I'm English and my first exposure to John Oliver was the segment he did on Civil Forfeiture which I found both interesting and entertaining. What struck me was how more like a British satire the show was. Do others think it matters that John is British and thus gets a little extra leeway (we do like our swearing) and can play the outsider role somewhat?
John was also a panellist on literally the first Mock the Week and few others during its 1st/2nd seasons and available on YouTube. Although I think he was still finding his style back then.
Slightly OT, if you like John Oliver, you may enjoy The Bugle, a podcast which features Oliver and his friend Andy Zaltzmann discussing world news, often focusing on America and the UK.
