John Oliver’s new HBO talker reflects on the week

By Jacqueline Cutler © Zap2it

John Oliver’s HBO series, “Last Week Tonight,” premieres Sunday, April 27. And a month before the show would bow, Oliver hadn’t a specific clue as to what he would be doing opening night.

“It is an odd situation,” Oliver says, taking in a majestic view of the Empire State Building. “The jokes we will tell on the first show have not happened yet, but we are building a machine to be flexible enough to trivialize vastly important stories.”

Though he has goals and a strong concept, Oliver could not say for sure what his show will be because it is predicated on the news.

“We did our first technical show last night,” he says. “I did GM, the recall of 5 million cars, the ignition problem they knew about. It was between 12 and 303 deaths. They say 12; 12 is their defense.”

In a month, this could be bigger news, or it could have faded. Oliver did not know — no one does — but he’s relishing taking the news as it comes.

“The idea is we can do anything,” Oliver said. “We are not going to get told to not do anything. You have to survive by your own moral compass — and mine was probably broken in 1995 — and an innate sense of decency, and mine was probably lost when I was 6.”

Oliver did a terrific job when he filled in as host of “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” last summer, and he credits that stint for leading to the new show. The Sunday show will be “as loose as possible,” he says.

Oliver isn’t planning to do a monologue but wants “pre-taped segments because we have extra time,” he says. “We can make it a virtue rather than a curse. It should be possible to be reactive to stories.”

For instance, given Russian President Vladimir Putin’s occupation of Crimea, it’s not inconceivable that he might fancy annexing another country. Oliver ponders the possibilities.

“Putin could wake up and say, ‘Warsaw looks good this time of year,’ ” Oliver says and starts laughing at the prospect — the comedic prospects, not potential wars.

“As we have been gaming out hypothetical shows, we are working out which stories go away because the meat is picked off their bones or if there is something to tackle, whether there is still a deeper story,” he says.

As far as guests, Oliver does not want reality show contestants, starlets or the usual red carpet brigade. He does, though, want policymakers.

Had the show been on the week he was chatting, Oliver would have tried to have on a Ukrainian ambassador or someone in the NSA.

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4. Scrooge, to friends (if he

5. “__ Ordinary Family”

6. Tia, to Tamera

7. Actress on “Cheers”

8. Strong urge

9. Sitcom for Bradley Whitford (2)

12. Drama series for Billy Burke

14. “__ Masterson” (1958-61)

16. Nurses: abbr.

ACROSS

1. Series for Lucy Liu

9. Refrain syllable

10. “Baby Take __ __”; Shirley Temple movie

11. “I’m With __” (2003-04)

13. Man of the cloth

15. Ryan, for one

17. Role on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2)

18. “Life of __”; 2012 hit film

20. “That’s __ Raven”

21. Thoreau’s monogram

23. “__ in the Family”

24. “Say __ to the Dress”

25. Role on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

26. Setting for “Frasier”: abbr.

29. Initials for singer Tennille

30. “Super __ __”

34. “One __ Move”; 1992 Billy Bob Thornton film any)

19. “The Big __ With Donny Deutsch”

20. Job opening

22. Poet Eliot

23. Role on “Married ... With Children”

27. Public transport

28. Advanced degree: abbr.

30. “A __ in Her Ear”; 1968 Rex Harrison movie

31. Least popular piece of chicken

32. Actress Teri

33. __- __’-shanter; Scottish cap

35. “The Man With the Golden __”; Frank Sinatra movie

37. Fabray, to friends

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41. Acuff’s initials