The latest episode of John Oliver’s late-night talk show Last Week Tonight aired on February 19. Season 4’s second episode saw host John Oliver once again take aim at President Donald Trump. Despite previously saying that the weekly show wouldn’t be dominated by the new president, Oliver admitted there was no way of avoiding the issue, saying “Trump dominates the news cycle like a fart dominates the interior of a Volkswagen Beetle. There is simply no escape from him.”
Donald Trump’s election only appears to be making the show more popular, however. According to Screener , the show’s fourth season premiere brought in a total of 1.19 million viewers , with a rating in the 18-49 demographic of 0.4. That’s a considerable increase over the show’s Season 3 finale, which aired in November 2016 and managed to pull in 1.17 million viewers. The Season 3 finale, which aired on November 13, 2016, dealt with the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election as the 45th President of the United States and guest starred Larry David, Amy Schumer, and Nick Offerman amongst others.
ICYMI: John Oliver uses a Russian techno song to warn Trump about Putin https://t.co/BINLgsgfsZ pic.twitter.com/bLe7qkJWqW
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 21, 2017
Ratings for the season’s second episode, which aired on Sunday night are yet to be released. However, following the success of the season premiere, it’s to be expected that John Oliver will either maintain or build upon his recent success. As aforementioned, Oliver again used the episode to dissect the Trump administration’s activities in the White House.
The episode saw host John Oliver take on Donald Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has said repeatedly that he wants better relations between the United States and Russia. According to News Australia , with that in mind, Oliver introduced five women wearing white, Abba-style bodysuits performing “A Man Like Putin”, with Oliver saying “It’s all about how women want someone like him.” The short music video tackles Putin’s rule in Russia and his relationship with Donald Trump, including a tape released of Trump’s alleged golden shower.
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Last Week Tonight has similarly continued its strong online presence in Season 4, too. Following the airing of each new episode, HBO releases short clips from the show on YouTube. Within the space of just two days, the clip discussing Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s relationship has been viewed over 4 million times. The show’s YouTube channel is now nearing a total of 5 million subscribers, with host John Oliver regularly creating exclusive content for the channel.
John Oliver isn’t the only late-night talk show host to see an increase in viewership for his show, however. According to Salon , The Daily Show with Trevor Noah has seen a seven percent increase in its total viewership for January in comparison to figures from the same time last year. The show, which follows a similar formula to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , has provided daily commentary of activity within the Trump White House.
That success has been echoed across a number of other late-night talk shows too, with both The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon seeing similar bumps in viewership numbers.
Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert observed Presidents’ Day by taking shots at Donald Trump https://t.co/ftT1NldHo1 pic.twitter.com/W2OapqZtEG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 21, 2017
Donald Trump’s presidency is certainly causing a boom in satire, which is no surprise given the amount of late-night talk show hosts who are using their show as a platform to dissect President Trump’s every move. However, it’s British comedian John Oliver who looks to benefit the most from the Trump administration’s shortfalls as a growing number of viewers continue to watch Last Week Tonight each week.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver next airs on HBO on February 26.
[Featured Image by HBO]