(UPDATE on 2.18. episode below)
I'm eagerly waiting for Bill Maher's Real Time to flicker onto the screen. I like anyone who allows me to think and be entertained. He's an apparent master at marketing as well. He has an op-ed published in the LA Times today - on the same day that his 2005 series starts: Kids Say the Darndest, Most Stalinist Things
I've followed him since his days on Comedy Central with the first incarnation of Politically Incorrect. I always remember being frustrated that the show was only 30 minutes. Today, at 55 minutes long, I have the same frustration.
God knows no one can agree with him all the time - but no one has to. He's smart which makes his humor funnier. And the half-circle discussion when it works best is not a shouting match. It's words that make you think. That's one up on 90 percent of telvision. This is true except when some lightweight celebrity is trounced by their own stupidity or Ann Coulter is on. She's crazy looking and last time she was on she looked like a crack whore. Coulter exists only for shock value and to engorge herself on publicity (which apparently has minus calories).
And the strange thing is Maher and Coulter are friends. Maher and Arianna Huffington are also friends. That's a lot of intestinal fortitude right there.
A lot of Republicans don't like him now because President Bush is in power and he's the subject of attack. But it was the same when Clinton was in power (though Maher thought the BJ investigation was beneath contempt). That's what political and culturally relevant comedians do - they make fun of people in the news while enaging in commentary. Both sides are the victims. You shouldn't need to agree with him to find him funny and if you wait a minute you'll find you do.
Some people are naturally funny. Ron White (Blue Collar tour), Cedric the Entertainer. Fill in your own blank here.
Real Time is funnier than a legless Ethiopian watching a doughnut roll down a hill. Much much funnier. Well, LTCG has his moments, too - whose joke that was before it was someone else's.
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Article comments
1 - Aaman
Noooo - I missed it - never mind - it's on HBO West - and then on Demand - TYTY for the reminder
2 - HW Saxton
I'm glad Maher is back.I was non-plussed
when ABC cancelled (unfairly IMO) "P.I"
a few years ago.I agree that 30 minutes
was waaaaay too short for that show.
Thanks for the heads up.
PS: Ethiopian jokes are so 1990's.
3 - mike g
Bill Maher is defiantly one of my faves. The best thing about Real Time is that it ain't a network show.
Good article.
4 - Dave Nalle
Bill Maher is a pompous idiot and should be legally prohibited from calling his socialist ass 'libertarian'.
Dave
5 - Temple Stark
See Dave has trouble being prodded on that thinking thing.
I kid Dave. I kid ...
6 - Temple Stark
Arizona time. Grrrrrrrrr. I think it'll be on at midnight my time, not now. Aaaaah.
7 - aacool
Robin Williams was phenomenal. Much insightful conversation.
And really, why the freak is no one demanding a full explanation of the security breakdown in Jeff Gannon's case? This guy was close enough to kiss Karl Rove!
8 - Dave Nalle
TS - if I want intelligent and humorous political commentary I can watch John Stewart or Dennis Miller both of whom make Maher look like a congenital idiot masturbating infront of a full-length mirror - well, that's what he makes himself look like - but their excellence accentuate his shortcomings.
Dave
9 - Nick Jones
"Bill Maher is a pompous idiot and should be legally prohibited from calling his socialist ass 'libertarian'."
You mean you didn't know that there is "Left Libertarian" as well as "Right Libertarian"? Tsk tsk.
10 - Silas Kain
I'm with Temple Stark! It was a breath of fresh air to see Bill Maher return.
Of course, I had more questions I would have liked to ask, especially regarding the Jeff Gannon situation.
11 - Warmwarrior
Robin Williams ruined Bill Maher's show. Williams simply would not or could not permit anyone with any real inside knowledge, influence or power (Biden, Thompson) to engage in anything but peripheral commentary. I am now convinced that Williams was either on something or just plain sick (and truly in need of help). What a selfish pig.
12 - Dave Nalle
Not sure how you can 'ruin' Bill Maher's show, though you could improve it by jumping on Maher and muzzling him so he couldn't talk.
Dave
13 - Temple Stark
Post updated includes show summary. Thank you.
14 - sydney
Dave Nalle says: "Bill Maher is a pompous idiot and should be legally prohibited from calling his socialist ass 'libertarian'."
-- Why do republicans use "socialist" as if it were an insult?
Your so obviously stuck on your american version the capatilist free-enterprise schtick that you have lost what ever good-sense you might have otherwise had.
15 - Aaman
Van Gogh's Starry Nights - "The Night before I stopped drinking"
16 - Temple Stark
hahahhha that's right. I'll update. Thanks Aaman. :)
17 - Dr. Gonzo
Where are the "Real Time" torrents?
18 - Aaman
You can catch repeats of Real Time on HBO through the week, and on HBO on Demand anytime.
19 - Dave Nalle
>>Dave Nalle says: "Bill Maher is a pompous idiot and should be legally prohibited from calling his socialist ass 'libertarian'."
-- Why do republicans use "socialist" as if it were an insult? <<
Not sure I used it as an insult there. I think I used it correctly and descriptively. He calls himself a Libertarian, but he's a Socialist. That's not an insult unless you think being a Socialist is a bad thing.
>>Your so obviously stuck on your american version the capatilist free-enterprise schtick that you have lost what ever good-sense you might have otherwise had. <<
Seems to me like capitalism is the essence of good sense. Certainly hard to dispute when you compare the negative GDP growth of socialized countries like Germany and France with the robust positive GDP growth of more capitalistic countries like the US or even the UK.
Dave
20 - Aaman
Dave, valid points about owning up to political preferences - not a perfect example, though: China's GDP growth was quite high, and they're quite Marxist last I checked.
Also, I would consider the current form of social contract in the United States quite socialist, perhaps not as much as Europe, though.
Be that as it may, Bill Maher is a blowhard, and has a mostly uneven show, but it still is frank and open, unlike, say, O'Reilly. No match for Jon Stewart, though
21 - Dave Nalle
>>Dave, valid points about owning up to political preferences - not a perfect example, though: China's GDP growth was quite high, and they're quite Marxist last I checked.<<
China is Marxist only in the most nominal sense. The Red Army is basically a megacorporation, and their recent economic growth is being driven by an influx of capitalistic ideas from Hong Kong.
>>Also, I would consider the current form of social contract in the United States quite socialist, perhaps not as much as Europe, though.<<
A sobering thought, but we do have the fall-back of the Constitution, which ought to drag us back on track if we deviate too far from what the founding fathers had in mind.
>>Be that as it may, Bill Maher is a blowhard, and has a mostly uneven show, but it still is frank and open, unlike, say, O'Reilly. No match for Jon Stewart, though<<
I'd say Maher and O'Reilly are about comparable, but Maher gets more amusing guests. They both think they're funny but are actually painfully not funny.
Dave
22 - Scott
Well, O'Reilly is NEVER funny. Maher has his moments of funniness.
No one can hold a candle to Jon Stewart though.
23 - Temple Stark
>>Well, O'Reilly is NEVER funny.
That was so obvious I didn't think it was worth mentioning. But I'm glad you did. It won't make a blind bit of differnce to people who like to repeat themselves until they're blue in the face ad nauseum. Originality is tough. Being wrong is tougher and hard to swallow so often
24 - Dave Nalle
Yes, but the point is that O'Reilly THINKS he is funny - he's one of those guys who laughs at his own jokes even when no one else realizes they are supposed to be jokes at all.
Dave
25 - Scott
"he's one of those guys who laughs at his own jokes even when no one else realizes they are supposed to be jokes at all."
Yeah. People like that annoy me.