John Oliver

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

He is not a journalist. He doesn't pretend to be anything but partisan. Its his show. It's his opinions.

He's doing something no one has done before. Combine in depth research, mostly boring deep dives into an issue with buffoon, low brow comedic bits and snark.

If you have a criticism of my remarks, base them on my actual remarks, not the words you wish you could put in my mouth.

Never said he held himself out as a journalist. Never said he wasn't entitled to put out whatever show he and HBO agree to.

But it is important, I think, to highlight some of the slight of hand that happens in these format shows.

And it's not anything that hasn't been done before. It's right out of the StewBeef operations manual, employed by Colbert, Bee, Seth Meyers, Klepper, Thede, and was even preceded by Maher in many of his 'Last Word' segments on his own show through the years.

An ominous setup
A curated summary of salient events and/or chronology
A short but damning/absurd soundbyte
A look of seething rage
Close with an absurdist analogy that moves things back into comedy, while retaining the veneer of hard-hitting reportage.

Again, they have every right to do it. And people have every right to enjoy it. Just thought some people might also enjoy an analytical breakdown of their methods.