Bugle on hiatus until September--Fuck you, HBO!
― relentlessly pecking at peace (President Keyes), Friday, 20 June 2014 09:00 (nine years ago) link
hate this guy
― conrad, Monday, May 19, 2014 5:31 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
0_0
― The Littlest Boho (stevie), Wednesday, 2 July 2014 14:47 (nine years ago) link
this show is better than both colbert and jon stewart
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 01:57 (nine years ago) link
^^^ truth
― A college wearing a sweater that says “John Belushi” (stevie), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 08:26 (nine years ago) link
i wonder if that's because he only has to produce one episode a week?
never seen this prog
― conrad, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 08:51 (nine years ago) link
It's great. It manages to be both really funny and really angry, which is a difficult line to walk.
― bizarro gazzara, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 08:56 (nine years ago) link
you can watch most of it via its youtube page, which is how I've been seeing it.
― A college wearing a sweater that says “John Belushi” (stevie), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 09:14 (nine years ago) link
definitely better than daily show, tho it's probably on the level with what colbert and his writers could do for a once a week thing.
i think the lack of an interview helps this week tonight quite a lot in terms of momentum (plus - i don't remember oliver being a great interviewer from his stint hosting the daily show). i dig the compiled clips of stupid news tropes to transition between bits but i think it's the kinda thing that will seem played out pretty soon, akin to the "better know a district" series or other colbert bits
― hug niceman (psychgawsple), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 16:47 (nine years ago) link
i think the lack of an interview helps
omg yes, so much. I never watch TDS or Colbert interviews any more. Really funny and really angry stops dead when Ben Affleck has a movie to promote.
― franny glasshole (franny glass), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 23:54 (nine years ago) link
With Colbert about to (presumably) shift towards ditching the character, Oliver's timing is even better.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 2 October 2014 00:16 (nine years ago) link
i keep hoping he'll bring on his Bugle cohost Andy as a special guest & do 30 solid minutes of puns
love this so much
longform ranting oliver is the greatest gift to comedy-news, i am so happy he's getting so much love & has such a great team to enhance his talents.
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 2 October 2014 05:02 (nine years ago) link
colbert interviews are always entertaining some more than others obviously
― conrad, Thursday, 2 October 2014 12:58 (nine years ago) link
I always skip Stewart/Colbert interviews
― Yo Gotti Nutter Ting Hummin' (President Keyes), Thursday, 2 October 2014 13:11 (nine years ago) link
Andy should totally appear.
― franny glasshole (franny glass), Thursday, 2 October 2014 17:19 (nine years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=RealAnimalsFakePaws
some of this is really fantastic
― Clay, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 04:27 (nine years ago) link
this guy is such an uninsightful bore
― the fuckin catalina wine mixer (sleepingbag), Monday, 23 March 2015 15:47 (nine years ago) link
my wife is really into it but the pattern of dissect-workings-of-minor-issue-that-is-actually-result-of-much-bigger-issue and then turn it into some brief social media hashtag cause leaves me fairly uninspired
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 March 2015 15:57 (nine years ago) link
like yes predatory lending is a problem and this country totally fucks the poor I wonder why that is #capitalism
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 March 2015 15:58 (nine years ago) link
you two are lames
― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:01 (nine years ago) link
his jokes are funny, it's the polemical aspects of it that I find a bit pointless
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 March 2015 16:02 (nine years ago) link
liberal panic monster of the week as entertainment only goes so far for me anyway but oliver seems particularly insincere, i don't buy that he really cares about anything he talks about moreso than any other given buzzfeed reader
― the fuckin catalina wine mixer (sleepingbag), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:05 (nine years ago) link
as far as Daily Show spinoffs go at this point I prefer Wilmore, which is at least a bit unpredictable and with a variety of voices
― Οὖτις, Monday, 23 March 2015 16:09 (nine years ago) link
yeah, i'm down with wilmore. even just thinking about the two of them oliver seems like such a cranky fuck in comparison
― the fuckin catalina wine mixer (sleepingbag), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:12 (nine years ago) link
he is very very funny and i admire how well researched his show is
― IHeartMedia, the giant broadcaster formerly known as Clear Channel, (stevie), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:14 (nine years ago) link
oliver i mean
oliver is a slightly-retuned version of Jon Stewart with the energy he had ten years ago, so it's good to me.i wanted wilmore to be better but finding it generally pretty boring and uneven, and the panel segments to be a chore. it's missing a spark somewhere.
― Nhex, Monday, 23 March 2015 16:22 (nine years ago) link
i love oliver, tone of the show is v similar to the bugle
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 23 March 2015 16:29 (nine years ago) link
Oliver and Wilmore have two different aims imo, so it's hard to determine who's doing a better job. I like both. The fact that Oliver only airs once a week makes it seem like his show has higher stakes, though.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 23 March 2015 16:32 (nine years ago) link
but oliver seems particularly insincere, i don't buy that he really cares about anything he talks about moreso than any other given buzzfeed reader
I totally do, based mainly on having listened to the Bugle for ages. There have been lots of moments when one or other of them edge close to being dead serious angry/upset. Oliver being married to a veteran (combat medic I think?) makes me pay attention to his show's pieces on the military.
― franny glasshole (franny glass), Monday, 23 March 2015 22:50 (nine years ago) link
sometimes the level of cynicism on ilx is just astounding
― gr8080, Monday, 23 March 2015 22:53 (nine years ago) link
I don't think this latest rant was that good, and the hashtag was dumb and useless. In general, this season doesn't seem as good as the first, though that's probably rose-tinted glasses since it was a debut and all that. Some of the hashtag-stuff has been good, such as when it's used to counter the bullying behavious by the president of Ecaudor, or when it shines a light on Philip Morris trying to get away with treating poor countries horrendously without anyone noticing. Here, more exposure could conceivably make a difference. But this rant on municipal violations seemed much less pointed than it could have been, and because of Ferguson everyone has been sorta thinking about it recently anyway. Just doing a 'do you know that this exists?' on one of the biggest news stories recently is not LWTwJO at it's finest.
― Frederik B, Monday, 23 March 2015 23:01 (nine years ago) link
I only see the 20-minute videos that go on youtube, so I might be missing something, but I thought the NCAA one from last week was great. Nothing that anyone who pays attention to sports doesn't already know but it was nice to hear sharp jokes and criticism from someone in the media aside from, I dunno, Deadspin.
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 00:18 (nine years ago) link
JFC you fucking idiots, John Oliver's show is foregrounding shit we've been ranting about for a fucking decade plus on here. Remember that this shit has to permeate a thick fecal slurry of constant, un-mute-able noise from a thousand media sphincters shitting out endless social clickbait distraction. There's a very narrow finite amount of socially or culturally acceptable topics to talk about in a week's amount of air-time, and this show can get a thing that's _rather_ important out there to the point where something can actually happen. Crashing the FCC's servers about net.neutrality is a great example.
Larry Wilmore's show is great and worthwhile, too. Once in a while, he'll play a deep-bench nerd ref card that tips the hand of either his or his writing staff's obsessions into nerdshit.
None of this shit is fucking perfect and will never be. At this point, enjoy what we can get of non-horrible cultural material being produced. This is mass entertainment blasted at millions of people on a nightly to weekly basis, and its in a digestible format that other worthy causes shared on social media don't reach. These guys can get previously unaddressed topics to get mentioned on either Headline News or take yer pick of breakfast chat shows, or at least are the closest methods to do so.
In other words, I agree with gr8080.
― Delbert Gravy (kingfish), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 07:01 (nine years ago) link
kingfish otm
― bizarro gazzara, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 09:48 (nine years ago) link
sorry but obviously Oliver is a dead-souled cynical charlatan from some country that probably doesn't even exist anymore who came here to exploit America's obsessions with Net Neutrality and FIFA for $$$$ and proximity to Bill Mahar
― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 11:23 (nine years ago) link
er
― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Tuesday, 24 March 2015 11:24 (nine years ago) link
lol
― Nhex, Tuesday, 24 March 2015 13:10 (nine years ago) link
Well THAT happened.
― fuck me, archipelago (Simon H.), Monday, 6 April 2015 06:05 (nine years ago) link
I don't even regularly watch this show but caught it last night randomly, excellent interview.
― akm, Monday, 6 April 2015 16:52 (nine years ago) link
surprisingly antagonistic!
― Maybe in 100 years someone will say damn Dawn was dope. (forksclovetofu), Monday, 6 April 2015 17:26 (nine years ago) link
yeah, that was really good. it made snowden seem a bit more human than citizenfour - i really liked that movie but it was great to see someone asking hard questions and him struggling to answer them.
he was surprisingly weak in his responses about the competence of some of the journalists he's working with, and whether he'd read the entire cache of documents. he seemed genuinely crestfallen when he was shown the video of people who didn't know who he was.
oliver is great at making complex subjects understandable and funny at the same time.
― bizarro gazzara, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 09:29 (nine years ago) link
yeah i thought it was a good interview ! designed to leave audience asking at least some of the right questions
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 16:17 (nine years ago) link
Snowden: "I did this to give the American people a chance to decide for themselves the kind of government they want to have. That is a conversation that the American people deserve to decide."Oliver: "Is it a conversation that we have the capacity to have? Because it's so complicated."
Hah what? Is this even an argument? I understand Oliver is really running w the whole "Americans are idiots" motif but this is some hiding your head in the sand type bs.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:31 (nine years ago) link
did you watch the whole episode
― gr8080, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:34 (nine years ago) link
I stopped pretty soon after he was showing him the laptop with random Times Square people not remembering his name. Should I finish it?
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:36 (nine years ago) link
sounds like jokes to me
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:36 (nine years ago) link
i don't know, i see where he's coming from. he's just alluding to the fact that Americans don't care (can't speak to the rest of the world). i guess he's implying that we don't care because it's beyond our capacity or it's too complicated, so that's worthy of criticism or debate. but the core point is that americans don't give a shit. the NSA/snowden/privacy stuff couldn't be any more clear. it's been documented relentlessly, and no one cares. no one talks about it.
― Karl Malone, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:37 (nine years ago) link
the random idiots not knowing who snowden is is the tie-in to "are we capable of having this conversation." Snowden started the conversation and the majority of america responded with "..." Xps
― Clay, Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:38 (nine years ago) link
my problem with that set-up is that you'd get the same response from Americans about almost anything political--"Who is John Boehner?" "Who is Harry Reid?"
― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Tuesday, 7 April 2015 17:44 (nine years ago) link
but there's always this feeling from John that "I know how to fix this" and, no. No you don't
???? this sounds like projection
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:43 (three years ago) link
If anything I think one if his trademarks is that he constantly underscores that he often does not have a solution and wishes he does, because he is heartbroken or furious. And barring that, he'll bust out a squirrel suit.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:46 (three years ago) link
I do like the show but I have reservations. First that he always says things are brilliant or hilarious when I don't find them to be so, Second that I'm used to him being an English person on The Bugle and find his references to American culture strange and disconcerting, I get that he is reading a script but it just sounds wrong. Like the "Drumpf" episode, it isn't a funny joke anyway, and the bit about "the word 'trump' sounds impressive" is annoying because he grew up in the West Midlands in the 80s and I can assure you that the word 'trump' meant "fart" among kids in the West Midlands in the 80s.
― Anti-Cop Ponceortium (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:54 (three years ago) link
drumpf was bad
i think the show's writing has sharpened in the past 1-2 years though, and (possible controp) the jokes have worked better without an audience
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 13:55 (three years ago) link
I liked how he ended the show by turning it over to the very righteous anger of a black woman protestor. certainly not saying Oliver deserves a medal for that or anything, but it does seem like the opposite of "condescending."
― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:00 (three years ago) link
I agree with you Brad on both those claims: the first couple of quarantine eps were rough and awkward but I think it is better when he's not pitching the jokes to the back row
― dip to dup (rob), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:08 (three years ago) link
I don't fuck you's and suck my dick's from a talking head as some sort of performative validation of my feelings (or as instruction how to feel). That's what I find condescending
― brian emo (rip van wanko), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:17 (three years ago) link
I really don't read him as ever telling you how you should feel, but rather, particularly in episodes like this, that he works from a starting point of trying to focus his sadness and rage and working from a point of empathy. But I don't see condescension in him at all. If I think performative condescension, I think Maher and not Oliver.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:24 (three years ago) link
If we can’t all come together over saying fuck you to tucker carlson then what do we even have left?
― Evans on Hammond (evol j), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:32 (three years ago) link
fuck you i won't feel how you tell me
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
honestly thought the "Drumpf" thing was a parody of Krassenstein shit
― frogbs, Wednesday, 10 June 2020 14:54 (three years ago) link
i much prefer his show without an audience (even the small one he has). This week's was one of his best.
― akm, Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:21 (three years ago) link
honestly thought the "Drumpf" thing was a parody of Krassenstein shit― frogbs, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 9:54 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― frogbs, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 9:54 AM (eleven hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Didn't it predate Krassensteins? I thought Drumpf was before he was elected president, like "this'll be the thing that ends his candidacy."
― jaymc, Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:24 (three years ago) link
could be...I thought the joke was that none of the things that would've killed any other campaign had any effect on him, so the "this'll be the thing that ends his candidacy" thing was sort of a joke onto itself
― frogbs, Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:38 (three years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_(Last_Week_Tonight)#%22Make_Donald_Drumpf_Again%22
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:51 (three years ago) link
"Drumpf" was before Trump was elected. It was also the first time that show really addressed Donald Trump's campaign, having mostly set aside to talk about other issues at the time.
― MarkoP, Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:50 (three years ago) link
i agree about his quarantine episodes being better, and i think part of it is that it eliminates my least favorite part of the show: when it all develops into a big stage production at the end and there's music and props and costumes and fireworks etc
― our god is a might god (Karl Malone), Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:55 (three years ago) link
That was one of many reasons I tuned out for sureThe Police segment proves he's much more tolerable when he tones down the shtick by 75% or so
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:57 (three years ago) link
for as much as i complain about john oliver, i usually end up watching almost all the episodes each season.
― our god is a might god (Karl Malone), Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:57 (three years ago) link
Casting the Drumpf thing as a parody of tryhard #resistance shit is revisionism
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 11 June 2020 05:16 (three years ago) link
that segment was tryhard without all that shit tbhthat said i think Oliver is far more good than bad, especially his work lately
― Nhex, Thursday, 11 June 2020 06:09 (three years ago) link
idk y'all are probably right. maybe I just don't get British humor
that said yes the latest episode was very good and I think he works better now without the audience, unlike the other late night shows which just don't really work anymore
― frogbs, Thursday, 11 June 2020 13:50 (three years ago) link
the facial recognition episode was terrifying. particularly the bit where it was able to find a 30-something news anchor's teenage photo
I've told this story in another thread but I was pretty alarmed when Facebook tried to tag me in someone's photo from the work Christmas party, despite the fact that A) I'm way in the background and B) we have no mutual friends. my 'hope' was that it's just using location data but even still that seems pretty questionable
― frogbs, Wednesday, 17 June 2020 18:32 (three years ago) link
i got locked out of facebook the other week and they 'needed' my phone number and a non-blurry photograph in order to 'verify my account'. i assume this was for stuff like the above.
(they should have my number because i had the app installed a few years ago. but they probably didn't have a photo, at least not one where i've been tagged)
― koogs, Wednesday, 17 June 2020 19:13 (three years ago) link
my friend was in New Orleans for her 40th bday and kissed some random dude. that was the only contact they ever had. 5 years later FB popped up his profile asking if she knew him.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 17 June 2020 20:06 (three years ago) link
He's been searching for her on there
― Anti-Cop Ponceortium (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 17 June 2020 20:11 (three years ago) link
Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2020 season is nominated in the 2020 ILX TV poll:
ILX's Best Television of 2020 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 29, 2021
If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 21 January 2021 19:40 (three years ago) link
don't think a single American TV journalist summed up the Israeli/Palestinian conflict better than John Oliver last night
― frogbs, Monday, 17 May 2021 17:57 (two years ago) link
Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2021 season is nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:
ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 January 2022 20:56 (two years ago) link
the episode last week on police interrogations was really good. actually brought back a memory of being 13 and getting "busted" for 2 counts of shoplifting even though I didn't steal anything the first time, and wasn't even there the second time. they used all the tactics in this episode, the whole "We have you dead to rights here" thing, the "I'm just trying to help you but I can't if you're gonna lie to me" line, the "how can you be sure you didn't block it out of your memory" argument, using my "confession" even though a minute later I said "no, I didn't do it, I want to see the video" (what do you know, they didn't have it, but if I wanted to challenge it they were going to slap on another charge of "lying to a police officer"), fucking wild to see it all laid out like this. nobody believed me that I didn't do it! my parents didn't trust me for months after that! I thought I was going insane!!
― frogbs, Monday, 25 April 2022 15:22 (two years ago) link
Racist idiots next door called teh police n me for trying to get them to leave a local paper I have delivered alone. I think that woman is a headcase. I 'd had the husband standing outside my door threatening me then 20 minutes later a cop is knocking on my door.So have always wondered what their required result was. I think they are beyond belief. His behaviour has left a lot to be desired at other time.sSo I've had that running through my head when I watch things like that.Am hearing that the Texas Death Row inmate who was interrogated when she was laready in extreme stress from her daughter dying mentioned as having a support/protest campaign talked about on a few podcasts I've heard thsi week. Think its teh same one.
& the night these idiots were trying that on with me I was actually trying to take part in a Human Rights campaign for First nations people in Canada. Unbelievable. White privileged morons.
― Stevolende, Monday, 25 April 2022 16:27 (two years ago) link
those sketches they do at the end of episodes are kinda hit & miss but the Korean Subway drama had me laughing nonstop. I would totally watch that series.
that sort of episode is the show at its best, tackling the sort of questions that are on the back of everyone's mind but never get any "real" news coverage. I live in a town of 55,000 and we have 6 Subways. one of them is literally less than a quarter mile away from another. nobody is ever at any of them.
― frogbs, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 14:49 (one year ago) link
agreed, good topic selection and ending skit. almost unbelievable that the real thing exists
― Nhex, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 18:18 (one year ago) link
credit for incorporating it into the plot though, unlike this scene they showed from an actual #1 US TV show which still feels utterly unreal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQYwFND7rHE
― frogbs, Tuesday, 31 May 2022 18:43 (one year ago) link
lol we watched Happy Gilmore with my son this weekend. I hadn't seen it probably since it came out on VHS and had totally forgotten that it was also a 92 minute Subway commercial.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 31 May 2022 18:47 (one year ago) link
fun gimmick last week they did one episode about HOAs and then another for anyone under 35 (who will never own a house) about Chuck E Cheese. no surprise but the Chuck E Cheese episode was a lot funnier
― frogbs, Monday, 17 April 2023 18:54 (one year ago) link
yeah, it was... though i kinda wish it had a better point to make me sit through the 30 minutes of that. At least the HOA one had some coherent point to it
― Nhex, Monday, 17 April 2023 21:11 (one year ago) link
Oh my god I was wondering what was up with that billboard!! That’s a quarter mile away from where I used to live!
― frogbs, Tuesday, 7 November 2023 00:19 (five months ago) link
lol!!
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 November 2023 03:02 (five months ago) link
first two eps this season have been solid, can't believe I hadn't heard of "pig butchering" before, I get those texts all the time and even respond to them sometimes. big yikes when it's revealed who's actually sending them though
― frogbs, Monday, 26 February 2024 15:46 (two months ago) link