John Oliver to debut 'Last Week Tonight' on HBO in late April
(Reuters) - John
Oliver, the British comedian whose career took off as the nonchalant
news correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," will debut his
new HBO series "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" on April 27, the
network said on Wednesday.
The half-hour show to
air Sundays in the 11:00-11:30 p.m. slot will present a satirical look
at the week in news, politics and current events, HBO said in a
statement, without elaborating further on the show's content.The offer from HBO, a unit of Time Warner
Inc, came a few months after Oliver stood in as guest host for Jon
Stewart during the summer of 2013 on the Comedy Central program, while
Stewart was filming in Jordan "Rosewater," a drama and his directorial
debut.
When asked at the
January meeting of the Television Critics Association if filling in for
Stewart led to the HBO job, Oliver said "I think it probably led in some
way and let's just say the only way."
"I think it is probably the main reason why I am here now. It was a bizarre, exciting and terrifying experience."
Oliver,
36, joined "The Daily Show" in 2006 and has shared three Emmy awards as
a writer on the program that helped launch the careers of comedians
Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.
(Reporting by Mary Milliken; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Phil Berlowitz)