“In these troubled times, the world desperately needs a hero,” growls the narrator of a new Last Week Tonight with John Oliver trailer.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got him“—meaning, the HBO series’ eponymous host, the teaser quips.
The acclaimed Last Week Tonight will kick off its new season Sunday, February 15, at 11 p.m. ET—the same night that HBO premieres the second and concluding season of its series adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate. In that slot, Last Week Tonight will lead out of new episodes of Industry Season 4 and the recently launched Game of Thrones offshoot A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Host John Oliver will as ever “tackle the important topics,” ask “all the important questions,” and give you “all the important facts,” the Season 13 trailer voiceover tells us, “while also giving you whatever this is.” Cue random peeks at past pre-taped bits starring Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and the like.
Coming up on 12 years since its April 2014 launch, Last Week Tonight continues to be a boon for HBO and HBO Max, generating conversation with its weekly deep dives into everything from Medicare Advantage to Minor League Baseball, performing well on YouTube, and consistently bringing home Emmy Awards (and three Peabody Awards, to boot).
Speaking of the Emmys: as recently reported, a rule change taking effect this year will re-merge Outstanding Scripted Variety Series and Outstanding Talk Series into a singular category, Outstanding Variety Series. As a result, Last Week Tonight—the Emmy winner for Scripted Variety Series each of the past three years—will have to now compete against not only perennial foe Saturday Night Live, but The Late Show, The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live et al.
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