John Oliver to debut 'Last Week Tonight' on HBO in late April

[February 13, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) — John Oliver, the British comedian whose career took off as the nonchalant news correspondent on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," will debut his new HBO series "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" on April 27, the network said on Wednesday.

The half-hour show to air Sundays in the 11:00-11:30 p.m. slot will present a satirical look at the week in news, politics and current events, HBO said in a statement, without elaborating further on the show's content.

The offer from HBO, a unit of Time Warner Inc, came a few months after Oliver stood in as guest host for Jon Stewart during the summer of 2013 on the Comedy Central program, while Stewart was filming in Jordan "Rosewater," a drama and his directorial debut.

When asked at the January meeting of the Television Critics Association if filling in for Stewart led to the HBO job, Oliver said "I think it probably led in some way and let's just say the only way."

"I think it is probably the main reason why I am here now. It was a bizarre, exciting and terrifying experience."

Oliver, 36, joined "The Daily Show" in 2006 and has shared three Emmy awards as a writer on the program that helped launch the careers of comedians Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

(Reporting by Mary Milliken; editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Phil Berlowitz)

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.