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John Oliver Warns The Cicadas Are Coming!

By Emily Cutler | Last Week Tonight | May 5, 2016 |

By Emily Cutler | Last Week Tonight | May 5, 2016 |


Well, I mean, he warns us that they’re coming become some people in the Northeast are about to have a really loud summer. But then he shifts towards advising the long-hidden bugs on the events of the past 17 years.

1) I know that the internet “screaming in agony” is supposed to be a joke, but there’s no way to prove that isn’t what was actually happening. I’ve never heard anything that sounded more like screaming in agony than actual screams of agony.

2) While I understand that networks are pushing more and more to have cross media material, and that Oliver is far from the only show that has web exclusives, I am always impressed at the quality of Last Week Tonight’s “throwaway” videos. They’ve said what everyone was really thinking about New Year’s, shallowly covered all of the hard hitting stories we needed, and TRIED TO EXPOSE THE TRUTH EVEN IF THE MAN TRIED TO STOP HIM.

So he’s done a really good job at something that a lot of people won’t bother even watching. And in the cicadas video, he manages to impart some information (the cicadas are coming), maybe poke some fun at news stories about cicadas (why is this a big thing each time? I know if only happens every 17 years, but who cares? If the news isn’t going to tell us anything important about cicadas, can we all just agree that this is the new water-skiing squirrel video?), and be seriously funny. It’s almost like he takes his position as the conduit of knowledge and information seriously, and wants to do a good job. In which case someone should tell him that’s not what the news is about anymore.

3) We also make fun of him for the Hitler ‘stash.
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