--- title: John Oliver on What Cicadas Missed in 17 Years description: They've cicadas missed a lot since 1999 canonical: https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-02T14:41:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:32:01.651Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: John Oliver Updates the Cicadas on Everything They Missed Over the Last 17 Years og:description: They've cicadas missed a lot since 1999 og:url: https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7007d07c3281a1e6/69889167f887dc9b3ae95aed/gettyimages-463102074.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: ABC's "Good Morning America" - 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Oliver Updates the Cicadas on Everything They Missed Over the Last 17 Years twitter:description: They've cicadas missed a lot since 1999 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7007d07c3281a1e6/69889167f887dc9b3ae95aed/gettyimages-463102074.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Oliver Updates the Cicadas on Everything They Missed Over the Last 17 Years by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 2, 2016 2:41 PM UTC  John Oliver is a guest on "Good Morning America" on ABC, Feb. 6, 2015. John Oliver is a guest on "Good Morning America" on ABC, Feb. 6, 2015.Fred Lee—ABC/Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 2, 2016 2:41 PM UTC There was no new episode of [_Last Week Tonight_](http://time.com/4306071/hamilton-lin-manuel-miranda-last-week-tonight/) this week, but [John Oliver](http://time.com/4297195/john-oliver-sesame-street-lead-flint-last-week-tonight/) helped his fans mind the gap in coverage with a web exclusive dedicated to a very specific subset of fans—cicadas. Cicadas are getting ready to return in droves this summer after their protracted gestation period and Oliver did his best to update the bugs on everything that happened while they were underground for the last 17 years. For instance, the Red Sox won the World Series making their fans “somehow more insufferable,” that [curly-haired kid](http://time.com/4310271/its-gonna-be-may-justin-timberlake-nsync-meme/) from NSYNC is now one of the biggest entertainers in the world, and a certain member of Destiny’s Child is “essentially our queen.” And cicadas, don’t expect to eat carbohydrates or see _Cosby Show_ reruns. As for what the world will look like the next time the cicadas make their presence known, Oliver isn’t quite sure. “Depending on how things go in November, this planet might not be around in another 17 years,” he said, showing a picture of Donald Trump campaigning for president. “And I do not have time to explain that to you.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/"},"headline":"John Oliver Updates the Cicadas on Everything They Missed Over the Last 17 Years","datePublished":"2016-05-02T14:41:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:32:01.651Z","description":"They've cicadas missed a lot since 1999","url":"https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","John Oliver","Last Week Tonight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7007d07c3281a1e6/69889167f887dc9b3ae95aed/gettyimages-463102074.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7007d07c3281a1e6/69889167f887dc9b3ae95aed/gettyimages-463102074.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ABC's \"Good Morning America\" - 2015","caption":"John Oliver is a guest on \"Good Morning America\" on ABC, Feb. 6, 2015.","creditText":"Fred Lee—ABC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4314005/john-oliver-cicadas/","name":"John Oliver Updates the Cicadas on Everything They Missed Over the Last 17 Years"}}]}] ```