I can think of worse ways to spend my Sunday evenings than by watching John Oliver rip into a portion of society. Oliver’s got the kind of charisma and screen-presence that allows him to insult you to your face without actually offending you. If John Oliver came up to me and told me that my face looked like the shit that builds up on the back of window air-conditioning unit, I’d probably laugh and agree with him.
In terms of TV personalities, though, Oliver hasn’t quite made the waves like, say, Oprah. Sure, Oliver gets crazy pageviews and YouTube traffic, but the guy’s yet to have a “You get a car and you get a car!!” moment like Oprah has. That’s the best way to immortalize yourself in TV is to give people things. And Oliver finally had his last night when, while discussing the issues brought on by medical debt, he revealed that he had purchased almost $15 million worth of said debt from almost 9,000 people and forgiven all of it. Difference between him and Oprah now? His giveaway positively changed people’s lives, Oprah’s gave them all a new vehicle with which to pay taxes on.