John Oliver Trolls Millennial Viewers of ‘Last Week Tonight’ with Chuck E. Cheese Special Since They Will “Never Be Able to Own A House”

John Oliver trolled millennial viewers of Last Week Tonight, telling them that they’ll “never be able to own a house.” While Sunday’s (April 9) episode focused on the Homeowners Association, the television host filmed a special episode about Chuck E. Cheese for those under the age of 35.

Oliver explained, “If you’re watching this, it’s because you are under 35 and our main story this week is about Homeowners Association, so we thought we’d make a special substitute story just for you because you will never be able to own a house, never, absolutely never. It will not happen.”

The host added, “In lieu of you having a home, that is also an investment — which, again, won’t happen for you — we’ve made this segment that taps into something which you and your age cohorts may have deep, deep nostalgia and it concerns this…” 

The monologue led to a compilation video of the popular arcade and pizza restaurant. Once the cameras returned to Oliver, he explained that the video was dedicated to the weird history of the iconic chain, which he says “was made popular by its animatronic band.”

In the original broadcast, Oliver also took shots at younger viewers, directing them seamlessly to the Chuck E. Cheese video, which was titled Last Squeak Tonight and can currently be viewed on a separate website.

“Our main story tonight concerns home ownership, so if you are under 35, honestly, this story isn’t for you,” he said. 

Echoing the sentiment from the other video, Oliver continued, “It’ll never be for you. You will never own a home. Sorry, that is the deal that you made when you decided to be born after 1988.”

The host said, “We didn’t want you to feel left out so we’ve actually prepared a full alternative story for you tonight about Chuck E. Cheese – a different crumbling American institution – that you should go on and watch instead.”

In the episode, Oliver explained the purpose of Homeowners Associations (also known as HOAs) and “the surprising powers they have to wreak havoc on people’s lives.” In one example, the host explained that the board of directors are often tasked with architecture and landscaping regulations to achieve “aesthetic uniformity.”

Oliver cited an example of a homeowner being asked to remove shutters by her local association because they were an unapproved color. She was fined for the shutters, so she removed them. However, she was then fined for not having shutters. The host joked, “No matter what you do, you lose. It’s sort of like going on The Voice.”

He continued with the smart jab: “Sure, there are technically winners but name a single one. This show has been on for consecutive 15 years and not a single winner is a household name. Seriously, tell me the first and last name of just one winner — you can’t, no one can.”

The host went on to call Blake Shelton a “honky-tonk Frankenstein.”

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver airs Sundays at 11/10c on HBO.