Photograph by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO & Max
Carrying his two new Emmys awards, John Oliver was making his approach by the packed HBO afterparty Monday evening when he stopped to talk with Deadline about his relationship with fellow late-night hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers.
Collectively, they launched a restricted collection podcast, Strike Drive 5, through the WGA strike to assist their crew members who had been out of labor as a result of the exhibits had shut down because of the strike.
“Truthfully the dynamic had much less to do with the podcast and extra to do with the truth that the strike was so hectic, it was good to have the ability to truly lean on one another a bit of bit,” Oliver stated in regards to the quintet staying in fixed communication through the work stoppage. “Not even essentially something to do with the podcast, simply speaking to one another commonly on Zoom.”
Oliver famous the frosty relationship between then-top late-night hosts through the 2007-08 WGA strike when the exhibits finally returned on the air, one after the other, with out writers. It didn’t occur this time because of efforts to assist struggling crew members by way of different means, together with Strike Drive 5.
“It was so fractured the final evening in 2008 as a result of the hosts hated one another, and it was actually useful to have the ability to simply lean on one another throughout that troublesome time,” Oliver stated. “Essentially the most helpful factor was simply having the ability earlier than and through the strike to continually keep in touch with one another to be sure that we had been all on the identical web page and we may preserve the exhibits off the air. For that, it was massively helpful.”
The shut private relationship between the 5 hosts has continued post-strike with them staying in a bunch chat collectively, Oliver revealed. Did his American counterparts use the textual content chain to congratulate Oliver on his newest Emmys?
“After all,” the British-born comic stated.
This 12 months, Final Week Tonight received one other Excellent Writing For Selection Collection trophy in addition to the primary ever Emmy within the newly created class of Excellent Scripted Selection Collection the place it confronted NBC’s stalwart Saturday Night time Reside.
Requested about how he feels beating SNL of their head-to-head, Oliver stated, “I don’t actually consider it that approach. It feels so bizarre to be at these occasions anyway. The entire thing simply feels very complicated.”
After competing (and constantly successful) in opposition to Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon and Meyers’ exhibits for seven years within the Excellent Selection Discuss Collection, Oliver’s Final Week Tonight was moved to the newly created Scripted Selection Collection discipline this 12 months.
The Late Present With Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Reside! and Late Night time With Seth Meyers had been nominated within the Excellent Discuss Collection class however misplaced to The Every day Present With Trevor Noah, the latest incarnation of The Every day Present, which Noah initially joined in 2014, shortly after Oliver had left it to start out Final Week Tonight.
