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 7:59 PM on May 20, 2014






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