Perfectly fine, but weak by Oliver's usual standards. The opening bit about Venezuela was odd in that it seemed to blame the country's economic woes, which it explicitly mentioned were based on the declining price of oil, on the country's seemingly dumb president. I'm not saying the guy seemed like a great leader, but the show seemed to draw an odd line between his buffoonery and what appear to be economic forces he has little if any control over. Similarly, the bit about Canada's Prime Minister accidentally elbowing someone and apologizing for it constantly rested on some pretty hoary humor about Canadians. Even the closing bit about the Chechan president's love for Putin and pussycats seemed like the kind of tired, "look how goofy world leaders" stuff without as much of the wit or spark LWT usually imbues into these things.
Oddly enough, the highlights were the interstitial bits. McLaughlin announcing discussion topics angrily was the absurd, rapid fire comedic gift that kept giving, and the absurd people ringing the opening bell at the stock market worked well in the same vein.
But even the main story, where the show's heart was in the right place, felt miscalculated. Obviously the byzantine primary rules are ridiculous in many places, but I wish the show had nixed one of those weaker bits and spent more time exploring the history and reasons that these rules came about. I may not love the primary system we have, but Oliver more or less glossed over the reasons it came to be and things that justify superdelegates and other odd but generally not outright crazy facets of the process. There's nothing wrong with arguing for reform, but this is the kind of episode where I know enough for the presentation to feel a little too one-sided in a way that makes me worry about what I'm getting on weeks when the subject is wholly unknown to me.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-05-24T03:32:39Z
Perfectly fine, but weak by Oliver's usual standards. The opening bit about Venezuela was odd in that it seemed to blame the country's economic woes, which it explicitly mentioned were based on the declining price of oil, on the country's seemingly dumb president. I'm not saying the guy seemed like a great leader, but the show seemed to draw an odd line between his buffoonery and what appear to be economic forces he has little if any control over. Similarly, the bit about Canada's Prime Minister accidentally elbowing someone and apologizing for it constantly rested on some pretty hoary humor about Canadians. Even the closing bit about the Chechan president's love for Putin and pussycats seemed like the kind of tired, "look how goofy world leaders" stuff without as much of the wit or spark LWT usually imbues into these things.
Oddly enough, the highlights were the interstitial bits. McLaughlin announcing discussion topics angrily was the absurd, rapid fire comedic gift that kept giving, and the absurd people ringing the opening bell at the stock market worked well in the same vein.
But even the main story, where the show's heart was in the right place, felt miscalculated. Obviously the byzantine primary rules are ridiculous in many places, but I wish the show had nixed one of those weaker bits and spent more time exploring the history and reasons that these rules came about. I may not love the primary system we have, but Oliver more or less glossed over the reasons it came to be and things that justify superdelegates and other odd but generally not outright crazy facets of the process. There's nothing wrong with arguing for reform, but this is the kind of episode where I know enough for the presentation to feel a little too one-sided in a way that makes me worry about what I'm getting on weeks when the subject is wholly unknown to me.