Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Trolls Fans Under 35 With Alternate Episode About Chuck E. Cheese

Last Week Tonight, John Oliver's talk show on HBO, dropped not one but two episodes this week. While the one that aired on TV is a look at the state of home ownership in the United States, the host also released a second -- one for those who don't own homes...and those under 35, who he jokes will almost certainly not be able to own their own home anyway. Home ownership has become increasingly uncommon for younger Americans, and economic downturns don't seem to have much impact on its pricing, so there's some uncomfortable truth to his assessment. But for those young enough that home ownership seems likely to be out of reach for life...well, he's sending you to Chuck E. Cheese's.

A mini-documentary on the history of the family pizza and entertainment chain is the online alternative to the HBO episode. You can check the segment out over at the Last Squeak Tonight website. Yes, really.

"Our main story tonight concerns home ownership, so if you are under 35, honestly, this story isn't for you," Oliver said in the episode wihch aired on HBO. "It'll never be for you. You will never own a home. Sorry, that is the deal that you made when you decided to be born after 1988."

The host continued, "We didn't want you to feel left out, so we've actually prepared a full alternative story for you tonight about Chuck E. Cheese, a different crumbling American institution that you should go on and watch instead."

During his most recent hiatus, fans have joked that Oliver was lucky to get back on the air after delivering a hilarious criticism of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery on Last Week Tonight. The company, which has removed a number of HBO Max originals to cut costs, admitted last year that they shelved a nearly-completed Batgirl movie as part of a tax scheme. As a result, fans have been assuming that any seemingly-inexplicable move the company makes, is probably aimed at getting some kind of tax rebate, through a loophole tied to the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery.   

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver took on a new urgency during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the comedian's signature exasperated style of comedy felt especially appropriate for the chaos going on in the world. It seemed like every few weeks, his show would go viral, and the social satire provides an evergreen target to poke fun at, rather than Oliver's previous big hits, which were mostly one-off things like buying up Russell Crowe's jock strap from Gladiator and donating it to a Blockbuster Video.