Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (often abridged as Last Week Tonight) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show was created by Oliver and premiered on HBO on April 27, 2014. From 2006 to 2013, Oliver was a correspondent on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show; after his interim role as host for eight weeks received positive reviews, HBO announced that the comedian would receive his own late-night show. His initial contract was extended through 2017 in February 2015, through 2020 in September 2017, through 2023 in September 2020, and through 2026 in December 2023. The show has been running for twelve seasons; the twelfth premiered on February 16, 2025. Oliver, Tim Carvell, Liz Stanton, Jon Thoday, and James Taylor are executive producers of the show.
Last Week Tonight has received generally positive reviews and been nominated for numerous major awards, including 76 Primetime Emmy Awards (32 wins), 3 Peabody Awards (3 wins), 12 Producers Guild of America Awards (9 wins), 11 Writers Guild of America Awards (9 wins), 9 Directors Guild of America Awards (no wins), 8 Critics' Choice Television Awards (5 wins), 12 TCA Awards (4 wins), 13 Dorian Awards (4 wins), 7 GLAAD Media Awards (2 wins), and 4 Webby Awards (2 wins). Oliver has received 3 nominations for hosting (winning 1), the writing team has received 12 consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series (winning 10), and the editors have received 17 nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming (winning 5).
Awards and nominations