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Anyone else feel like John Oliver's schtick is wearing thin? (Last Week Tonight)

P

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Jan 7, 2009
14,417
3
1,150
Every thirty seconds, it's some variant of either

the simile!
"It's as if [insert person/thing] started doing [insert ridiculous action]. [followed by comedic comment on said ridiculous simile]
e.g. just watch this video. it's seriously Family Guy manatee jokes levels of formulaic here.

Yelling at imaginary person doing weird thing
"No Tom/Becky/Jana/Suzy!! It's wrong and you shouldn't be doing that!"

I actually love the segments and summaries of situations he does. And the joke structures have (or had) their moments, but they've been overused and run into the ground so severely that every time one starts I become impatient and feel like fast forwarding past the filler. I love John's charisma and personality, so in the pieces where he is talking about the meat of the segment, it's worth my time. But the same tired jokes and structure has really almost worn out my patience.

I almost wish each episode had a supercut where all the shitty similes and yelling at imaginary white people were cut out so I could watch the shit that mattered.

In contrast, Samantha Bee is my favorite political comedy/news show right now. Her humor is quick and biting, delivery smart and witty, and most especially, varied. It flows well between jokes and data/documents/videos and never even see the credits coming. Anyone else feel the same?
 
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
Feb 9, 2009
37,882
4,868
1,905
No.

Also that video is collecting like 3 years of clips.
 
D

DrROBschiz

Member
Feb 9, 2013
19,768
2
445
Michigan
Dont care but i agree

the content is what matters which is why it doesnt get to me

As long as they keep doing what they are doing I feel no point in complaining about his delivery
 
T

Tovarisc

Member
Jul 1, 2014
16,139
0
0
Nah, he is going strong still.

If we want talk about schticks that are super thin or already burned through thoroughly we should talk about e.g. AngryJoe doing whole fake rage and constant yelling thing way too much.
 
B

Bookoo

Member
Jun 12, 2013
1,715
0
0
A little bit.

I just hate when he interrupts good points with very stupid or petty jabs/jokes because I feel like it diminishing the actually point he is trying to make.
 
W

whitehawk

Banned
Jan 27, 2008
24,803
326
1,345
Canada
Yes.

Sometimes I feel like John Oliver should just focus more on his investigative reporting. The comedy always comes second to me.
 
P

PlayALLtheGames

Banned
Oct 4, 2012
8,269
7
785
I mean, all comedians do this. Do you expect him to come up with a different delivery for everything, every week? It's his thing, man, and it's funny (to me).

And comparing that to Family Guy? Get real bruh.
 
I

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Mar 7, 2007
14,998
1
1,255
From the main clips I've seen of the show it's incredibly formulaic and honestly needs better writers.
 
A

Arttemis

Member
Jul 11, 2013
5,107
0
0
No. He sheds mainstream light on so many issues, removing the veil of complexity through approachable humor, that I couldn't give any less shit about the limited number of one type of jokes shared across years of work.
 
C

crisdecuba

Member
Jun 11, 2004
5,377
44
1,655
PeakPointMatrix said:
Every thirty seconds, it's some variant of either

the simile!
"It's as if [insert person/thing] started doing [insert ridiculous action]. [followed by comedic comment on said ridiculous simile]
e.g. just watch this video. it's seriously Family Guy manatee jokes levels of formulaic here.

Yelling at imaginary person doing weird thing
"No Tom/Becky/Jana/Suzy!! It's wrong and you shouldn't be doing that!"

I actually love the segments and summaries of situations he does. And the joke structures have (or had) their moments, but they've been overused and run into the ground so severely that every time one starts I become impatient and feel like fast forwarding past the filler. I love John's charisma and personality, so in the pieces where he is talking about the meat of the segment, it's worth my time. But the same tired jokes and structure has really almost worn out my patience.

I almost wish each episode had a supercut where all the shitty similes and yelling at imaginary white people were cut out so I could watch the shit that mattered.

In contrast, Samantha Bee is my favorite political comedy/news show right now. Her humor is quick and biting, delivery smart and witty, and most especially, varied. It flows well between jokes and data/documents/videos and never even see the credits coming. Anyone else feel the same?
Click to expand...
I agree with you 100%.
 
P

p2535748

Member
Oct 12, 2006
904
0
0
I agree with you. I still like the format of more in depth reporting on specific issues, and the small asides are often hilarious (the recent one about the train in the backyard of the TV station was excellent), but his shtick is wearing a bit thin at times. Makes it even more impressive that I never felt that way about Stewart.
 
B

backflip10019

Member
Feb 19, 2007
20,042
1
1,385
NYC
I just can't stop staring at his hands.

Click to expand...
 
N

NYCmetsfan

Banned
Apr 24, 2010
22,725
0
0
yes. he's become grating

but the show is still worth a watch because he packages complex stories very well.

he's a horribly formulaic comedian and the yelling at someone as if they're a small child is his worst trait

whitehawk said:
Yes.

Sometimes I feel like John Oliver should just focus more on his investigative reporting. The comedy always comes second to me.
Click to expand...

this.

though positioning it as a comedy show does get people who aren't going to watch CNN to care.
 
B

Bonen no Max'd

Banned
Jul 25, 2015
4,582
0
0
John Oliver isn't the funniest, but he's sometimes funny and usually pretty interesting even if ideologically he's a little too milquetoast. Sam Bee is terrible tho
 
M

Moppeh

Banned
Sep 12, 2013
2,530
0
0
I agree. It started getting stale a while ago.

It's still funny but I am more drawn to the journalistic content than the jokes.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
Jun 25, 2009
40,833
2
830
He's not particularly funny, and the audience constant screaming is annoying, but i still enjoy it, it packs a surprising amount of information in its infotainment format.
 
B

Bread

Banned
Jun 21, 2010
43,669
0
0
Donald Trump Jr tweeted out the emails? That's insane! That's like if a squirrel took all his nuts and threw them away right before winter! "No Mr Squirrel, you're supposed to eat those nuts before winter!" It doesn't make sense!!!!
 
P

Prophet Steve

Member
Sep 16, 2009
12,959
0
920
Netherlands
I've been feeling like that after a couple of clips already. It sometimes has something funny, but I never really see it for the comedy.

Trojita said:
No.

Also that video is collecting like 3 years of clips.
Click to expand...

Many of the jokes are definitely very formulaic, you don't need to put in much effort to fill a minute and a half of this.
 
C

crisdecuba

Member
Jun 11, 2004
5,377
44
1,655
Arttemis said:
No. He sheds mainstream light on so many issues, removing the veil of complexity through approachable humor, that I couldn't give any less shit about the limited number of one type of jokes shared across years of work.
Click to expand...
He's not criticizing the serious content - he's criticizing the humor.
 
G

gaiages

Banned
Mar 22, 2013
4,553
0
0
Florida
I don't really watch him for the humor, more for the in-depth and well researched pieces the show provides.

So, no. Also I do find most of his stuff funny.
 
W

Waylon Drums

Member
Oct 31, 2012
5,506
0
430
Boston
Tovarisc said:
Nah, he is going strong still.

If we want talk about schticks that are super thin or already burned through thoroughly we should talk about e.g. AngryJoe doing whole fake rage and constant yelling thing way too much.
Click to expand...

For the life of me, I'll never understand how that man can appeal to anyone, let alone so many people that he's as well-known as he is. His shtick is terrible and transparent.
 
E

Easy_D

never left the stone age
Jan 5, 2008
23,619
2
0
Bread said:
Donald Trump Jr tweeted out the emails? That's insane! That's like if a squirrel took all his nuts and threw them away right before winter! "No Mr Squirrel, you're supposed to eat those nuts before winter!" It doesn't make sense!!!!
Click to expand...

A real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Oliver!
 
F

Finalizer

Member
Jul 6, 2013
3,080
0
0
I'd love to see someone do a John Oliver Minus Jokes version of his rants, editing out all the lame humor and keeping only the meat of the videos.
 
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