As we’ve been lamenting, Paramount formally acquired Warner Bros Discovery when the merger closed last week. The $111 billion deal came a quick (and yet oh so long) 14 months from Paramount itself being bought by Skydance, nepo billionaire David Ellison’s smaller studio. The purchase of Paramount was a mere pittance in comparison at only $8 billion ($6B of which was put up by David’s father Larry, who guaranteed around $40B towards this year’s WB deal). But Skydance acquiring Paramount last year will always be tied to two dirty deeds: (Paramount-owned) CBS paying Trump $16 million over a frivolous lawsuit, and CBS canceling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. This is why we’ve been sick with worry over the fate of John Oliver and Last Week Tonight, which airs on (WB-owned) HBO. Those three months when LWT is on break are hard enough — I don’t know if I could survive the show being canceled!! Well, this past Sunday was the first episode since Ellison officiated the unholy matrimony of Skydance-Paramount-Warner Bros-Discovery, and Oliver slipped in some excellent barbs at his new business daddy:

Oliver did not address Skydance‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of Last Week Tonight‘s network home, HBO, on last week’s episode. But he did slip in a couple of quips about Skydance, which also acquired Paramount last year, on Sunday’s edition.

During his main segment, which was about generic medications, Oliver brought up the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s inspection of the overseas companies that produce these drugs.

“You should know while surprise FDA inspections are common for U.S. factories, most FDA inspections done overseas are actually announced beforehand, allowing manufacturers to both prepare for them and potentially hide any issues,” he explained. “In fact, one study found that the odds of a facility receiving the most severe inspection outcome are over 250 percent higher for unannounced inspections, which just makes sense, doesn’t it? You clean up when you know people are coming over.”

Oliver then made a joke about the studio his own show tapes in. “The only reason this studio is so clean is because I knew you were all coming here today,” he said. “Otherwise this place will be a complete pigsty. And by the way, I mean that literally: I run a wet market here the rest of the week. I’m just trying to get out ahead of any Paramount budget cuts.”

Later in the show, Oliver did a bit about the Liberty Mutual mascot, Liberty Biberty, and featured the fluffy round yellow character in several suggestive poses, encouraging his viewers to share such images in an attempt to get the mascot dropped from the company’s ad campaign.

After showing these images, he joked: “I’m thrilled to be part of the Skydance family! Hope you’re happy with what you bought, guys! We’re never gonna change! … Never — we’re never changing!”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

Yes please, Oliver & Co. — don’t ever change! Last Week Tonight is the superlative example of how a spoonful of satire makes the medicine go down. I We need this show! And while I’m out here singing his praises: y’all know I love me some John Oliver as a baseline, but Sunday’s LWT was one for the books. And that’s saying something, considering he pretty much dove right into a main segment on generic drugs and the (at times lethal) flaws in the system. (Like I said, it’s the satire that makes it palatable!) From digging up a spectacularly wacky 1980s PSA attempting to teach kids that pills aren’t candy, to the quip about Paramount budget cuts, to a bit with puppets that tied the whole story together… It was all superb! Followed by a tight And Now This that ripped Piers Morgan for not having any semblance of authority as moderator on his own show, and then that bonus final story on mascots. THR already spilled a lot by revealing the new Liberty Biberty mascot is shown “in several suggestive poses.” But trust me: there’s plenty more filthy surprises in that segment. The only thing further I’ll say is, it takes Oliver back to New Zealand. Give yourself a treat and watch!

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