John Oliver has a lot of bones to choose from in “Air Bad”

There may not be a rule that dogs can’t play basketball, but John Oliver still doesn’t like the idea.

In the web-only “Last Week Tonight” segment, the host descends through a strange, wild rabbit hole that is the 1997 family’s classic “Air Bud.”

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Oliver spends 15 minutes meticulously breaking down all the issues in the film depiction of a dog playing basketball and the court proceedings at the heart of the film.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to ruin the 1997” Air Bud “,” he said at the beginning. “If I wanted to do that, the dog that played him must now be definitely dead or it would have been nice to create the content before 9/11,” he says.

The host also jokes. “I know what you are thinking. You are thinking: He has to pay an additional fee to make these web monopolies. I don’t … I’m not talking about “Air Bud” because I have to. I’m doing it because I want to do it. “

Judging from the movie footage, as he explains, Buddy can certainly win some baskets, but as a basketball player there are many other drawbacks. For example, not being able to dribble means he is not a cracked star player. To do.

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But more important to Oliver is the fact that in the movie, Buddy does not even belong to the main character, Josh, but rather to the mean clown.

At the climax of the movie, the boy and the clown appear in court, and the judge decides, “Let the dog decide!”

As Oliver points out, this is an example of a serious judicial overkill and an ethically questionable proposal.

“Is Buddy worthy of a better home only if he is good at basketball?” Oliver says. “And if the answer is yes, what does it say about us as a society?”

The original “Air Bud” produced a series of sequels and spin-offs, including “Super Buddies” featuring the voice of a young Zendaya.