Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Anna Kendrick, and a wax Warren G. Harding

Last Week Tonight host John Oliver hyped that the final minutes of tonight’s episode would prove to be worth the wait. The moment that we learned that the main talking point for the installment was local news, we were absolutely interested in seeing what they would mean.

The main segment tonight was themed around Sinclair Broadcast Group, a powerful conglomerate who is responsible for owning and operating a wide array of different affiliates. That wouldn’t be any problem if it wasn’t for some of the segments that it apparently forces some of their stations to air, which include many politically-themed segments that lean towards the right. Through the majority of the segments that we saw, one thing was clear: There was some sort of agenda that was being pushed.

The “Terrorism Alert Desk” must-run segment was perhaps the most shocking thing of all the must-run segments that Sinclair enforces, mostly because it HAS to be run on a daily basis, and sometimes, there is no precise news to report. To make things even more shocking, this segment also doesn’t necessarily report things that are altogether accurate. In other words, affiliates are being required to air segments that are not entirely accurate, and may simply scare people for the sake of scaring people.

Is there a pushback? – As Oliver pointed out, there are some affiliates out there who are trying to fight back against the powers that be at Sinclair. For example, a Seattle affiliate chose to air their must-runs prior to 5:00 in the morning. This was an informative segment, especially when you think about how little press Sinclair is getting.

Wax Presidents

This is where this week’s show ended, and this was certainly strange. After the Wax Hall of Presidents closed down recently, many television hosts have purchased different wax versions of former Commanders-in-Chief. For example, Stephen Colbert bought Zachary Taylor, and Jon Stewart for some reason apparently bought Martin Van Buren.

Well, Oliver’s show decided to purchase FIVE of them. That list included Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, but then also none other than Warren G. Harding. Given that he’s been a subject of comedy on the show over the years, Last Week Tonight decided to create an entire trailer featuring the wax Harding, talking all about some of his various sexual exploits.

The craziest thing about the Warren G. Harding video is how Oliver somehow convinced some of these super-famous people to take part in this video, including the likes of Anna Kendrick, James Cromwell, Michael McKean coming off of Better Call Saul, and Laura f—–g Linney. We write it that way because that’s what we saw on the show itself.

This was the last episode of this show until the end of the month, and we have to say that as far as humor goes, it was certainly a great way to go out.

If you missed it earlier…

Be sure to head over here, where you can take a look at some of what Oliver had to say earlier in the show regarding MSNBC, the travel ban, and more coverage of the Donald Trump Administration. (Photo: HBO.)