9.0/102 votes#1 - Stone Phillips / Truthiness
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/17/2005
In the premiere episode of The Colbert Report, Stephen starts off the show with a segment called The Word coining the term "Truthiness". Other segments include: The Threat Down rating avian flu, basketball, babies, hurricanes and James Brady. Stephen interviews Stone Phillips, an Emmy award winning journalist and host of Dateline NBC. At the end of the interview, Stephen and Stone Phillips have a competition of gravitas.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Jay Katsir
9.0/105 votes#2 - Government Surveillance
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 4/5/2015
There are very few government checks on what America’s sweeping surveillance programs are capable of doing. John Oliver sits down with Edward Snowden to discuss the NSA, the balance between privacy and security, and dick-pics.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.5/102 votes#3 - U.S. Territories
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 3/8/2015
A set of Supreme Court decisions made over 100 years ago has left U.S. territories without meaningful representation. That’s weird, right? Plus, daylight saving time doesn’t actually benefit anyone. Strangely, it’s still a thing!
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.4/105 votes#4 - FIFA II
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 5/31/2015
After the arrests of numerous top officials, John Oliver decided to give an update on the state of FIFA. Also, Thailand's ignorance about the world's history involving Hitler might require some re-education.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.2/104 votes#5 - Torture
Season 2 Episode 17 - Aired 6/14/2015
The US Senate Torture Report revealed horrifying details of America's interrogation program. Helen Mirren will fill you in. Plus, information about the 2015 European Games and the Canadian Senate expenses scandal.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.0/104 votes#6 - Paid Family Leave
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 5/10/2015
Many American companies do not offer paid leave after the birth of a child, which means they probably shouldn’t run sappy Mother’s Day ads. Also, the Japanese have some unhealthy obsession with mascots and John proposes to adopt some of that culture in the U.S. government agencies as well.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.0/103 votes#7 - Bail
Season 2 Episode 16 - Aired 6/7/2015
John Oliver explains why America’s bail system is better for the reality TV industry than it is for the justice system.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.0/104 votes#8 - The Internet
Season 2 Episode 18 - Aired 6/21/2015
Online harassment is a major problem, but it’s rarely prosecuted. If only we’d been warned about this in the early days of the internet.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
8.0/104 votes#9 - Transgender Rights
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 6/28/2015
This week’s gay rights victory was historic, but the transgender community still faces staggering challenges. John Oliver focuses on the “T” in “LGBT."
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.9/108 votes#10 - Voting
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 2/14/2016
John talks about the late Antonin Scalia's love of the Letter of the Law, Chipotle's food safety problems, how Voter IDs laws should be applied to those who write them, and New Zealand's economic development minister Steven Joyce.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.8/104 votes#11 - Patents
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 4/19/2015
For inventors, patents are an essential protection against theft. But when patent trolls abuse the system by stockpiling patents and threatening lawsuits, businesses are forced to shell out tons of money. Also, CNN produced an actual doomsday video to broadcast when the world is ending and it’s incredibly dull. We've enlisted Martin Sheen to help make humanity’s final moments happier!
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.8/104 votes#12 - Fashion
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 4/26/2015
John explores the concept of changing and cheap fashion and some of the ugliest truths of the manufacturing process.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.8/104 votes#13 - Standardized Testing
Season 2 Episode 12 - Aired 5/3/2015
American students face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized tests impact school funding, the achievement gap and how often the kids are expected to throw up while taking one.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.8/105 votes#14 - Food Waste
Season 2 Episode 21 - Aired 7/19/2015
Producers, sellers, and consumers waste tons of food. John Oliver discusses the shocking amount of food we don’t eat.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.8/105 votes#15 - Daily Fantasy Sports
Season 2 Episode 34 - Aired 11/15/2015
John talks about the recent Paris attacks, China's Singles Day, the Koh-i-Noor diamond and Daily Fantasy Sports.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.6/105 votes#16 - Elected Judges
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 2/22/2015
The vast majority of US judges are elected, forcing many judges to pander to the electorate and accept campaign money in order to keep their jobs. This seems slightly troubling... The UK's Labour Party has painted a campaign van pink in an attempt to attract women voters. We are glad they didn't keep going with that strategy.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.6/105 votes#17 - Municipal Violations
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 3/22/2015
If you have money, committing a municipal violation may pose you a minor inconvenience. If you don’t, it can ruin your life. Also, the New Hampshire legislature refused to make the red-tailed hawk the official raptor of their state... so Last Week Tonight made it the official raptor of the show.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.6/105 votes#18 - Refugees & Pennies
Season 2 Episode 35 - Aired 11/22/2015
John reflects on the aftermath of Paris attacks and how it affects refugees worldwide. Plus, he questions the usefulness of the U.S. penny, since minting the coins costs more than they're actually worth.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.5/104 votes#19 - Stadiums
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 7/12/2015
Cities spend massive amounts of public money on privately-owned stadiums. Cities issue tax-exempt municipal bonds that — wait, don’t fall asleep!
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.5/106 votes#20 - Prisoner Re-entry
Season 2 Episode 33 - Aired 11/8/2015
John Oliver discusses problems that prisoners face when re-entering the society after they're released from prison. A quick interview with Bilal Chatman shines a light on one such case. Plus, a law proposed in the United Kingdom advocates for a mass surveillance of citizens' online activities, how Department of Defense is paying huge sums of money to professional sports teams to honor veterans during their events, and Washington Redskins file a lawsuit to defend their poorly chosen trademark name by naming other terrible examples.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.5/1011 votes#21 - Abortion Laws
Season 3 Episode 2 - Aired 2/21/2016
John talks about the South Carolina Republican primary, the Supreme Court vacancy and abortion, which theoretically is legal in the U.S., but some states make it practically inaccessible. Plus, how is Hollywood whitewashing still a thing?
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.4/105 votes#22 - Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws
Season 2 Episode 22 - Aired 7/26/2015
Mandatory minimums require fixed prison sentences for certain crimes. John Oliver explains why we treat some turkeys better than most low-level offenders.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.2/104 votes#23 - Chickens
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 5/17/2015
John Oliver explains how chicken farming can be unfair, punishing, and inhumane. And not just for the chickens!
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
7.1/107 votes#24 - Tobacco
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 2/15/2015
Thanks to tobacco industry regulations and marketing restrictions in the U.S., smoking rates have dropped dramatically. John Oliver explains how tobacco companies are keeping their business strong overseas and how Phillip Morris International in particular is employing some unethical legal practices while suing some of the world's poorest countries. Plus, we've noticed that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue still exists but can’t quite figure out why.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
6.7/107 votes#25 - Marketing to Doctors
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 2/8/2015
John Oliver discusses the growing issues of pharmaceutical companies marketing directly to and through doctors. Also, since RadioShack has filed for bankruptcy, John has created a farewell message for them. Plus, the online sessions by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to address the public aren't going too well.
Director: Jim Hoskinson
Writer: Dan Gurewitch
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Jim Hoskinson Ratings Summary
"Stone Phillips / Truthiness" is the best rated episode directed by Jim Hoskinson. It scored 9/10 based on 2 votes. It was written by Jay Katsir. It aired on 10/17/2005 and is rated 0.0 points higher than their second-best episode, "Government Surveillance".