-Our first guest tonight is the host of
the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning show
"Last Week Tonight," which airs Sunday nights
on HBO and streams on HBO Max.
Please welcome back to the show our friend John Oliver.
[ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪
Welcome back. -It's very nice to be back.
-It's been a while. It's been a while in the studio.
We've talked via Zoom a few times.
-Yes. It's been almost exactly two years
since I've been in this studio.
-And if people do the math, that's right before --
That's sort of the eve of when the whole city shut down.
And looking back at our interview,
do you think we played it right?
Do you think we had the right tenor for the moment?
-I don't know how many people here regularly watch interviews
that we do from two years ago, but during that,
we were having some goofs...
-We were goofing hard.
-...about the fact that the first coronavirus case
had just been confirmed in New York City.
And goof away, we were, you know,
slightly out of nervousness, I think.
-Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That's what what I was doing. -Certainly. Certainly.
Not a zero amount of misplaced confidence.
I remember leaving here thinking, "Goofs well done,
fun was had."
-Absolutely.
-I got back to my apartment building,
and there was an ambulance outside,
and I thought, "I have [bleep] misjudged this situation."
Oh [bleep]
-Yeah. -And it hadn't even been on TV.
I was literally sitting at home thinking,
"I don't even want to watch what I just said,
because I think things have shifted a little."
So, it is very nice to be back. -Yeah.
-And I'm going to be very careful with how
confidently I'll predict anything
while sitting in this chair.
-I think it's very wise for both of us
to get well out of the prediction game.
-Yes. It is nice. It is nice.
It's nice to see you dress down for your show.
-Well, it was very nice to have you.
I mean, we really dodged a bullet,
because you basically are wearing one of my outfits --
one of my five outfits.
-I think if you have no sartorial confidence
or imagination, it's either this, this,
some variation, mildly, of colors within them,
but, essentially, you're not gonna risk anything else,
because, fundamentally, you know you can't carry it off.
-Yeah, no, it's shocking to me that once I first got out of
a suit, I'm like, "Now I can do anything."
And it's like, "No, it's just been this."
Yeah. -No, you can't. No, you can't.
-It's like, "Now I'm out of my cage and into a different cage."
You, of course, spent a lot of time in the void.
And I gave you -- I tipped my cap to you early on.
-You did.
-Because you figured out a way to just
nail the look right off the bat.
-Yeah, we got lucky, because when we were initially
doing a panic move to a studio in New Jersey,
when we couldn't do it from our studio, we just thought,
"Let's put a white backdrop in."
And then that worked out pretty well,
so let's roll with the white backdrop
so I don't invite people into my life at all.
-Yeah.
-You, of course, had books, children,
in that order.
-Yeah.
Everybody -- I just opened my world up to criticism
from people watching the show.
-That's the thing -- I think it's best for me
to go with a kind of antiseptic, austere background
that really invites no questions.
-I guess it's very clear that a man who chose that sweater
was like, "What about all white?"
What about just pure --
-How about white so you just deal with that?
-How -- And now you've got half an audience back.
-Yes, yeah. -And we've got the --
[ Cheers and applause ] -Oh. That's right.
-Yeah.
-I'll accept that from half of you.
-So, we got a full house here now.
Are you alright with that? -Yeah, I think I'm fine.
-Okay. -We're far enough away.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -That's not even COVID.
I just like dist--
-That's just British. -That's right, exactly.
I like emotional distance, as well as physical.
-Now, you did something that I immediately had to text you.
And, I mean, you know, look, I'll admit --
I was a little angry with you,
and I felt like I could text you.
-Okay, good. -Yeah.
I just wanted to be hon-- You did an interview
where you said some very nice things about our show.
-I like it very much.
-And you said one of your favorite things was Wally,
the cue-card guy,
off and on camera.
-I did say that. -Yeah.
-And I do see where you're coming from
when you say, "Careful what you're doing here,
because it's getting out of hand."
I saw Wally's appearance during the monologue.
I recognize you actually have a bit of a problem.
-Yeah.
-Because it does feel -- One of the things
I'm enjoying about this show very much in the moment is
watching a slow-motion coup unfold.
It's all fun.
It's all fun and games, and then there's a little too much
confidence with the way he delivers a line.
And watching Wally now, I feel like
it's like when you watch a child get famous.
Like, initially, you're happy for them,
and then you start to worry, "Where does this end?"
-Yeah. Yeah.
No, it's interesting you say that,
'cause I do feel like it's gonna be a bloodless coup.
-Yes, exactly.
Either that or Wally is just hurtling towards
a cocaine habit and a show on Peacock.
-And just all the cards are just gonna say, "Clip?"
-That's right.
-Just roll a clip. That'll be better.
Hey, as always, I have a million more things to ask you about,
so we'll be right back.
We'll get -- Let's put Wally -- -There he is. There he is.
-Oh, look, his best friend. His best friend.
We'll be right back with more from John Oliver.