[7.5/10] It’s certainly nice to have John Oliver back, as the onslaught of news in his absence has left me waiting and hoping for his take on the world events over the past couple of months. The opening round-up was well-done as expected. The show addressed the school shooting in Florida with grace and managed to effectively use a clip from The Andy Griffith Show, while also doing a quick look at international news (something LWT is better than most real news shows about), and tying everything together at the end. The interstitial segment is the usual “let’s poke fun at the silliness of local news” shtick.
The main story is about Trump’s foreign policy (such as it is). It’s a good segment, one funny, but more rigorous and systematic in its approach than a lot of folks in either political comedy or news. The way Oliver unpacks what Trump’s “America First” philosophy actually means, how the President is affecting America’s standing in the world, and what the effects that approach are likely to have hits that balance of informative, thoughtful, and amusing that I like from this show. And the bit about America’s contradictions of transcendence and also ridiculousness is a little forced, but still funny and silly in a way that’s characteristic of Oliver’s humor.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-02-20T16:56:17Z
[7.5/10] It’s certainly nice to have John Oliver back, as the onslaught of news in his absence has left me waiting and hoping for his take on the world events over the past couple of months. The opening round-up was well-done as expected. The show addressed the school shooting in Florida with grace and managed to effectively use a clip from The Andy Griffith Show, while also doing a quick look at international news (something LWT is better than most real news shows about), and tying everything together at the end. The interstitial segment is the usual “let’s poke fun at the silliness of local news” shtick.
The main story is about Trump’s foreign policy (such as it is). It’s a good segment, one funny, but more rigorous and systematic in its approach than a lot of folks in either political comedy or news. The way Oliver unpacks what Trump’s “America First” philosophy actually means, how the President is affecting America’s standing in the world, and what the effects that approach are likely to have hits that balance of informative, thoughtful, and amusing that I like from this show. And the bit about America’s contradictions of transcendence and also ridiculousness is a little forced, but still funny and silly in a way that’s characteristic of Oliver’s humor.
Overall, a very nice return.