John Oliver came to HBO viewers from an all-white, nondescript TV studio on Sunday, dedicating his last “Last Week Tonight” for a little while to the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is weird,” Oliver opened his abbreviated and audience-less show from his temporary working space. “This is definitely weird.”
It was. It definitely was.
After getting over the initial shock of his new professional reality, the “Daily Show” alum got down to what he does best: trashing Trump’s incompetence and attempting to share some real information over the premium cable airwaves.
For starters, Oliver called Trump’s “sedated” Oval Office speech about coronavirus on Wednesday “a complete mess.” The president of the United States’ press conference from the White House Rose Garden on Friday went even worse, leading Oliver to comment: “Nothing is fine here.”
With Trump’s apparent dedication to dodging responsibility for our lack of available COVID-19 testing like the topic is the Vietnam draft, which is Oliver’s joke more so than ours, the HBO personality deduced: “We’re gonna be a little bit on our own here.”
So let’s get down to the advice portion of the program.
“Try your best to tune out — and not pass on — misinformation in the coming weeks, from sources like, sadly, the president,” Oliver said.
And then the Brit mixed some practical guidance with a little humor from his homeland: “It is vital to protect yourself and others by keeping a distance of at least six feet from yourself and others. Basically, for the time being, pretend you’re a British parent and everyone else in the world is your child. Keep as much distance as you can, avoid physical contact at all costs, and if anyone of them try to give you a hug, reject it.”
Watch the video above, which is Sunday’s entire episode.
Also in the 22-minute clip, Oliver attempts to kill Geraldo Rivera — so it’s worth it for that alone.
“Last Week Tonight,” like most late-night talk shows, is now on hiatus.