History Series / LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver

* MandelaEffect: Parodied in the Public Libraries episode; it starts off innocuously enough by pointing out that the title is actually Berenstain Bears, not Berenstein Bears, but throughout the rest of the segment he keeps revisiting this joke by spelling Berenstain in different ways, and even changing the type of animals as well.

* TheMandelaEffect: Parodied in the Public Libraries episode; it starts off innocuously enough by pointing out that the title is actually Berenstain Bears, not Berenstein Bears, but throughout the rest of the segment he keeps revisiting this joke by spelling Berenstain in different ways, and even changing the type of animals as well.

** Played for laughs again in the episode on workplace sexual harassment, in response to a clip of Creator/LizaMinnelli's pro-woman musical number at the 1993 Academy Awards, featuring the lyric "[[UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton Hillary]] will lead the way]]":

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series, the official ''Last Week Tonight'' [=YouTube=] channel [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmKbqjSZR8TZMVP4UwUfCK9MA_vmP_-ZD uploaded the entirety of the first season to the platform, with "Seasons 2-8 to come, whenever [they] don't have a new episode".

** In the journalism segment, John noted how the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Best Picture]] win for ''Film/{{Spotlight}}'' finally gave newspapers the recognition that we normally reserve for important subjects like [[Film/{{Argo}} the incredible bravery of real-life Hollywood filmmakers,]] [[Film/TheArtist the incredible bravery of fictional Hollywood filmmakers,]] [[Film/AmericanBeauty and the incredible bravery of wanting to fuck your daughter's friend.]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHovZr5itPU Repeated yet again with]] UsefulNotes/{{Guatemala}} in a segment on that country's elections in 2015. This time he just shows a map of Central America with ''nothing highlighted at all'', and tells us to just look it up for ourselves if we want to know which country Guatemala is.
** When discussing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V5ckcTSYu8 the 2015 Canadian elections]], the joke is subverted, as instead of showing a map, John refers to UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} as "the country you think about so little, [[TakeThat that's it. End of sentence.]]"

** Another variant is during his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxfqkrO5ww endorsement web-exclusive]], where he brings up how Trump is endorsed by Creator/StephenBaldwin, showing a different one of the Baldwin brothers.
** In his story about Website/{{Facebook}} usage in [[UsefulNotes/ThatSoutheastAsianCountry Myanmar]], John reveals that the graphic he's using for the country is actually UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev's birthmark.

** When he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27FpoRiStgk covered]] UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}}, he started with the game and [[TakeThatAudience a mini-rant about how it was meant to encourage people to learn more about geography]], not [[invoked]][[MisaimedFandom an exercise in ongoing humiliation]]. It was then double-subverted when he revealed he played he had highlighted the wrong country, though he didn't identify it as UsefulNotes/{{Lithuania}}. ("Happy now, you freaks?")

** The September 11, 2022 segment is devoted to, of all things, ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' and its use of this trope, particularly in its depiction of the police. Namely, John deconstructs how ''Law And Order'' has, [[LongRunner for decades]], shaped the American public's understanding of how the criminal justice system works. Namely, John criticizes the franchise for side-stepping many of the realities that law enforcement has struggled with (e.g., police conduct towards people of color, rather low conviction rates, etc.), even if such artistic license would be necessary for the PoliceProcedural format. John also points out that, if a MedicalDrama such as ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' had adopted a similar course of action regarding its subject matter, the conversation would be quite different.

** When talking about coal, he specifically went after Robert Murray, who had warned the show not to badmouth him or his company, Murray Energy, on the grounds that if he did, he would sue. John deliberately defied the order, and talked about how Murray Energy had been cited for its lax enforcement of safety regulations, specifically how a mine collapse in Utah left six miners, and three rescuers dead. He also mentioned how employees were offered an optional meager overtime instead of benefits, with one employee giving back his check with the sentence "Eat Shit Bob". John also talked about how Murray is an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, since Trump has promised to reinvigorate the coal industry, despite the fact it has been in steep decline in recent decades, and because Trump promised to decrease environmental regulations. He also mentions that an insider stated that Murray got the idea to create his company after a squirrel told him to. The episode ends with "Mr. Nutter Butter", a guy in a giant squirrel costume, holding a GiantNoveltyCheck with the phrase "Eat Shit Bob" written on it. [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/22/john-oliver-a-giant-squirrel-and-a-defamation-lawsuit-by-a-coal-industry-titan/ Not surprisingly, Murray filed a defamation suit on John and Time Warner citing "character assassination," something he had done in the past against media outlets that criticized him and his company.]] Months later, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/john-oliver-hbo-beat-coal-executives-defamation-lawsuit-1088133 the suit was thrown out of court,]] because the West Virginia State Supreme Court, where the case was filed, ruled that Murray had no basis to sue on the grounds that John's comments were satire, which is protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution, and the segment criticizing Murray Energy's safety track record was based on public record.

** Occasionally parodied, along with StiffUpperLip. For instance, after the 2015 UK election:

** John concedes that UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump had every right to be annoyed at the quirks in the political primary system, which rewarded more delegates to Ted Cruz in Louisiana despite that fact that he lost the state in the popular vote.[[note]]Of course, that became deeply ironic when Trump won the presidency despite losing the popular vote.[[/note]]

* ThePeterPrinciple: Discussed. In the episode about UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson, John fully explains that Boris relies on [[SelfDeprecation self-mockery and bumbling charm]] to avoid the consequences of his actions. While those traits did help win over the public when he was in a lower position of government but as soon as he became prime minister, however, his lack of preparation and over-reliance on buffoonish charm quickly fell flat. As people were now relying on him for competent leadership and he had to deliver on his promise of Brexit within 30 days, something that EU was more clear about when they were talking about their terms on the matter.
* PinkMeansFeminine: Discussed and parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sWRXr2Yu9g a segment]] on the UK Labour Party's misguided use of this for a campaign minibus to attract female voters in the run-up to the 2015 Parliamentary elections -- while it helps sell toys, the color pink does not automatically garner votes, especially for a leftist party.

** If you're [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUdHIatS36A getting high in your house]], there ''is'' a [=SWAT=] team outside your house coming to get you, and they have military grade weaponry which they're not properly trained to use.

** When discussing Lord Buckethead, a joke candidate in the UK's 2017 snap election who's made public denouncements about both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn's lack of preparation for the upcoming Brexit talks:

** In the story about COVID-19 conspiracy theories (and conspiracy theories in general), John plays a clip of Rush Limbaugh, [[EveryoneHasStandards of all people]], saying that Trump spreads conspiracy theories in such a way that he never says he actually believes them, as a way of deflecting backlash.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: An Indian news presenter delivered one of these to John in a clip from Indian TV that condemned western shows criticizing president Modi. The presenter directs all kinds of ad hominem attacks towards him, before telling him he should be ashamed of himself. After watching the clip, John triumphantly replies that he has embarrassed himself on TV so many times, that he has become immune to feelings of shame.

* RightOnTheTick: John plays a video on Cade Cothren's texts that reveal he was doing drugs, and makes fun of the attention the clip puts on the exact time that these texts were sent despite the fact that [[SubvertedTrope the time has no real significance]], rather than the actual content of said texts.

* RoyallyScrewedUp: {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in his segment on monarchies, as John argued that generations of inbreeding coupled with a privileged upbringing can result in the heir either being a potential tyrant or a weak monarch.

** "Fuck you, X!" / "Fuck this guy!" John will issue this proclamation tongue-in-cheek for various reasons. For example, when the race horse California Chrome lost the chance to win the Triple Crown, he puts up a picture of the other horse and says "I wanted a different horse! Fuck this horse!"

** John insisting that [[Creator/MaryKateAndAshleyOlsen the Olsen Twins]] are in fact one person who is [[SuperSpeed moving back and forth at superhuman speeds]] to create the illusion of being two people, and that [[EpilepticTrees there is a grand conspiracy to convince the world there are two of them]], for reasons he cannot understand. It even showed up in the segment about Facebook, where a scene when various people mention conspiracy theories lists the Olsen twin among them.

* SignificantNameOverlap: [[invoked]] During the segment on credit reports, this is shown to be a major problem when someone is wrongfully rejected. For example, a man called Sam Jackson ([[Creator/SamuelLJackson no, not him]]) was mistaken for ''three'' sex offenders that shared the same name, one of whom was convicted when he was ''3 years old''. The show also found ''two'' news segments about different women named Judy Thomas who spent years trying to correct errors on their credit reports.

* SinsOfTheFather: PlayedWith in his segment on UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily and the legacy of the UsefulNotes/BritishEmpire. While going over the British monarchy's role as a symbol of both the United Kingdom itself and its former Empire, John does not suggest that the modern royals are responsible for events that took place generations (or, in the case of the Transatlantic slave trade, ''centuries'') before their lifetimes. Rather, John faulted the modern royals for not properly reckoning with what the British government did in the Crown's name to the indigenous residents of former British colonies.

* StreisandEffect: [[invoked]]
** Discussed in the segment on the "[[https://youtu.be/r-ERajkMXw0 Right to Be Forgotten]]", as Mario Costeja-Gonzalez, the man from Spain who petitioned the European Union for the rule to be legislated did so in regards to his personal debts from 1998.

** This happened again during [[https://youtu.be/aw6RsUhw1Q8 his segment about the coal industry]], as the show was sent a Cease & Desist letter by Murray Energy, which prompted them to focus even ''more'' on that particular company than they had initially planned to. The company [[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/22/john-oliver-a-giant-squirrel-and-a-defamation-lawsuit-by-a-coal-industry-titan/?utm_term=.5412bb831398 filed a suit just 3 days later]].

* StuffBlowingUp: In the Season 3 finale, John Oliver detonated signs reading 2016, claiming it to be a bad year. [[CallBack This would be repeated]] in 2020 for [[https://youtu.be/EzlCOg-37hI?t=520 the Season 7 finale]], claiming it to be an even worse year.
* StylisticSuck: The prosperity-gospel megachurch John set up, "Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption", had [[http://www.ourladyofperpetualexemption.com its very own website]], and [[https://41.media.tumblr.com/cce0e248c672a223bab32af306b0f7ff/tumblr_nuu7rouD1j1uu2uuso1_1280.png it was exactly]] [[https://40.media.tumblr.com/20b69cc2546cc0fe38a1f49044944642/tumblr_nuu7rouD1j1uu2uuso2_1280.png as cheesy-looking]] [[https://41.media.tumblr.com/1972e6da2fd6bd8e29d9bbffa0d89c89/tumblr_nuu7rouD1j1uu2uuso3_1280.png as you'd expect]].

--> '''Joseph Jack:''' Six words: testing, testing, testing, testing, and more testing.
--> '''John:''' I'll tell you what I admire about that guy: his confidence. Because I don't think I've seen anyone more self-assured than the man who just promised six words, said seven, and counted five, all without even flinching. That guy is so secure in his thinking, he could be wrong about numbers on camera twice and do it with an unbreaking smile.

* CanadaEh: In response to the 2015 hack of the Canada-based affair hookup website [=AshleyMadison.com=], John notes that close to a fifth of the population of Ottawa (and ''½ the married population'') are members. So in response, they play a video with a comically exaggerated Canadian narrator extolling the virtues of Ottawa and suggesting that people there not "Cheat with some guy named Gordon" but instead "Fuck their own husband named Gordon."

* CityOfEverywhere: The city in the background is a composite, containing landmarks from New York, D.C., London, and many other cities, with what may be the tip of a pyramid looming in the background.

* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: Discussed. When talking about Jared Kushner, John was both confused and frustrated that the only thing people had to praise about Kushner was that he was calmer and more rational than Donald Trump. John even showed an interview where one of Kushner's friends stated that although Kushner was a nice man, they believed he was underqualified for the job he was given and pointed out that simply comparing him to Donald Trump wasn't the best justification for his role in the Oval Office.

* HellholePrison: How John sees Guantanamo Bay. In the October 9, 2016 episode's segment on the Cuban detainment camp, he argued that it would be better for the United States to close the facility due to the conditions and the somewhat shaky legal justifications for its existence. * HereWeGoAgain:

* HellholePrison: How John sees Guantanamo Bay. In the October 9, 2016 episode's segment on the Cuban detainment camp, he argued that it would be better for the United States to close the facility due to the conditions and the somewhat shaky legal justifications for its existence.

* HereWeGoAgain:

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: In the Canadian anti-adultery advert, the narrator tells lumberjacks to turn off their chainsaws and hockey players to stop skating around. Then it switches to a moose, whom the narrator tells to keep moosing because it doesn't concern him.

** A history book calling slavery "tasks" was compared to "calling Hitler 'a best-selling author', JFK's assassination 'a bad day', [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and this show a comedy.]]"

* TyrannicalHomeownersAssociation: The main story of Season-10 ep. 7 was "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnThetin Homeowners Associations]]," ([=HOAs'=]) and after Oliver explains why so many municiplaities have them, to keep taxes low via the collection of fees to pay for services and infrastructure, he goes on to mention several horror stories that came as a result of interactions with [=HOAs'=], such as: a man who kept getting fined for having a bench on his front yard; another household that got fined for having a non regulation shed on his property, which could only be seen from the air; and another who had her home foreclosed by her [=HOA=], and had her house sold for an over 99% discount, as in her property was originally valued at several hundred thousand dollars, but was listed for a few ''dozen'' dollars.

** At the end of his "FIFA II" segment, John makes a plea to the sponsors of FIFA, begging them to use their influence to force then-president Sepp Blatter to resign. John tells Budweiser he will consume a bottle of Bud Light Lime (which he says tastes like "a puddle beneath a Long John Silver's dumpster") on camera, and say it was "delicious." Less than a week later, Blatter resigned. Ever a man of his word, on his next show John did indeed chug a bottle of Bud Light Lime on camera and say "Delicious!", even though it wasn't clear Budweiser had anything to do with Blatter leaving. But before John emptied the bottle (at an on-set Bud Light Lime-themed pool party, no less), he had this to say:
--> "However, for the record, I didn't promise anything about what I would say ''before'' I drank it, which is: that Bud Light Lime tastes like Jolly Green Giant ejaculate, it tastes like Main/TheGreatGazoo urinating into a public pool, or, a lime Jolly Rancher fished out of Creator/MickeyRourke's mouth."

* ArsonMurderAndAdmiration: In a segment on tobacco, John notes that the LoopholeAbuse used by a tobacco company's legal team to make it possible for them to sue the country of Australia was so ingenious that you want to give those lawyers a pat on the back. [[AmoralAttorney Followed by a punch to the face,]] of course, but still...

** Another variant is during his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxfqkrO5ww endorsement web-exclusive]], where he brings up how Trump is endorsed by Stephen Baldwin, showing a different one of the Baldwin brothers.

** Averted when he talks about Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country in 2022; since it was in the news a lot, he refers to Ukraine as, "A country you know so much about".
* ArtisticLicenseLaw:
** John puts up a grandiose display, complete with $5,000 in cash, with Creator/MikeMyers to supposedly break a Canadian law which states that foreigners cannot induce Canadians to influence their vote. The next day, the regulatory body for federal elections, Elections Canada, explained that John was in no trouble in any way, since "inducement" must involve offering some kind of material good like money to voters. By contrast, all John and Myers did with their stunt was to express an opinion, which is perfectly allowed under the law. Though it has still been noted that the wording was vague enough that it could indeed be taken as what he claimed, something even many Canadians were unaware of.

** After showing a Brazilian political ad with a spinning sign with the names of ex-president Lula and his candidate Haddad, John attempts this with a sign with (Gary) "Busey" and "[[Series/ILoveLucy Lucy]]" and states that "one is America's sweetheart and the other married Desi Arnaz".

---> '''John:''' Let's move on to Amazon, a company run by Jeff Bezos, who answers the question "What if ComicBook/LexLuthor was-" And that's it. Just "What if Lex Luthor ''was''?" He's a bald business maniac with too much money, zero empathy and weird supervillain vehicles. He is ''just'' Lex Luthor.

--->Oh, that's right, business-daddy! You thought a pandemic would bring us ''together?'' Of course not! Our feud must be an essential service, 'cause it's ''still in business.'' Seriously, though, BD, I-I do hope you're safe and healthy. I can't wait to talk to you as soon as this is over... and as soon as I can '''''get more than one bar of service.'''''

--->'''Obama:''' In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, we did some things that were wrong. We did a whole lot of things that were right... but we tortured some folks.\\

--->'''Lloyd Austin:''' It's [[{{Understatement}} a small number]] and the ones that are left... er... we're talking... [[EpicFail four or five]].

--->'''Newsreader:''' Hmmm... total shock, really, from where we started in the evening.\\

* TheCaligula: In his segment of monarchies, John discussed this trope by arguing that one of the flaws to having a system of inherited power is the possibility that the country would be stuck with the person who, in any other family, would be the BlackSheep. To provide an example, John presented a [[UsefulNotes/UnitedArabEmirates Emirati]] sheikh who was convicted of ''torturing a man''.

** After the Panama Papers revealed a cellist that was close to Vladimir Putin controlled an enormous amount of wealth in some of those shell corporations, John pondered what a cellist was doing running an investment program... and followed that with a purported message from an investment phone line run by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma Yo-Yo Ma]] ... who urges the caller to invest in a cello, "because with many years of practice, you'll be able to do [[TheCastShowOff this]]".

** When the show moved out of their normal studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic, John opened nearly every show with some variation of "Hi there, welcome to the show. Still taking place in this [[WhiteVoidRoom white void...]]", followed by a joke on the depressing look of the new set.

** After the escape of ISIS fighters from prison, he boasts that they know exactly where they are and directs everyone's attention to "THE ISIS FIGHTERS!", at which point the curtains open on an empty cell. His reaction is being reduced to swearing and "Why did we give them ''shovels?!''..."

** John details a school field trip in New Hampshire to the state legislature, where they introduced a bill to make the red-tailed hawk the official state raptor. Rather than just humor the kids and pass what was essentially a meaningless bit of fluff, the merit of even reviewing another bill was debated at length, with State Rep. John Burt sarcastically remarking "Bottom line, if we keep bringing more of these bills [forward]... we'll be picking a state hot dog next", and Rep. Warren Groen even using the characteristics of said hawk as an [[OneTractMind out-of-left-field swipe at Planned Parenthood]]. The bill was ultimately defeated by a narrow margin; worse, as John notes, it all took place ''with that same class of children in attendance''.

* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch: John calls out Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) for their press remarks condemning President Obama's announcement of a deal with UsefulNotes/{{Iran}} regarding suspension of the latter's nuclear research and development program, even though, in those same remarks, both congressmen admit that they haven't actually read the agreement, and don't know exactly what it contains... but [[invoked]] [[{{Hatedom}} they know that Obama definitely made a bad deal!]]

---> '''John:''' Let's move on to Amazon, a company run by Jeff Bezos, who answers the question "What if ComicBook/LexLuthor was-" And that's it. Just "What if Lex Luthor was?" He's a bald business maniac with too much money, zero empathy and weird supervillain vehicles. He is ''just'' Lex Luthor.
* CouchGag: [[http://genius.com/Last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-opening-sequence-annotated The last card of the opening credits montage]] usually has a reference to one of the previous week's big events (for example, the card on the August 11, 2014 episode, which aired just after the 40th anniversary of Watergate, was of President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon).

** "And Now, CBS This Morning's Awkward Sex Talk", followed by "And Now, More of CBS This Morning's Awkward Sex Talk" and "Seriously, the Sexual Tension on CBS This Morning Is Through the Fucking Roof"[[note]]This became much [[invoked]]HarsherInHindsight after Charlie Rose was fired following a long pattern of inappropriate behavior.[[/note]]

** For starters, the worst case scenario with the titular injections will result in you being paralyzed but still conscious, while your veins are filled with a chemical cocktail... and if the painkiller doesn't kick in, your final moments will consist of feeling ''incredible'' pain, still completely paralyzed.

* CutenessProximity: Reasoning that, if the visual appeal of Keyboard Cat can make a bad Casio tune entertaining, the basic principle will hold true for anything, John stages an entire room of animals with costumes and fake paws to accompany audio from a Supreme Court hearing. [[CrazyEnoughToWork It's a success]].

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: {{Invoked|Trope}} and {{discussed|Trope}} in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKMNKS-9ugY segment]] about an anti-gambling advert produced by the National Council on Problem Gambling in Singapore at the beginning of the 2014 World Cup. In it, a young boy bemoans that his father has stolen his life savings and bet them all on one particular country to win. It sounds like a good idea for an anti-gambling campaign in theory... if it wasn't for the fact that the advert's producers chose Germany, whose team ended up winning the World Cup, to be the country that the kid's father bet on. This, as John points out, makes the kid's father look less like a reckless addict ruining his son's future and more like an incredibly lucky gambler with a knack for picking a winner while on a hot streak. When the fact that [[AuthorsSavingThrow Singapore later produced a follow-up ad to save face]] comes up (apparently, the kid's father is still going to gamble away the money he earned on the win), John then screens a series of parodies that show the father making increasingly outlandish and specific bets and the family growing ever richer. The kid's friends eventually lose pity and tell him to shut up, and then when the final absurd bet (the July 2014 announcement that Creator/RyanGosling and Creator/EvaMendes were expecting their first child) comes true, money starts raining from the sky and the two other kids say "Your dad is the best!" and "Gambling is awesome!"

** At the end of his segment on televangelism scammers, "Wanda Jo", a parody of the archetypal televangelist wife, urges viewers to plant their seeds (ie, send money), enthusiastically veering into the ''other'' meaning of seed.

** And then in his segment on North Dakota's oil business, he states that ''even Texas'' bans indemnification clauses (clauses in employee contracts that completely absolves the company of any legal fault or obligation to pay settlements in the event of said employee's injury or death) in the oil industry, and to emphasize the point, he jokingly states that Texas is so loosely regulated that "their speed limit is 'let 'er rip', and their age of consent is just a drawing of a wink!" And then later when their announcer guy does a speech to North Dakota, they say "in some ways, you're less regulated than ''Texas''! ''Fucking Texas!''! You're less regulated than... (shows a black and white film clip of a guy in an old west town forced to dance while his feet are being shot at) whatever ''this'' is!" This isn't the only time Texas made progressive legislature either, they show up again in the Forensic Science episode as the source of a bill where convicts can request a re-trial if they feel the science doesn't add up.

--->'''John:''' All you [Scott Lively] were saying was "Gay people are evil, insidious Nazis... do with that information what you will! Lively out, Lively out!"

* GoshDangItToHeck: The third season finale ends with a montage of comedians and random New Yorkers declaring "Fuck you, 2016!" When it's Music/WeirdAlYankovic's turn, Al, who prefers to keep his material somewhat family friendly, declares that "2016... falls well below my standards of quality."

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: John eventually shutters Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption after receiving several bottles of semen, some of which are presumed to be fake and others... not so much. He considers this the point at which any endeavor has met its end. All the (monetary) donations were in turn given to Doctors Without Borders.

-->'''John:''' The United Kingdom, where I am more commonly known as... ''"Who?"''

** After airing a clip of Donald Trump saying American jobs are going to places Americans haven't even heard of, John first notes that he called Nepal "nipple" and Bhutan "button", then rattles off an extremely long list of mispronounced country names of countries "Americans haven't even heard of". Highlights include "Urethra" (Eritrea), "Fat Hamster" (Guinea), "Ballsinya and Hatavagina" (Bosnia and Herzegovina), "Gay Water" (Fiji), "WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}" (India), "[[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Hot Girl with Jizz in Her Hair]]" ([[Creator/CameronDiaz Cameroon]]) "[[Film/{{Borat}} MAH WIFE!]]" (Kazakhstan), "Daddy Fat Hamster" (Papua New Guinea), "Jared's [Kushner] Friends" (Saudi Arabia), and "Film/HotelForDogs, no wait, the other one, the one that's not for dogs, Hotel That One" ([[Film/HotelRwanda Rwanda]]). The only ones he says right are Lesotho and Russia...and then he also uses "Russia" for Ukraine.

* LyricalDissonance: When talking about Ashley Madison -- a dating website for adulterers -- John plays one of their commercials: a poppy, auto-tuned piano melody... whose lyrics consist of an all-male chorus celebrating how the website helps them cheat on their wives. John calls the ad "the catchiest song about being a complete monster I've ever heard since the Monster Mash."

* MagicFloppyDisk: One of the ''many'' ridiculous things John points out about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1ya-yF35g America's nuclear weapons]]. As in, the launch computers in nuclear missile silos use them. Oh, and they're not those memorable 3½ inch plastic ones that made a mess of Sandra Bullock's life in ''Film/{{The Net|1995}}''. They're the '''8-inch wide ones.'''

** In a segment about credit report, is shown that two different women named Judy Thomas were denied credit after wrong reports that mistook each for other Judys with another surname. And it somehow goes FromBadToWorse, as another one was mistaken for a terrorist and another mistaken for not just [[PaedoHunt a sex offender]]... but [[MindScrew three at the same time]], and all of them operated at a time when he was barely a toddler.

* MondegreenGag: An "And now... This" segment shows a montage of news anchors saying "[[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic mask debate]]," the point of the joke being that it sounds like "masturbate."

* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: In the "How Is This Still a Thing?" segment on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit magazine, the show plays a clip from a segment from CNBC's ''Squawk on the Street'' of NBC News correspondent Carl Quintanilla asking "What's left?" in response to the cover of the 2015 issue, which features Hannah Davis pulling down her bikini bottom just enough so as to not fully expose her... nether region. The response?

* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: John {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this in the segment on stadiums, when he notes that a boastful rap about San Diego, created by a local rap artist to convince the city council to fund a new stadium for the San Diego Chargers,[[note]]The Chargers eventually decided in January 2017 to relocate to Los Angeles after it failed to reach a stadium deal with the San Diego city government[[/note]] includes the line "San Diego...second largest city", which John noted is a "strange boast for a rap song":

** The season 4 trailer has the narrator dramatically announce the return of HBO's greatest/hit/whathaveyou show... which isn't ''Last Week Tonight'' and John keeps showing up uninvited.

** John constantly makes fun of his "strength". Just for one example, in "Chiijohn", he decides to contact his friends overseas with a bottled message. He heads to the docks and throws the bottle as far as he physically can... the camera follows the bottle as it hits the water approx. 2-3 meters from John.

'''John:''' Oh, you know what? Bad news... They're out of ice cream.\\

---->'''John:''' [''[[GayParee as a cigarette-smoking, wine-drinking child in a striped shirt]]''] "Yes, it was an amusing erotic trifle, I zuppose -- ze lovemaking was passable, but, uh... belt-play is a leetle ''[[CasualKink pedestrian]]'', don't you zhink?"

-->'''John:''' A lot of people underestimated the danger of [[[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic the coronavirus pandemic]]] early on, but Fox News was still doing it not just as the death toll mounted, but even as, behind the scenes, ''their own company'' was suspending non-essential business travel and encouraging employees to cancel all in person meetings and summits and conduct business via Skype or by phone because...they only pretend to believe these things on television for money.

** The segment on multi-level marketing, in which he gives proof that shows that most are pyramid schemes, ends with John instructing people to pass on this video to others in what is basically... you guessed it... a pyramid scheme. The show even produces a Spanish language version of the same segment for its Website/YouTube channel hosted by Jaime Camil for the same purpose, after noting how multi-level marketing schemes frequently recruit Latinos. To drive the point further, that episode featured a clip from the Mexican telenovela ''La Fea mas Bella'' (a {{Remake}} of the Colombian ''Series/YoSoyBettyLaFea'', the same telenovela that was the basis for ''Series/UglyBetty'') where some of the main characters [[ProductPlacement talk about the benefits of Herbalife products]], and where Jaime Camil was the male romantic lead.

** Really, it's easier to name a reference to a person, country... ''ice cream flavor'' ("Strawberry is for perverts!") or any other thing that hasn't received one. One case being a subversion in which John said that the only person who could pull off [[ItMakesSenseInContext being three different sex offenders]] is Creator/NeilPatrickHarris not as an insult, but because he's that amazing of an actor.

-->'''John:''' So what do you mean is... ''[[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast ♪ Be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test... ♪]]''

-->'''Ed Norton:''' I'm ordering uniaxial tests of the slab transverse to the deck corrugations with additional reinforcement and tension tests of the support fastener connections between the deck and the girders... bitch!

-->'''John:''' And let me be completely clear about this: [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids This is actually a book for children!]] This is a real children's book. [[SubvertedKidsShow This isn't some adult book telling Mike Pence to go fuck himself.]] [[DoubleSubverted Although in buying it, that's exactly what you would be doing!]]

--> '''John Oliver''': "Witnesses never wearied of being astonished by the steed-and-human intercourse brought to full perfection..." Which I'm hoping is a mistranslation but probably isn't."

** While discussing the NSA, John points out that the best person to talk to on the subject is Edward Snowden, who's still in Moscow. Talking to him is not easy because of Russia's draconian travel restrictions, plus an uncomfortable ten-hour flight... and John knows all of this because ''he flew to Moscow to speak with Snowden''.

--->'''John:''' So brace yourselves, everyone, because... [[spoiler:[[Series/TheWire Omar comin']]]].

** While recounting the Murray Energy lawsuit, Oliver states that "all four Justices" of the West Virginia Supreme Court were impeached in a scandal over inappropriate spending. While four Justices were indeed impeached, there are actually five positions on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; the fifth one, Justice Beth Walker, escaped with little more than a reprimand for her part in the scandal. In addition, Justice Workman's impeachment trial has been postponed and she is still serving as a Justice on the court.

** After being told he's now on the NSA's "list" for being "associated" with Edward Snowden, John insists that he never met him right after conducting a televised interview with him. And while a freezeframe of said interview is still on the screen.

** Averted when he talks about Ukraine, since Russia's war with Ukraine was in the news a lot, he refers to it as, "A country you know so much about".

** While recounting the Murray Energy lawsuit, Oliver states that "all four Justices" of the West Virginia Supreme Court were impeached in a scandal over inappropriate spending. There are actually five positions on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and while four Justices were indeed impeached, Justice Beth Walker escaped with little more than a reprimand for her part in the scandal. In addition, Justice Workman's impeachment trial has been postponed and she is still serving as a Justice on the court.

* LimitedWardrobe: The ''[[UsefulNotes/AmericanNewspapers Los Angeles Times]]'' [[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-st-envy-awards-20150813-story.html even asked]] if the costume designer is so overwhelmed in the creation of silly costumes that as consequence, John only has a wide array of checkered shirts.

* LongList: After airing a clip of Donald Trump saying American jobs are going to places Americans haven't even heard of, John first notes that he called Nepal "nipple" and Bhutan "button", then rattles off an extremely long list of mispronounced country names of countries "Americans haven't even heard of". Highlights include "Urethra" (Eritrea), "Fat Hamster" (Guinea), "Ballsinya and Hatavagina" (Bosnia and Herzegovina), "Gay Water" (Fiji), "WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}" (India), "[[Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary Hot Girl with Jizz in Her Hair]]" ([[Creator/CameronDiaz Cameroon]]) "[[Film/{{Borat}} MAH WIFE!]]" (Kazakhstan), "Daddy Fat Hamster" (Papua New Guinea), "Jared’s Friends" (Saudi Arabia), and "Film/HotelForDogs, no wait, the other one, the one that’s not for dogs, Hotel That One" ([[Film/HotelRwanda Rwanda]]). The only ones he says right are Lesotho and Russia...and then he also uses "Russia" for Ukraine.

* LimeyGoesToHollywood: {{Invoked|Trope}}; a RunningGag in his show is that John frequently {{discuss|edTrope}}es his success in the States when compared to his native UK.[[note]]For comparison, The Other Wiki charts his career in the UK as five appearances (2001– 2005) at the Edinburgh Fringe (an arts festival held in August now known as a hotbed for burgeoning comedy talent); only ''once'' appearing in a solo show. After that, he appeared seven times in the first two seasons of ''Series/MockTheWeek'', which took him to the middle of 2006. And ''that's it''. After that, he showed up on ''The Daily Show'' in July 2006 and his career skyrocketed.[[/note]]

* IntimidatingRevenueService: Everybody thinks of IRS employees as easy targets, but John explains that IRS employees are not a bunch of evil {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s who [[TaxmanTakesTheWinnings take all your money]], but an underfunded, understaffed, overworked group of ''{{Beleaguered|Bureaucrat}}'' [[BeleagueredBureaucrat Bureaucrats]] who are JustFollowingOrders -- and not orders from their superiors in the IRS, but [[ShootTheMessenger orders given to them]] by ''Congress''; orders that they are constantly '''[[MovingTheGoalposts changing]].''' He also says that there's something heroic about doing an important job that is that soul-crushingly boring.

** John has to clarify that Javier Milei, the Argentinian anarchocapitalist president who refers to clones of his dog as his chief strategists, is ''not'' a character created specifically for the show, as much as it sounds like he was.

-->'''John:''' Accusing America of creating Venezuela's crisis is about as fair as accusing O.J. Simpson of murdering Princess Diana. I'm not saying it would be completely out of character, it just happens to not be true in this ''particular'' instance.

** An example for the show itself happened on the October 15th, 2023. Before the opening title screen plays for the episode, John sat down and explained that [[SincerityMode the episode would not discuss the conflict currently happening between Israel and Palestine in any way]]. Not only was it [[DudeNotFunny far too horrific for John to make jokes about]], but with how fast the story was moving, trying to do journalistic analysis of it would likely date the entire story in less than a few hours. John also refused to inject himself in how both sides should make peace due to his British background, subtly [[TakeThat criticizing the British Empire]] for causing the Israel-Palestine conflict in the first place.[[note]]For historical context, John could have been referring to the UsefulNotes/WorldWarI-era Hussein-McMahon Correspondences (in which the British government promised Arab nationalists support for an independent Arab state carved from then-Ottoman Arabia), Sykes-Picot Agreement (in which the United Kingdom (and France) divided up the Asian portions of the then-Ottoman Empire, which included Palestine) and [=/=] or the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (which promised a Jewish homeland in then-Ottoman Palestine)[[/note]]