Inspired by the ongoing auction of Bob Ross paintings to raise funds for public television, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is auctioning off some of its own television artifacts for a good cause.
Host John Oliver dedicated the closing of Sunday’s season finale to local public television, which is facing an unprecedented crisis. Federal budget cuts could close as many as 115 public radio and television stations in the United States that serve 43 million Americans next year, according to the Public Media Bridge Fund, a philanthropic initiative.
“These stations can play a vital role in the community,” Oliver said during Sunday’s program.
Bob Ross Inc. said in October it was auctioning off 30 paintings by the late artist to pay public station licensing fees. The first three paintings sold last week in Los Angeles for more than $600,000 in total.
Oliver said Last week tonight He originally attempted to bid on one of Ross’s recently auctioned paintings in hopes of flipping it and raising even more money for public television.
“Unfortunately, those prices were out of our budget,” Oliver said. So instead, the program is leveraging its own files on the auction site johnoliversjunk.com.
Items like the giant Reese’s mug that made its first appearance during a 2017 episode about net neutrality are now up for auction along with Oliver’s “on-screen wife,” Mrs. Cabbage, and a quintet of shoddy presidential replicas originally purchased by the show at the now-shuttered Hall of Presidents and First Ladies in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. All proceeds from the auctions will go to the Public Media Bridge Fund.
Although Last week tonight didn’t have the budget to spend six figures on an original Bob Ross painting at last week’s auction, Bob Ross Inc. donated one to Oliver’s auction. “Cabin at Sunset” was created during a 1987 episode of Ross’s PBS show. The joy of paintingand is currently the first item to be displayed on Oliver’s auction site. The painting currently has a bid of over one million dollars.
The highest bid for a sculpture titled “LBJ’s Balls” is over $25,000. and the highest bid for a trip to New York City to meet Oliver is over $50,000 at the time of this writing. So far, the top bid to appear in a photo over Oliver’s shoulder during a future episode has just surpassed $100,000 after 45 bids.
The program also found some cheaper ways to raise money, such as signed merchandise from the Moon Mammoths, the minor league baseball team. Last week tonight temporarily renamed in July, and a Mr. Bean DVD signed by Joel McHale.
The auction closes on November 24. Oliver also promoted Adopt A Station, a nonprofit organization for people who want to help and donate to public media stations but cannot participate in their auction.
The Trump administration’s budget cuts spelled the end for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which said in August it was closing operations. The Public Media Bridge Fund says the end of CPB funding will destabilize the public media system. Their goal is to raise $100 million over two years to help communities most at risk.