In Review: Back By Unpopular Demand, John Oliver Covers Donald Trump

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I first became attracted to John Oliver’s show when I saw the ads for his current season, all of which thoroughly disparaged the product in witty but emphatic ways. The closing tag for the ads was the best one: “Back despite popular demand.” I thought any show that had enough confidence to spoof itself so unmercifully must be confident it can deliver the goods…and it does.

His latest, which aired Sunday, February 28th at 11:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time on HBO. The show was designated his 62nd, so, unless he has some strong reason for misdirecting us, we should assume that is the straight poop.

As he typically does, he covered a couple of short news items, one concerning the foibles of the President of Egypt and another concerning the President of the United States’ failure to get the Guantanamo prison facility closed, despite promising to do so, year after year. Some nights, Oliver may present more than two short features, but for this show, the two he gave us were more than enough for an appetizer. By the time he got done with GITMO, his viewers were undoubtedly clamoring for red meat.

The red meat this week was—SURPRISE! SURPRISE! Donald Trump. What, a sarcastic attack on Donald Trump and his bizarre run for the highest office in the land? Gosh, why has no one else thought of such a thing? Okay, fine, the concept is hardly an original one, but that, in and of itself, should not be enough to make a truly creative comedian with something to say in an entertaining manner back away as an unworthy latecomer

Oliver cleverly attacked Mr. Trump on all his imagined strong points: that he is the only one up there who will tell us the truth (not so, as Oliver showed from a number of credible examples); that he is an excellent businessman (again, convincingly disproved) and that the Trump name is synonymous with quality. He shot that one completely full of holes, with special emphasis on the ruinous business school he founded that fleeced obscene amounts of money from those who imagined themselves to be his students. If they got any degree at all, one would imagine it was a BDS (Bachelor of Doodly-Squat)—my notion, not Mr. Oliver’s, although I doubt that he’d disagree.

It was on the subject of the cachet of the Trump name that John Oliver dropped the big bombshell of the show. After first admiring the power of the name “Trump,” comparing it to the sound of a flippant servant being slapped in the face by a stack of thousand-dollar bills, he went on to his big reveal. Apparently, the family name had originally been Drumph—more like the sound of an obese pigeon flying into a window.

Can John Oliver make up such a thing? According to The Boston Globe and Trump family biographer Gwenda Blair, Oliver is saying the sooth. Anyway, he had a good deal of fun with the original “Trump” family name, as did most of his listeners. And, hey, it could have been a lot worse. President Trump would be hard enough to deal with, but can you imagine President Shickelgrüber? Enough to give you the willies, at the very least.

Despite all the spoilage I have spread throughout this essay, I would strongly recommend you avail yourself of the show, if you have not already done so, at one of the many times on multiple platforms that is will be re-broadcast. If I may have implied to a slight degree that this show was maybe not quite as witty as some of Oliver’s past shows, that does not mean it is unworthy of a twenty-nine minute expenditure of your valuable time. Remember, the difference between even second-tier John Oliver and the best possible episode of The Bachelorette is exponential.

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Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.
Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane

Thomas Cleveland Lane is a semi-retired freelance writer for pay and a stage actor for nothing more than the opportunity to make a fool of himself. Well, he does get a small stipend from the Washington Area Decency League, after playing the role of Hinezie in The Pajama Game, to never, ever appear on stage in his underpants again. When he has not managed to buffalo some director into casting him, Thomas can often be found at his favorite piano bar, annoying the patrons with his caterwauling. Thomas is the author of an anthology called Shaggy Dogs, a Collection of Not-So-Short Stories (destined to become a cult classic, shortly after he croaks). He is also the alter-ego to a very unbalanced Czech poet named Glub Dzmc. Mr. Lane generally resides in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and was last seen in the mirror, three days ago.