STARTING FIVE

1. Jaunty John

Former “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver’s weekly HBO series, “Last Week Tonight”, has been on air a little more than a month now, but what with all the (well-deserved) show recaps and tweets devoted to “Game of Thrones” and “Mad Men” and “Silicon Valley”…and “Veep”, well, it has gotten a little lost.

With “Mad Men” and “Silicon Valley” having concluded their seasons, here’s hoping Oliver’s show starts garnering more buzz. Here’s two major segments from the past two Sundays: a segment on the Net Neutrality issue and another from last night on FIFA, which he likened in every manner possible to organized religion.

Oliver’s show and Stewart’s are at their best, and are more effective than anything you’ll see on “60 Minutes” or any news program (with the possible exception of PBS’ “Frontline”) when they are simultaneously making you laugh and making you irate. In the past fortnight Oliver has done both beautifully.

2. Black Belt Beauty

That’s newly crowned Miss USA Nia Sanchez of Nevada, who mentioned once or a dozen times during the Miss USA Pageant, a.k.a. “The Real Hunger Games”, that she happens to be a fourth-degree black belt in taekwondo. MH’s crack staff of touts had homestage honey Miss Louisiana, Brittany Guidry, taking the title in pre-show wagering, but she finished fourth.

Former Miss Teen Ohio and current CBS sideline reporter Allie LaForce was one of the judges and looked as if she could easily have cracked the top ten, although it was a brunette-heavy field this year.

 

3. Glorious Bastard

One week after the Mountain uses Prince Oberyn’s head as a bowling ball (and then, a pumpkin), “Game of Thrones” leaves King’s Landing and all Lannisters behind to devote an entire episode to the Battle of Castle Black. This was Kit Harrington’s star turn as Jon Snow, and he was outstanding: heroic, brooding, even funny. I loved that look on his face after killing Fine Young Cannibal in a battle that would make even Randy Couture wince –if he weren’t off judging Miss USA pageants– only to see his cave-love bunny standing there with an arrow aimed at his heart. Cue this tune.

Give Ygritte (Rose Leslie) credit for reprising her famous line (“You know nothing, Jon Snow”) as her last words without it sounding overly cheesy.

My line? “Ygrittes, I’ve had a few…”

Somewhere in Hollywood there must be a saloon for all the killed-off actors from “The Walking Dead” and “Game of Thrones” (and “Mad Men” partners) where they can commiserate.

Andy Greenwald’s recap, which is always a magnificent thing. Two sharp takeaway points: 1) TV even does blockbuster movie scenes better than movies do now and, 2) Ygritte and Oberyn made the same fatal error: when you have the kill shot, do not hesitate.

4. Oh, Meyer

There’s never been a more fitting line uttered on “Veep” than when Amy (Anna Chlumsky), watching her boss interact with a factory worker for a photo op, tells a fellow staffer, “She’s so good at making people feel as if she’s so good with people.”

The season finale saw Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as TV’s least-huggable female since Elaine Benes) ascend to the presidency — it’s not made perfectly clear as to why but we do know that FLOTUS had a breakdown– while finishing third in the New Hampshire primary.

“Veep” is such a great show, but it’s also depressing because we see that politics isn’t about public service: it’s about remaining in politics. We see that every damn week.

5. The Miami Cheat?

So, LeBron and the Heal are all, as ESPN’s Mark Schwarz enthusiastically put it, “hydrated, motivated and rejuvenated!” That’s great, but here I take issue with a problem that I wish more of the game’s more visible stewards (e.g., Jeff Van Gundy or Kenny the Jet or Doug Collins) spoke up about: traveling. And I didn’t even mention this.

Remote Patrol

Rangers-Kings: Game 3

NBC Sports Network 8 p.m.

The Peacock kicks the Stanley Cup finals onto regular cable as the blue shirts attempt to avoid being man-holed by the Kings. Each of the first two games have gone into overtime, and each has been won by L.A.