Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
And at the center isJohn Oliver, the self-effacing host of a show thats quickly becoming a late-night institution.
In terms of whats appealing watching it, I dont know.
So I hope that would be a reason to watch it.
But also, we are incredibly diligent over fact-checking.
I hope there is an element of trust that people have that were not passing on any information lazily.
You take a hiatus every winter.
And thats kind of vital time for us to set ourselves up for the year.
In terms of the shutdown, not really.
Its more the stories that fall away.
That was our sweet spot.
It was pretty incredible.
People, especially journalists, around the world watch your show.
Who wants to watch 12 minutes of comedy about the death penalty?
In fact, thats probably stretching it.
The shows going into its sixth season.
Sometimes its not half-an-hour long.
So that kind of flexibility really helps that we can break the format when we want to.
We try not to get stuck in a rut.
I have to ask you about the mascots.
Why wont you allow it, and what are you hiding?Why wont we allow it?
I really appreciate the What are we hiding question.
We dont do regular check-ins.
But occasionally, just occasionally, you get the kind ofMuppet Showadoration in the ludicrous mascots.
So I should have come in with all the mascot questions today and gotten it done?Absolutely.
Yeah, definitely, thats the thing, So basically they can have the story this time next year.
you might Trojan horse the story.
Whos in the mascots?
He wasThe Bear in the Big Blue House, and he worked forSesame Street.
Its a bunch ofSesame Streetpuppeteers.
But in terms ofMr.
Nutterbutter, he is Mr. Nutterbutter.
Is there anything about the production or the writing of the show that would surprise viewers?
None of us are really coming back with a tan.
Were not generally a tan-interested group of people.
Theres not a lot of beachy people.
But yeah, its just a massive amount of work.
Those big stories we dont write in a week; those are written over at least a month.
Its a total catastrophe, and it hasnt even happened yet.
Its going to be horrendous.
Thats why we need mascots.
Sometimes you just need a mascot at the end of something.
So maybe a Brexit mascot in the future?Yeah, maybe.
