Political Satire

What is it?

Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly forbidden.

In the US

Satire became more visible on American television during the 1960s. Some of the early shows that used political satire include the British and American versions of the program That Was the Week That Was , CBS's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and NBC's Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. During the months leading up to the 1968 presidential election, Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh-In and repeated the program's catch-phrase "Sock it to me." Other forms of satire of the 1960s and early 1970s typically used the sitcom format, such as the show All in the Family.

The Top 3 Political satire TV Shows

Patriot Act




Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is an American comedy web television talk show hosted by Hasan Minhaj that premiered on October 28, 2018, on Netflix. The show aims to "explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity." In an attempt to separate his show from similar political satire shows, Minhaj said he wanted to create a show that is "timely and timeless.



Last Week Tonight




Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by comedian John Oliver. The half-hour-long show premiered on Sunday, April 27, 2014, on HBO. Last Week Tonight shares some similarities with Comedy Central's The Daily Show (where Oliver was previously featured as a correspondent and fill-in host), as it takes a satirical look at news, politics and current events, but on a weekly basis.



The Daily Show




The Daily Showis an American late-night talk and news satire television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. Describing itself as a fake news program, The Daily Show draws its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures, media organizations, and often uses self-referential humor as well. The half-hour-long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was first hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 17, 1998. Jon Stewart then took over as the host from January 11, 1999, until August 6, 2015, making the show more strongly focused on political satire and news satire, in contrast with the pop culture focus during Kilborn's tenure. Stewart was succeeded by Trevor Noah, whose tenure premiered on September 28, 2015.