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Posted in: CBS, HBO, TV | Tagged: cbs, HBO, John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, stephen colbert
Last Week Tonight Host John Oliver Shows Colbert His Steamboat Willie
Last Week Tonight host John Oliver promoted his HBO comedy/news series with the show's unofficial mascot, LWT's Steamboat Willie.
Article Summary
- John Oliver brings Steamboat Willie to Colbert's Late Show to promote LWT.
- Steamboat Mikey, now public domain, taunts Disney on national TV.
- John Oliver discusses past legal challenges and potential Disney lawsuit.
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returns to HBO on February 18th.
If you ask John Oliver if he ever feels his talk show Last Week Tonight would ever feel stale after 10 seasons on HBO, you wouldn't know it heading into his 11th season. The host appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with a very special guest, arguably the biggest member of the public domain, Mickey Mouse…at least the Steamboat Willie version. As Oliver made his entrance to his fellow Daily Show alum's CBS show, he brought the character in all his black and white glory in a non-speaking role as they greeted the crowd. Ever since the short entered the public domain, there have been several projects, mostly horror versions emerging of that incarnation, whereas Oliver has largely just used him as a promotional tool.
Late Show's Stephen Colbert Addresses the 400 lb Mouse in the Room With Last Week Tonight Host John Oliver
When Colbert asks Oliver's special guest, "It's Steamboat Willie's Mickey Mouse, which is available for public use. It's not Mickey Mouse, but I can't stress that enough," Oliver said. "Luckily, there is no resemblance, so there shouldn't be any confusion. This is Steamboat Mikey, which is in the public domain now; therefore, he can help promote any non-Disney-related show, and it's great to have the mouse here." After Colbert awkwardly asked for confirmation that it was a mouse, "Mouse, rat, he's definitely in the rodent family," Oliver explained. "That's what we know." Colbert continues, "You have been sometime now baiting the Walt Disney Corporation, which is a notoriously litigious organization. It's up there with Scientology, the amount of attorneys they employ. Trying to bait them to sue you." "Yeah, I feel like I have been ignored, so they left me no choice but to take this up a fucking notch," Oliver responds to audience cheers. "Yeah, that's why I'm so happy to have Steamboat Mikey here with you."
"That's my question. I know you enjoy being sued or else you wouldn't be trying to get someone else to you. I have been sued many times. Am I an accomplice by having him on?" Colbert asks. "Wouldn't it be fun to be in a courtroom together?" Before the two shake hands. Oliver referenced the "SLAPP Suits" segment on Last Week Tonight in 2017, focusing on coal company CEO Robert Murray who later sued him mainly for defamation on the grounds of "ruthless character assassination". The case was dismissed in 2018, and Murray has since passed in 2020. "I take from that I'm legally indestructible," Oliver says before pointing to Mickey. "There's no dance more fun than on thin ice." For more, you can check out the video. Last Week Tonight returns on February 18th and airs Sundays on HBO.
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