John Oliver killed the lethal injection process for nearly 20 minutes on Sunday. He did that, yes, but the “Last Week Tonight” host also shoveled dirt on his home network HBO as the premium-cable channel nears its post-“Game of Thrones” era.
Oliver joked that lethal injection drugs sound like names of tribes in “Game of Thrones” spinoff, “Game of Space Thrones,” which “has probably already been optioned by HBO.”
Bob Greenblatt and Casey Bloys are listening…
“In two weeks time, this network is so deeply f—ed,” Oliver said.
Watch the video above.
“Game of Thrones,” which is currently Oliver’s lead-in, ends its eight-season run on May 19. A prequel pilot is in the works.
According to source-material author George R.R. Martin (“A Song of Ice and Fire”), however, three of the five ideas initially put into development are “still moving forward nicely.”
HBO’s Naomi Watts-led “Thrones” prequel pilot — which was ordered last year and is co-created by Martin and showrunner Jane Goldman — is set to begin production this summer. Little else had been said about the four other possible spinoffs.
In a blog post on Saturday, Martin said that “two other shows remain in the script stage, but are edging closer,” aside from the one potential “GoT” series that will soon begin shooting, which is set thousands of years before the events of “Game of Thrones” in the era known as the “Age of Heroes.” (Martin also mentioned once more he’s “not supposed” to refer to that project as “The Long Night” — but still claims that’s what it’s called.)