John Oliver

British-born entertainer John Oliver was a permanent resident of the United States, but beginning in 2001 he used his status as a national outsider to his advantage, poking fun at American political culture, government and myriad social issues, most notably on the stand-up comedy circuit and "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" (Comedy Central, 1999-2015) where he proved himself to be one of the most adept political satirists of his generation. He parlayed that into his own comedy news series, "Last Week Tonight" (HBO 2014- ) after successfully replacing Stewart during the latter's sabbatical to direct a film. During the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, many critics and fans considered Oliver's "Last Week Tonight" the worthy heir to Stewart's brand of sharply satirical political comedy, with the added bonus of additional swearing thanks to the show's pay-cable home.