The HBO announcement to commission two more series of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, has ended rumors that the comedian may replace Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.
John Oliver launched Last Week Tonight in 2014 after seven years as one of Jon Stewart’s sidekicks on The Daily Show.
He was mentioned as a possible new Daily Show host after Jon Stewart announced last week that he is to stand down.
The new HBO deal means John Oliver will present 35 episodes of Last Week Tonight per year in 2016 and 2017.
The announcement comes three days after his late-night chat show won the Writers’ Guild of America award for best comedy/variety series.
John Oliver rose to fame after joining The Daily Show as its Senior British Correspondent in 2006.
In 2013, John Oliver stood in for Jon Stewart for eight weeks while the host was shooting a film. John Oliver received positive reviews, with some critics suggesting he should eventually succeed Stewart.
Other possible contenders to replace Jon Stewart include Tina Fey, Jessica Williams and Amy Poehler.
“We are incredibly proud to have John as part of the HBO family,” HBO president Michael Lombardo said.
“His unique ability to deliver socially significant commentary week after week, along with his innate comedic brilliance, puts John in a class by himself.”
In the first season of Last Week Tonight, which ended last November, John Oliver covered topics including net neutrality, Uganda’s anti-LGBT laws, Miss America, climate change and civil forfeiture abuse by the police.
The second series of 35 episodes began earlier this month. The show is produced by the US arm of Britain’s Avalon Television.
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Jon Stewart is leaving Comedy Central’s The Daily Show after 16 years.
The show host made the announcement on last night’s edition.
“This show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you,” said Jon Stewart, announcing his decision to step down from The Daily Show.
Jon Stewart joined the nightly news satire in 1999 as a stand-up, but leaves as one of America’s most listened-to political commentators, and a bête-noire of the conservative establishment.
His departure leaves a big hole in the show, and Comedy Central will be relieved that Jon Stewart has yet to set an end date.
Speaking on the show last night, Jon Stewart said his contract runs out in September, but his final show “might be in December, might be July. We’re still working out details”.
The most likely candidates to replace Jon Stewart on the show – Steven Colbert and Larry Wilmore – have recently taken new jobs, effectively ruling them out of the running.
Here are some of the other possible runners:
- The Daily Show‘s youngest reporter, Jessica Williams is a graduate of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, the comedy “improv” troupe set up by Amy Poehler.
- The Daily Show‘s “senior British correspondent” John Oliver
- The show correspondent, Canadian comedian Jason Jones
- Comedy Central star Amy Schumer
- Chris Rock
- SNL’s Michael Che
- Other names could be considered: Aasif Mandvi, Ricky Gervais, Rob Riggle, Rob Cordry or Olivia Munn [youtube RvC7b_d5Hn4 650]
Patrick Stewart shared the story behind his Halloween lobster costume on The Daily Show.
Patrick Stewart, 73, has become something of a social media sensation of late – especially when it comes to posting wacky things on his Twitter account.
The veteran actor caused a stir when he shared a picture of himself dressed as a lobster to wish his followers a happy Halloween.
Patrick Stewart has become something of a social media sensation with his Halloween lobster costume
Patrick Stewart opened with a poignant line about the Rob Ford and Rand Paul scandals that knocked Jon Stewart back. Jon Stewart quickly turned the conversation away from world politics because he wanted to know everything about the lobster costume.
Patrick Stewart’s Halloween getup has a sweet story behind it, but it still managed to earn him some blowback from the hardcore crustacean fanboy community on Twitter.
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Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef has been released on bail, after being questioned by prosecutors over allegations he insulted Islam and President Mohamed Morsi.
Bassem Youssef was ordered to pay 15,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,190).
He had spent five hours at the public prosecutor’s office, a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Bassem Youssef has faced several complaints over his show Al Bernameg (The Programme), which satirizes many public figures.
Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef has been released on bail, after being questioned by prosecutors over allegations he insulted Islam and President Mohamed Morsi
On his Twitter feed, Bassem Youssef said the bail conditions were related to three lawsuits, while a fourth was still being investigated.
The case has highlighted worries about press freedoms in Egypt.
At one point during his arrival at the prosecutor’s office Bassem Youssef donned an oversized academic hat, mocking one which Mohamed Morsi wore recently when he received an honorary doctorate in Pakistan.
In a statement sent out on his Twitter account as he arrived, Bassem Youssef said that lawyers and policemen at the office wanted their picture taken with him, and joked that this was perhaps the real reason for his summons.
However, the al-Misri al-Yawm news portal reported that the judge asked Bassem Youssef to remove this and other tweets written during the questioning.
Bassem Youssef is a doctor who shot to fame after winning a large number of followers with his witty lampooning of public figures in amateur videos posted on the internet following the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s rule in February 2011.
He became a household name when his satirical show – likened to Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show in the US – began to be broadcast three times a week on one of Egypt’s independent satellite stations.
But sketches in which he portrayed President Mohamed Morsi as a pharaoh, calling him “Super Morsi” for holding on to executive and legislative powers, and, separately, putting the president’s image on a pillow and parodying his speeches angered one Islamist lawyer, whose formal complaint resulted in the investigation.
As well as insulting Mohamed Morsi and Islam, Bassem Youssef is also accused of “spreading false news with the aim of disrupting public order”.
Bassem Youssef’s case is also seen as the latest in a string of prosecution actions against opponents of President Mohamed Morsi and the movement that supports him, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Earlier this week, Egypt’s top prosecutor ordered the arrest of five political activists, among them a leading blogger, on suspicion of inciting aggression against the Brotherhood.
Many journalists have criticized the Islamist-backed constitution which came into force earlier this year, arguing it does not offer enough guarantees for a free media.
The constitution also sparked protests from opponents who say it favors Islamists and does not sufficiently protect the rights of women or Christians.
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Jon Stewart’s interview with Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus’ mistress, on The Daily Show in January was more than a little awkward.
David Petraeus stepped down Friday after confessing to cheating on his wife of 37 years, Holly – calling his behavior “unacceptable” for a senior administration official.
But before all that, back in January, biographer-turned-mistress Paula Broadwell appeared on the show to pitch her book All In.
About three and a half minutes into the clip, Jon Stewart and Paula Broadwell talk about how the two got chummy while in Afghanistan.
While embedded, said Paula Broadwell, she and David Petraeus would go running in the mountainous Afghanistan capital of Kabul while interviewing Petreaus for her book.
But it started in Washington, D.C.
“I was among the students invited by the school to meet with the general at a dinner afterward, because of my military background,” she explained.
“I introduced myself to then–Lieutenant General Petraeus and told him about my research interests; he gave me his card and offered to put me in touch with other researchers and service members working on the same issues.”
Paula Broadwell added that this was not a one-off as he often “does a lot of mentoring”.
As she pursued her PhD in public policy in 2008, Paula Broadwell contacted David Petraeus to ask if she could interview him and they kept in touch via email.
“A few months into my research, General Petraeus, who was then leading Central Command, invited me to go for a run with him and his team along the Potomac River during one of his visits to Washington,” she wrote.
“I figured I could interview him while we ran.”
She explained that, after earning varsity letters in cross-country and indoor and outdoor track, she wanted to test him to see if he could keep up with her as she interviewed him.
“Instead it became a test for me,” Paula Broadwell she said.
“As we talked during the run from the Pentagon to the Washington Monument and back, Petraeus progressively increased the pace until the talk turned to heavy breathing and we reached a six-minute-per-mile pace. It was a signature Petraeus move.”
Paula Broadwell appeared in January on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote David Petraeus biography
She insisted that these mile-long runs together were nothing out of the ordinary.
“This is a typical mechanism for him to get to know young people,” she said.
“He’s done it throughout his life. That was the foundation of our relationship.”
Jon Stewart then asks if other people in his embed “resent [David Petraeus’] success” and reputation.
“He realizes he’s seen as an extremely ambitious individual. You want somebody who’s ambitious and driven, and who has a will to win. … He goes all-in to what he does.”
Apparently, Paula Broadwell, 40, goes “all in”, too.
Ambition is also second-nature to Paula Broadwell, who practically strives out loud.
According to her book, Paula Broadwell received a degree in political geography and systems engineering from West Point, where she was ranked No. 1 over all in fitness in her class. In high school, she was valedictorian and homecoming queen. She’s even been model for a machine gun manufacturer, reported The New York Times.
“I was driven when I was younger,” Paula Broadwell was quoted as saying on her official Web site, which was taken down Friday.
“Driven at West Point where it was much more competitive in that women were competing with men on many levels, and I was driven in the military and at Harvard, both competitive environments.
“But now, as a working mother of two, I realize it is more difficult to compete in certain areas. I think it is important for working moms to recognize that family is the most important.”
In her biography on the Penguin Speakers Bureau Web site says that she is a research associate at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. She received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
A self-described “soccer mom” and an Ironman triathlete, Paula Broadwell became a fixture on the Washington media scene after the publication of her book about David Petraeus. In a Twitter message this summer, she bragged about appearing on a panel at the Aspen Institute, a policy group.
“Heading 2 @AspenInstitute 4 the Security Forum tomorrow! Panel (media & terrorism) followed by a 1v1 run with Lance Armstrong,” she wrote.
“Fired up!”
At six minutes into the chat, Paula Broadwell brings up her husband, Dr. Scott Broadwell, when discussing whether or not David Petreaus would run for president.
“My husband wants me to say he is, because it’ll sell more books,” she says.
“I’m sorry, honey! I couldn’t do it!”
“That was the most awesome sellout I’ve ever seen in my life,” Jon Stewart says.
“So integrity’s running in the whole family, I guess.”
Jon Stewart summed up Paula Broadwell’s book by saying: “I would say the real controversy here is, is he awesome or incredibly awesome?”
A short time later, according to The New York Times, Paula Broadwell challenged Jon Stewart to a push-up contest, which she won handily. Jon Stewart had to pay $1,000 to a veterans’ support group for each push-up she did beyond his total. Paula Broadwell said that he wrote a check for $20,000 on the spot.
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Jon Stewart dropped the F-bomb as he excitedly accepted his 10th consecutive trophy for best variety series at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night.
But TV bosses jumped in just in the nick of time and managed to bleep the expletive before it made it to air.
Jon Stewart began his acceptance speech by noting that The Daily Show deals in topical comedy, “which has the shelf life of egg salad”.
He added that the Emmy does indicate The Daily Show has some value.
Jon Stewart dropped the F-bomb as he excitedly accepted his 10th consecutive trophy for best variety series at the Emmy Awards
In some future age, Jon Stewart went on to say, holding his Emmy aloft, aliens arriving on Earth “will find a box of these”.
“And they will know how predictable these f****** things are,” he added.
When his win was announced, rivals Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon wrestled him to the ground in a mock fight in the audience.
Jon Stewart was decidedly out of breath when he finally made it to the stage.
“I’m not in the kind of shape I should be in to do a bit with Jimmy Fallon!” he said.
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