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John Oliver vs Russell Crowe

58K views 824 replies 51 participants last post by  astrohip 
#1 ·
Who would have thought Russell Crowe would win?!? :D

(If you didn't watch it, you have to...no description could do it justice. But a while back John Oliver pranked Russell Crowe, and now Russell Crowe has pranked him back so well, John Oliver has declared there's no point in going on and closed down his show...although since there's another episode next week I'm not entirely convinced of his sincerity. I'm sure it will be on YouTube shortly and somebody will post the video.)
 
#353 ·
Agreed that the white void joke is tired. He can stay there, that's fine, but let's give up the discussion of it at the start of every show.

For me, both Trevor and Seth Myers are actually thriving in the new format (Seth moreso since he's back in his studio, his "from home" work was just OK). In a way I'll be sorry to seem them go back to a live audience because I think they're both funnier in this format.

The rest of the late night crew, including JO, IMO are better with a live audience.
 
#367 ·
I just don't know how you keep it going with a studio audience. Seth bashing on his writers, doing asides, staring through the silence, going into one of his extra-long bits that you think should end but just get funnier the more he commits to them, etc. is awesome.

For Trevor, the quick cuts and asides which are the funniest thing about his bits are all added in editing. Not to mention he seems to get in about 50% more jokes when he doesn't have to wait for laughter.

I just don't see how they can keep these elements when there's a live audience. Well, I guess we'll see.
 
#370 ·
Because the risk of this discussion becoming too political, I'm not going to respond to the topic of this week's episode, but I do have to say, that I'm starting to not enjoy this show as much as I used to. I think his topics have become too wonky, and there's much less humor. I kind of feel like I'm watching a PBS documentary on the topic than a comedy show.
 
#383 ·
Pandemic? He is stuck in a void after all; not sure if you heard about the void...?

I actually liked this week's episode better than some previous ones. I thought there was more humor here and I thought he did a particularly good job explaining things. The more I think, when watching an episode, "I wish I could get my inlaws to watch this, maybe it would make a difference" the better I think the episode is.

Of course, that's just fantasy on my part. Nothing will make a difference.
 
#386 ·
Oh, I can think of a few, but they tend to be more wonky than even this. Frontline does a great job of it, Some of the CNN specials on topics do a great job. But that's why I watch those shows. I like that J.O covers some topics that don't get covered on other comedy shows, but there are times that I roll my eyes, just knowing it's going to be a boring topic and hope that J.O injects humor into making it more interesting. He has been better at it, but now he thinks he's a newsman, no longer a comedian. Maybe, like Oberrmann that's what he's always wanted to be. Anyway, he does cover the issues well, but it's not why I watch.
 
#393 ·
Speaking of the show being off this past weekend - I forgot that and my TiVo recorded the rerun. (Looks like it was the one from March 21st).
Not realizing it was a rerun, I started playing it and was a bit shock he started off with a joke about being surprised Prince Philip (10 June 1921 - 9 April 2021) was still around. :eek:
 
#396 ·
Yeah I had that episode, not even realizing it was not new. I started watching and it took me a few minutes to realize that what I was watching I had already seen. For whatever stupid reason I didn't even hear the Prince Philip reference. I just kept thinking 'this sounds familiar' and then when the donkey guy came on I finally got it. d'oh!
 
#398 ·
This past episode really annoyed me, as it just felt like a "me too" reaction to what so much of the press is saying. It's much more complex than just "Israelis killed "innocent Palestinian kids" which is the take that so much of the press has taken too. Sure Israel has defensive weapons and a highly trained military, so they shouldn't use it when Hammas sends missiles their way? Sorry John, you are far from an expert on this and maybe this complex issue is just more than about the "poor Palestinians" and the Israeli thugs, and you should leave it to the experts to handle.

I apologize if this got too political, but this to me is about John not really getting it and painting one side as the "bad guys" no matter how many times he prefaced it with "I don't pretend to understand this", or "Yes, Hammas has shot missiles into Israel too".
 
#399 ·
I was also a little surprised at his emotion. He often seems...exasperated and annoyed by what he reports, and sometimes flashes of genuine anger will come through, but there was an obvious, deep anger that showed throughout the report. I suspect he for some reason has a personal stake in all this...
 
#410 ·
I'm probably the only one who does NOT miss studio audiences. They make so much racket that I struggle to hear the dialogue.

Of late, I've been deleting more than I watch. That's probably just mostly me, too, as I get tired of hearing the same stuff over and over and over.

I do like Oliver, ever since he took over for Jon Stewart when he was making a movie, but I just find myself getting bored.
 
#411 ·
I think an audience works for some, and not for others. Watching Bill Maher in his backyard was horrible, but now back in the studio, it's much better. Trevor Noah I like much better in his sequester than I did when he was trying to pander to the audience. I think some are just more comfortable in front of a crowd.

As far as all the NYC shows, I am getting the idea it's just personal preference at this point.
 
#427 ·
The thing about "terrorists using it" is scale. If you have terrorists taking over a building, sure, that's fair game. But what if they are on one of 10 floors? Or one apartment? Or one guy on the roof shooting rockets? Knocking down the whole building does not seem reasonable in all those cases. And most of the time, we (the public) does not really know.
 
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