Fun fact: all the constitution says about the speaker of the house is "The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker". It doesn't list any requirements, meaning that the speaker doesn't have to be a congressman or even a US citizen. It also doesn't say that the speaker must be a human. I'm writing a script for a new Air Bud movie based on this, don't steal it.

John killed it with his delivery of this web exclusive. He killed it like it was Josh's dad.

The seriousness and sincerity with which Oliver says "Air Bud, crucially, is NOT Josh's dog" just cracks me up.

I love that this entire piece feels like the opening and closing statement to a lawsuit about who deserves Buddy, and John was hired as Snively's attorney.

Homie went to jail for getting his dog stolen.

I love how this show can go from blackmailing congress on week to having a deep discussion on air bud lore the next

I grew up on the Air Buddies series so it's so funny to see John Oliver make fun of how they became superheroes and not reference how their owners (children) almost got killed by ghosts and they had to save them by talking to a chihuahua medium who used a crystal ball

Even though it’s a web exclusive, this was honestly one of John Oliver’s best bits ever. He should do more deconstructions of movies/TV shows like this.

This has big “Dad quarantined for several months with small child with Disney+ access” energy

As someone who spent more than 30 minutes on a 2nd date giving a dramatic retelling of the movie air bud to my now wife this rant was a highlight of the year.

This is 100% a Daniel O'Brien fever dream he convinced John to do. Esp the joke about too much kissing in movies, that's something he'd definitely say on obsessive pop culture disorder.

If John were an ethics and social/political ideology lecturer I swear I’ll attend every bit of his classes

"I went to Oxford probably" This is weirdly Oliver's best clip in a long time. The jokes are so spot on.

I'm an ethics professor. I might use this in class. There's no rule that says I can't.

This movie had one of the best lines of dialogue in cinema *opposing teams coach* "Will somebody guard that dog?!?!?!"

This is like my comfort episode. When I need to calm my anxiety I come listen to John talk about Josh's dead dad and the weird fake rules we make up in our society.

"In one of the most flagrant examples of America's fetish for carceral solutions ever committed to film" -- I love this show so much.

The throw away line, "I went to Oxford, probably" was absolute genius

I love it when Daniel O'Brien's Writing shines.

Air Bud and his owner were my neighbors back in the early '90s (Saphire in PB). It was amazing watching them practice. I'm sure that dog was a reincarnated athlete. He was just as impressive as a wide receiver.

I’d love to hear John go over the morality of Stuart Little next.

The sheer novelty that this happened is reason enough to watch.

The Kevin Durant bit was gold. *Chef's kiss* "You'd be wrong, Dead wrong. I'm talking Josh's Dad dead wrong" I cracked up for a full minute to this one. This was my favourite Web Excusive EVER.

I love how this is basically "Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder." Happy to see Daniel O'Brien being able to continue his obsessiveness on a different platform.

This is a real test of, “I’d listen to John Oliver talk about anything” and yeah it passes

John's web exclusives are becoming an exemplification of "kind of a weird hill to die on, but ok", and I'm here for it edit: John's web exclusive content units*

The nuanced analysis of Air Bud I’ve been waiting 20 years for.

Air Bud is *not* about rules mattering, it is about exploiting and bending the framework of rules to reach your desired outcome. This holds for both Bud being allowed to play basketball (there's no rule excluding it) and the judge's final ruling (the person with the power makes up the rules he wants).

topics you should never bring up at the Thanksgiving table: religion, politics, or Air Bud lore

John definitely watched this for the first time with his wife and toddlers and after arguing with his wife about it decided to take it to the platform and I'm here for it.

Fun Fact: Air Bud is not even the first Disney kids movie involving an animal who plays sports where someone has to invoke the rules of the sport to allow the animal to play. Does anyone remember GUS (1976) about the mule who kicks field goals in football!

As someone who has never seen Air Bud (1997) and only knows about it via the "ain't no rule" meme, I feel like I just went on an epic journey of discovery about not only this film, but life itself.

I'm fully convinced that John could do a 20 minute rant on how paint dries and I would not only watch it but enjoy it

This is why John Oliver wins Emmy's in his category every single year. Protect John at all costs.

As a lawyer I thoroughly enjoyed this exclusive; my brain so often 'ruins' children movies for me by noticing such kind of BS, and it's good to see I am not the only one :D... Also, it's an excellent exercise in logic and law, should be used to teach kids these disciplines in school :D

For whatever reason, my family never picked up a copy of Air Bud for our DVD collection as kids, but we had Air Bud Golden Receiver, and I watched that shit easily a few hundred times. It shook my world to the core when I grew up and found out I loved the wrong Air Bud.

I like how the absurdity of the outside court scene wasn't the cops carrying him away for no reason, it was the swiftness of the verdict

This was wonderful. I got to watch John Oliver and actually felt less depressed afterwards for once.

I love how this probably came about because John was watching this movie with his kids, and the absurdity of it all drove him to this rant! 😂

To be fair, the discussion of "if there isn't a rule against it, it's fine" or basing the enforcement of rules on feelings is VERY relevant in our current socioeconomic climate

FINALLY, SOMEONE has the COURAGE to address this topic. Rules matter or they don’t. Period.

I really have to admire John Oliver's attention to detail and commitment to the looping intensity of an absurdist but logic-based comedy premise.

Best 14 minutes of entertainment in a long while. And a fairly good rundown of any judicial system.

It is absolutely impossible to watch this and not think "God, I miss Daniel O Brien in Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder".

"I'm a material generator who distributes content units designed to occupy your time between now and death." is the greatest phrase ever spoken in business lingo. I now understand the entire entertainment industry. Thanks, John! PS-This may be the greatest episode of LWT ever.

“Keep you entertained between now and when you die.” That brought a laugh from a deep dark place. Gold. Love your work.

I think it's kind of amazing that J. Oliver is literally just using the format of a cracked article for this web exclusive! D.O.B's come a long way. Obsessive Pop Culture Disorder might not exist anymore, but J. Oliver has managed to keep it alive in some way by hiring Dan O'Brien!!

I watched because Seth Myers suggested it. Glad he did. You brightened a rainy dreary day. Thanks.

I live for these random web exclusives. John just gets to rant about the most obscure topics, just as nature intended

This is one of the best bits in the history of the show.

I have never seen that movie and for that I am grateful. The closest thing to being entertained by it is listening to John Oliver rip it a new one! Thank you good sir.

"The worst thing to happen to movies is kissing." Strong words from a man with The Love Guru and two Smurfs movies on his IMDB page.

I really enjoyed Kevin Durant's cameo. He seems down to earth.

This about the DOBest segment imaginable, god bless you Dan!

"The worst thing to happen to movies is kissing. There's too much kissing in movies. No one likes the sound of it and no one likes mouths." FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT!!

I appreciate John giving us his content units simply because he wants to. I will take this on a week off, they didn't have to... they wanted to.

"Does Buddy only deserve a good home if he's good at basketball?" You just described the NCAA.

Working at an animal shelter: Honestly the rules are relatively simple. Here is as definitive of a short post as I can make. Laws in your area will define what constitutes adequate care for an owned animal. This can include having access to food, water, proper shelter from the elements, adequate grooming, cleanliness and health monitoring, behavior toward the animal, et cetera. Oftentimes these standards vary by area, and they can surprise people. Some individuals may disagree with what the legal definition of abuse actually constitutes, dependent on their local laws, but those are what’s enforceable, so per the rules that’s what’s relevant. Depending on your jurisdiction, there are different standards for different animals, so different legal approaches apply. For instance here in my area, cats are considered to be ‘free roaming’ unless owned by a human, i.e they’re more or less considered to be wild animals by the law, so it is perfectly legal to just let them wander around outside unsupervised and do whatever. Dogs however are actually be considered to be the *property* of the owner, at least around here. So there’s an intersection of property rights and animal rights at play. Now-if someone is found to be treating their animal in ways that violate lawful standards, and this owner is reported to the proper authorities, they then have the ability to dispatch authorities who can seize the animal for the sake of its welfare. The owner may or may not be arrested depending on the situation; a lot of the time in my area (Arizona) they’re simply handed a heavy fine for the animal welfare violation, not actually arrested unless the abuse is active, severe and clearly malicious. Sometimes the reverse situation happens where an owner is rendered unavailable, such as in the case of an arrest or hospitalization, and the animal is seized if the owner is unable to find anyone to care for it in the meantime. Generally when this happens, the animal is held for a time and within this window of time it is possible for the owner to reclaim the animal, provided that if they committed a crime it didn’t involve animal abuse. Usually there’s a court fee involved in that process. If the owner or a representative can’t or doesn’t settle any fees and reclaim the animal, that animal becomes the property of the organization that has taken it in. After that, if the animal needs rehabilitation it will be treated by veterinarians, but is eventually placed up for adoption provided it is healthy and sociable. Again, the original owner can still re-adopt their own pet at this stage provided they were not engaging in abuse. Being a failed party clown, hating children and birthdays, and being an alcoholic are not *in and of themselves* reasonable cause to seize an animal from an owner. It could very well be the case that someone who struggles with alcoholism and dislikes children still takes good care of their pet. The fact that Buddy was so calm, well trained and well groomed by his original owner would more likely suggest he is in fact a good owner than anything… I haven’t actually seen the movie so I can’t say if there’s any point where mr. sad clown is shown to actually engage in clearly abusive behavior, so not sure if arrest was a reasonable response or if the owner was just an unjovial grouch of a 90s kids movie soft villain. Either way you’re definitely not going to get a dog custody court battle out on the lawn for it. That’s not even taking into account the age of the child. Minors may not be able to legally own animals without at least one adult over 18 as the co-owner. A kid can take in a stray of course but like, in terms of a situation where legal guardianship is involved the kid might not be able to actually maintain custody of Buddy? See the whole “dogs are legal property” thing above. Unless there is a credible record of mistreatment by the owner, that dog belongs to that dude. Also “letting the dog choose” is super unreliable, you can get basically any sociable dog to “choose” you if you call out to it in a friendly voice and crouch a little. …But there you go John. There’s your answer about “the rules”. Best as I can give it.

Hey John, if you are reading this, I would like to thank you. This is the best analogy for Roe v Wade I have ever heard.

This Web-Exclusive demonstrates John's outstanding ability to make a persuasive argument.

After watching this I wondered "Does John have an 8 year old child he's watching Air Bud with these days?" I Googled it. He has a 7 year old. I was close.

John: Thank you so much for watching. I have no idea why you did Me: I've watched this video 17 times now

John Oliver's rambling bits are always solid gold!!!

Wow, John really went deep on this one... but not as deep as Josh's dad is, beneath the ground

John Oliver taking Air Bud so seriously is EXACTLY the reason I love him so much. 🤣

Man, John just keeps nailing hit after hit in this piece. He's hit on more points than Buddy did all season. Let's not forget: four field goals.

I feel like this rant has been building in John’s mind for at least a decade and he just couldn’t keep it inside a minute longer.

Just a thought watching this (again) one or twelve years after it actually came out...still good...mostly good

They should have ended Air Bud with a classic deal-with-the-devil twist: Josh's lawyer discovers a loophole in the paperwork, freeing Bud from his owner on a technicality. But the lawyer can’t come out of nowhere, so he needs to also be Josh's divorced coach, & boom, Josh has a new dad at the end also.

I could listen to John talking about random stuff for hours.

John Oliver is the only person who could engage me when talking about a movie I have never seen and have absolutely no interest in whatsoever. 😂

This bit is going be analysed in university classrooms for decades to come. A masterwork.

As someone who never actually seen Air Bud, this movie sounds even more insane than I thought it was. 😂😂😂

this is one of John's best pieces. I'm not even saying this as a joke. this is one of his best. pieces.

Pretty sure this was Johns way of taking revenge against the air bud franchise because his kids made him watch every single movie.

I love you John! In a very straight man to straight man yet weirdly homoerotic way. Great work.

John saying "Deeeeeez Nuuuuutttsss" is so weirdly funny

That thought experiment did make me realise we view alcoholism as the victims fault instead of as a disease to be treated

"Because he wants to" That is EXACTLY why John Oliver is so good. he puts heart into it because he WANTS to do it. Sure its his job, but only a person who WANTS to do more can put in that heart.

"There's nothing in the rules that say a swarm of bees can't play basketball!"

I can't believe I just spent 15 minutes, listening to a grown man ramble on about a kids movie from twenty years ago! It was glorious.

As a parent, I deeply appreciate content like this. Over analyzing a movie you've watched 1000 times is very relatable

As someone who's been tuning in religiously for roughly three years and completely understands and values the concept of denouncing american society's imperfections to an audience of millions, this was still probably my favorite episode of the show.

Thank you for giving this topic the respect it deserves.

SPECTACULAR!!!! I am so impressed with John Oliver's ability to monologue for a straight 10 minutes without an um or a stutter or ANY kind of normal thought interruption that we ALL suffer from on a daily basis!!! KUDOS JOHN!!! You are SPECTACULAR!!!

As a full-time designer, hearing "i'm a material generator, who distributes content units designed to occupy your time between now and death." made me nearly choke on my quesadilla.

I’ve watched this show since the beginning and for me this is his best segment ever. Maybe it’s come off as absurd, but it’s a perfect segment from the beginning to end and the writing, pace, and delivery are EXCELLENT. He takes complaining to whole another level. The ending was a chef’s kiss

A few months ago, I was saying I would love a spin off of Last Week Tonight that just does film reviews, and so seeing this video appear feels like vindication.

This is, without a doubt, one of the very best bits John Oliver has EVER done!!!!

John Oliver just proved that he can talk about anything for hours and hours.

As one judge once said to a plaintiff: "This is a legal system, not a justice system"

The serious nature he takes the subject of Air Bud is hilarious 😂

Bless you John! Thank you for filling my time between now and death.

Being thrown in jail for getting your dog stolen is weirdly coherent with the recent pieces we've had on the US's prison system

My favourite part of this is the thought of this entire, Emmy-winning writing team sitting around to watch Air Bud, probably more than once, to prepare for this gem.

Nice to see Dan O'Brien was still writing OPCD after all those years...

I now declare John Oliver my “void filler.” Especially after thinking of Josh’s dad for 45 minutes. Also, I forget Bill Cobbs still exists, so thanks for that.

I can very much imagine John saying "Hey, I'm going to need everyone to come in for the weekend we're off, I have something important we need to record"

I'd love to see an episode of just John and his writing staff around a table coming up with this premise for a show. I think that would be equally as funny.

Quietly, some of the show's finest work. Loudly, the most important opinion piece ever put to video.