Last Week Tonight with John Oliver begins a two-week break tonight, but fans of the show won’t go home empty-handed.
Late Sunday August 25, 2024, HBO will upload the complete fourth season of Last Week Tonight to YouTube. The 30-episode season, which originally aired in 2017, premiered just weeks after Donald Trump took office, with the now-former president’s false and misleading statements serving as the premiere episode’s main story.
Other topics covered in Season 4 include Obamacare, border patrol, gerrymandering, Alex Jones, cannabis, confederate monuments, net neutrality, and vaccines. Its coverage earned the show four Emmys.
It was the fourth season episode titled “coal” that resulted in a defamation lawsuit from coal magnate Bob Murray after Oliver mocked him with a giant squirrel named “Mr Nutterbutter.” Although Murray ultimately dropped the case, Oliver later revealed that it had cost HBO $200,000 in legal fees and quadrupled the show’s libel insurance fees.
Guests and cameos in Last Week Tonight’s fourth season included Gilbert Gottfried, Will Arnett, Jack McBrayer, Laura Linney, “Weird Al” Yankovic, the Sesame Street penguins, and the Dalai Lama.
“We asked the hard questions in season four,” states the title card of a trailer posted to the show’s social accounts yesterday. “And we had all the answers.”
Hard questions. Absolutely all the answers. Season 4 is coming to YouTube on 8/25! pic.twitter.com/D6dzcuo6Mv
— Last Week Tonight (@LastWeekTonight) August 24, 2024
Since April, LWT has uploaded a full past season to YouTube each time the show takes a break.
The initiative to resurface its back catalogue followed a contentious decision by HBO to delay posting each new episode’s main topic to YouTube from Mondays to Thursdays. The move was made to drive subscriptions to Max. (New episodes have continued to be uploaded day and date in foreign territories not covered by Max or other licensors of the show.)
Last Week Tonight is currently in its 11th season. Oliver and team are set to return with new episodes on HBO Sunday, September 8, 2024.
