There are scores of TV shows out there, with dozens of new episodes each week, not to mention everything you can find on Hulu Plus, Netflix streaming, and HBO Go. How’s a viewer to keep up? To help you sort through all that television has to offer, Flavorwire is compiling the five best moments on TV each week. This time, Nathan for You trolls a liquor store and John Oliver calls out the rampant abuse and racial biases in America’s prison system. Same thing, basically.
Jessica Williams Takes the Army to Task
Proving diversity in comedy does more good for television than just getting Tumblr to leave casting directors alone! This week’s best Daily Show bit, surprisingly, had nothing to do with Ukraine or Gaza, but rather a change in military policy that went un-skewered by most other outlets: banning natural hair styles for African-American women in the armed forces. That leaves said troops with no other option but to enlist incredibly painful relaxers or book hours in the salon, a gross racist/sexist/you-name-it-ist move that Williams takes apart with aplomb.
Kevin Garvey Does Not ❤ (Baby) Jesus
The Leftovers is a very slow show that’s surprisingly light on action. So while some took issue with its fourth episode’s turn towards the campy, I actually enjoyed how HBO’s latest Very Serious Drama showed a willingness to take itself less seriously. The tone is still very grim, but I doubt Damon Lindelof’s choice to have his main character throw a plastic baby Jesus out the window of his moving truck wasn’t a self-aware one.
John Oliver Uses Sesame Street to Explain Mass Incarceration
When you have your own show on HBO, you can do whatever you want — including dedicate a full 18 minutes to the problem of mass incarceration. Doesn’t sound like a sexy topic (because it isn’t), but Last Week Tonight with John Oliver found the perfect delivery device: Sesame Street, which has already talked about prison because that’s what radically progressive children’s shows do. Watch the brilliant/disconcerting mash-up above.
Nathan Fielder Sells Alcohol to Minors… Legally
The trick is to let the teens buy the booze, but not take it out of the liquor store. The store makes money and the teens get street cred – everybody wins! Nathan Fielder tests this scheme out for realsies, and that’s why you should be watching Nathan for You.
Conan Unveils His Entire Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda Cameo
Announced last week, Conan’s brief appearance in SyFy’s latest spoof is now available for all the world to watch. There’s a martini; there’s corny dialogue; there’s a head that’s obviously not Conan’s being used as a volleyball. Conan plays an entitled dick, i.e. himself, who gets the tentacle-through-the-head he so richly deserves. If the special effects don’t get an Emmy, there is no God.