Sky Comedy Sets October Premieres For The Return Of ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ & ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’
With the writer’s strike now officially over, a number of the US late-night talk and chat shows are the first things to return to screens, and they kick off in the UK with ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver‘ & ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ next week.
‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ is a satirical, insightful, and meticulously researched look at current events in the U.S. and around the globe, which features Oliver’s hilarious, expertly honed perspective on today’s pressing political, social, and cultural issues, as well as lesser-reported topics that both inform and entertain. Shot in New York, season ten returns with more weekly topical insights, signature deep dives, and distinctive comedy pieces.
The series has received 26 Emmys since its premiere in 2014. Last year, it won for Outstanding Variety Talk Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, both for the seventh year in a row. The series has also been honoured with two Peabody Awards, three Critics Choice Awards in the category of Best Talk Show, two GLAAD Media Awards, five Writers Guild Awards and seven consecutive PGA Awards.
‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ is news-talk series that features an opening monologue, roundtable discussion with panelists, one-on-one interviews with notable guests, and Maher’s popular “New Rules” segment that exposes society’s most absurd habits and institutions.
Returning to the studio for the first time since the strike, this week features a one-on-one interview with Gov. Ron DeSantis, Republican Governor of Florida who is currently running to be the 2024 Republican nominee for President. This week’s panel discussion includes Sam Harris, host of the “Making Sense” podcast; and Mary Katharine Ham, co-host of the “Getting Hammered” podcast and author of “End of Discussion: How The Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters and Makes America Less Free (and Fun).”
These two shows mark a return of the US late-night chat/talk show, alongside the likes of ‘The Tonight Show’, ‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’, and ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’, which also return next week. However, the advantage that both John Oliver and Bill Maher have over those other shows is that they don’t need a nightly string of guests to chat with, and the guests they do have are usually not actors. That may be an issue moving forward for the nightly chat shows, as the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA, is still on strike, and its members are still banned from promoting any TV shows or movies – past, present, or future – until the strike ends.
On a more positive note, SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) are resuming talks next week, so *hopefully*, that strike will also be resolved soon. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver‘ Season 10b premieres Monday, 2nd October at 9pm, with ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ following the same night at 11pm both on Sky Comedy in the UK. The shows air on HBO in the USA.
