The August 15, 2013 episode of the Daily Show covers John Oliver’s time at the show, the other correspondents, and Simon Pegg.
The episode begins with John Oliver explaining the real reason Jon Stewart has not been hosting. He is directing a film called Rosewater. Most of the rest of the episode is written around the fact that this episode is Oliver’s last episode hosting. He also tells the audience to look for coverage of the sad events in Egypt from the real news.
Most of the first segment is giving updates about some of the big stories from the summer. The first is Mayor Bob Filner, accused of sexual harassment, is also being investigated for misusing city funds. He has also been accused of sexually harassing military rape victims. Second, Oliver continues coverage of Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law. There have been protests against the ruling all over the world. However, anti-gay sentiment seems to be rising in Russia. One news caster said that gay citizens should not be able to donate blood, semen, or organs because of the risk of HIV contamination. Of course, the United States has a similar rule for blood donation. The final story in the segment is Anthony Weiner and his mayoral campaign. The focus is mainly that he does not seem to be trying to get people to like him anymore, based on his interview with Buzzfeed.
In the second segment, Oliver talks to many of the correspondents for story updates. Instead of giving updates, though, they complain about Oliver’s terribly job as host or how he has ruined the show. The only one with positive things to say is Rob Riggle, but he says he has not watched a single episode.
The guest for this episode was Simon Pegg promoting The World’s End. Oliver and Pegg spend the episode talking about Pegg’s films, his relationship with Nick Frost and his rise in fame.
Overall, the episode was kind of disappointing. August is supposed to be a slow month and the events in Egypt have to be dealt with carefully and probably not at all in a forum such as the Daily Show. However, a whole episode mostly about Oliver was kind of boring.