HBO
The opening title montage for this week’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver arrived five minutes into the show, as Oliver told viewers first that he couldn’t possibly cover the “terrible week” in Israel and Gaza as part of the program.
“The immense suffering in Israel and Gaza has been sickening to watch. We’re not going to be covering it in the main body of our show tonight.” Why? Oliver continued: “First: It’s horrific. I don’t really want to tell jokes about carnage right now, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear them.”
But perhaps more importantly from a logical and strategic standpoint, he noted that he tapes his weekly HBO show on Saturday afternoons, more than 24 hours before air time, and knows viewers might not tune in or catch up until Monday. “Given how fast things are moving, a lot could change between the time I’m saying this, and the time that you hear it,” he said.