Thank goodness for John Oliver for keeping things weird while the world burns around us. The Last Week Tonight host recently saw his (only attainable) “dream” come true — one that might be even better than accepting an Emmy while wearing a hoodie. While feeling the afterglow of that honor, Oliver confessed that his remaining ambition for 2020 was to have a sewage plant in Danbury, Connecticut named after him.
If that doesn’t speak to the dumpster fire that this year has been, than I’m not sure what else would qualify. Well, there’s some fantastic news coming for those who’ve been watching this story. Not only did the Danbury city council vote almost unanimously to officially rename the facility as the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant, but Oliver will be present at a rechristening ceremony. He’s either actually made this decision on his own, or Mayor Boughton is trolling him so that he has to show up, but either way, Oliver is on the ribbon-cutting calendar.
Boughton told the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that Oliver “agreed to come to the city.” Via the Danbury NewsTimes:
“We’re still working out the details on that to cut the ribbon on the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant, which we renamed last week,” Boughton said. “We’ll be putting something up on Facebook about that, but it won’t be available or open to the public, unfortunately, as they’re very strict in terms of the COVID-19 regulations.”
This event (please let the ceremonial ribbon be brown) will end a lengthy (mock) feud between Oliver and Boughton, who called the host “full of crap.” Oliver was actually delighted to hear the insult but then disappointed to hear that it was only a joke, at which point he opened his wallet and made a $55,000 donation to the city. After the Emmys, he gushed, “My dream this year is to have a sewage plant named after me in Danbury, Connecticut… And I’m close. I feel like I’m real close.”
Previously, Oliver enthusiastically faux-raged in front of his HBO audience, and that reached an apex in August, “Listen, I didn’t know that I wanted my name on your sh*t factory… But now that you floated it as an option, it is all that I want.” And he’s teaching us all to never give up on his dreams, no matter how silly they might seem.
(Via Danbury’s NewsTimes)
