No one pulls off a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference better than John Oliver on Last Week Tonight. No one is immune, not even viewers of fine HBO shows like The White Lotus and less fine shows like And Just Like That…. Since his return following the writer’s strike, Oliver is back to his old cadence of peppering little shots into the mix here and there, and that included a review of Lauren Boebert’s Beetlejuice performance and a new nickname for Tucker Carlson.
One unexpected name popped up in this week’s episode, however. That would be funnyman/actor Patton Oswalt, who was probably not expecting to see his name in reference to a lawmaker — especially not on the subject of Kevin McCarthy’s historical ouster from the Speaker of the House position. The current pinch hitter (before the far-right MAGA crowd installs one of their faves) would be Rep. Patrick McHenry, or as Oliver described him, “Patton Oswalt as a ventriloquist dummy” who happens to be “dressed like a 4-year-old who’s going to f*ck up the whole wedding.”
Oswalt is taking the reference in stride. He even posted a clip from the HBO series while tweeting, “Harsh but accurate.”
Harsh but accurate, @LastWeekTonight. pic.twitter.com/rZNCLEj4Uv
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) October 9, 2023
Maybe it’s time to send in Justified‘s Constable Bob Sweeney to show Oliver that not everything is funny. Although that, in and of itself, would be pretty amusing to watch.