Last Week Tonight premieres tonight, so John Oliver has been doing the interview circuit. Bill Carter at the NYTimes:
… Before he accepted the HBO job, Mr. Oliver, riding the wave of a three-month stint subbing for Mr. Stewart last summer, had fielded a surge of offers. CBS dangled a possible shot at the 12:35 a.m. slot following Mr. Letterman. Had he accepted, Mr. Oliver might have already been in position to slide up to the big chair. More logically, had the late-night earthquake hit a few months earlier, with Mr. Colbert signing with CBS, Mr. Oliver would have been the presumed heir on Comedy Central…
Among the highlights of his ensuing career at “The Daily Show”, probably the most memorable for him was covering the 2008 Republican Convention in St. Paul. As his usual obnoxious correspondent, he was at risk because he could not afford to get arrested for anything — deportation loomed. So when he wandered into a restricted area and was pursued by security, he sought refuge among some veterans invited by pro-military politicians. The one who helped Mr. Oliver hide out was a female vet, Kate Norley. He was grateful, took down her email and married her three years later…
Mr. Oliver will do 25 shows in a shortened season, then move to 35 (the same number Bill Maher does for HBO). “We’re certainly open to see where this goes,” Mr. Lombardo said. “You certainly could go more than one night a week.”…
Although I prefer Molly Young’s take at NYMag:
… This makes The Daily Show an incubator on par with The Mickey Mouse Club, with funny men pouring out the other side instead of pop stars. Steve Carell and Ed Helms both served as correspondents, as did, of course, Stephen Colbert (the group’s Justin Timberlake, now off to the Ed Sullivan Theater). Oliver is well loved as a Stewart sidekick and substitute, but when Last Week Tonight debuts on Sunday, he will be assessed against the preposterously high standard set by his former show mates. The world is a scary place for hatchlings…
What really makes him happy is playing with his mostly golden mix dog Hoagie, named like the sandwich. Oliver’s wife, Kate, an Army medic and Iraq War veteran, is responsible for bringing Hoagie into his life. In the past, when he was a single stand-up, the concept of being responsible for any creature (including himself) was anxiety-causing. When Hoagie came home for the first time, Oliver spent the night next to her on the floor, consoling the scared puppy. “I promise everything is going to be okay,” he told her. “I’m going to try as hard as I can to make everything all right.”
The dog may have helped prepare him for the task of managing his own staff. “Getting a dog is like dipping your toe in the waters of responsibility. I’m more aware of when people need to go to the bathroom now and when they need to be stroked.”…
Mr. Oliver also tells a story about a monkey.