John Oliver made a couple of jokey references to his new corporate parent on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight.
Oliver did not address Skydance‘s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of Last Week Tonight‘s network home, HBO, on last week’s episode. But he did slip in a couple of quips about Skydance, which also acquired Paramount last year, on Sunday’s edition.
During his main segment, which was about generic medications, Oliver brought up the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s inspection of the overseas companies that produce these drugs.
“You should know while surprise FDA inspections are common for U.S. factories, most FDA inspections done overseas are actually announced beforehand, allowing manufacturers to both prepare for them and potentially hide any issues,” he explained. “In fact, one study found that the odds of a facility receiving the most severe inspection outcome are over 250 percent higher for unannounced inspections, which just makes sense, doesn’t it? You clean up when you know people are coming over.”
Oliver then made a joke about the studio his own show tapes in. “The only reason this studio is so clean is because I knew you were all coming here today,” he said. “Otherwise this place will be a complete pigsty. And by the way, I mean that literally: I run a wet market here the rest of the week. I’m just trying to get out ahead of any Paramount budget cuts.”
Later in the show, Oliver did a bit about the Liberty Mutual mascot, Liberty Biberty, and featured the fluffy round yellow character in several suggestive poses, encouraging his viewers to share such images in an attempt to get the mascot dropped from the company’s ad campaign.
After showing these images, he joked: “I’m thrilled to be part of the Skydance family! Hope you’re happy with what you bought, guys! We’re never gonna change! … Never — we’re never changing!”
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