LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER
HBO, 11:00 p.m. ET
Last week on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the host, returning from virus-dictated hiatus to present his HBO show from his own home, ended the program by sharing his discovery of footage from a vintage local public TV fundraising auction. Very vintage, as in 1992, and very local, as in York, PA. A local artist, Brian Swords, had several works up for bid, and Oliver was fascinated by them, because one series of paintings depicted human-like rats in amorous embraces. One painting, titled “Stay Up Late,” was sold for $80 when auctioned on that nearly 30-year-old auction by WITF-TV. But last week on Last Week, Oliver made a genuine offer to the current owner of that painting: Oliver would buy it for $1,000, plus make an additional donation of $20,000 to the seller’s local food bank. “I want that piece of art hanging behind me on this wall next week,” Oliver said. Tonight, we’ll see if he pulled if off – and hung it up.