John Oliver decided to close this year’s season finale with fewer explosions and more star power.
During the Season 8 finale Sunday night, the Last Week Tonight host called on his reliable celebrity friend George Clooney, a person he conjures almost every episode with the snap of his finger, to make him feel a little less drab about the year’s events.
“You can say it’s an intolerable cruelty,” Oliver said about the socially distanced year, referencing Clooney’s early-aughts rom-com flick.
Oliver requested that the Oscar-winning actor cheer him up, with Clooney acquiescing a bit out of pity.
“I’m not supposed to do this, but you seem more pathetic than usual,” Clooney said before granting Oliver the power – by way of a finger snap – to summon any celebrity he wants for a few minutes. The personalities that followed seemed to offer much-needed comedic respite from Oliver’s show.
In a humorous bit, Jennifer Coolidge appeared and confused the British American host for other colorless, late-night talking heads like Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and his fellow statesman James Corden.
Will Ferrell was caught onscreen and scorned the Emmy-winning late-night host while weaving his own likeness into an embroidery hoop.
RuPaul then appeared in full dress and makeup and attempted to shoo Oliver away à la Drag Race.
“I’m not a contestant on your show,” the HBO host replied. “It’s me, John Oliver.”
“Oh gosh, I thought it was one of the queens dressed as a marionette doll,” RuPaul quipped.
After cycling through Cardi B, who confused Oliver for Amazon’s Alexa voice; Kevin Baumgartner, who thought he was doing a cameo, an occupied Leslie Jones; and the Void, a cartoon character voiced by H. Jon Benjamin who would appear on the blank wall of Oliver’s audience-less set and was in middle of preparing for his own late-night show; Clooney returned to teach Oliver a lesson in self-awareness.
“Just because this year didn’t work out like you thought it would, that doesn’t mean that shamelessly bringing in celebrities for the finale wouldn’t cheer you up because — say it with me — ‘celebrities make everything better except in the many situations where they do not,’” Oliver and Clooney said in unison.
Shortly after signing off, Oliver tackled the Void after it was revealed the cartoon head’s main topic would be 9/11 conspiracy theories.