Bill Maher - classic!

He's willing to change his mind and take criticism. He tries to play fair; shushes the audience when they are not being fair to a guest. He gets great guests, like the former PM of Canada.

I love Bill Maher! I used to think he was annoying, but I've come 'round.

hurray for those who don't fall neatly into one camp -- it shows they think for themselves.

the HELL?

OTM. I don't agree with Maher on a lot of things and he is often obnoxious as hell (I think it comes with the job description), but non-prepackaged sets of opinions are k-classic.

nobody loves no one

Get thee behind me, Satan.

Well, that's one way of looking at it.

Of course, I like John Maher; and also Fred Maher's drumming on Lloyd Cole's early solo work - magnificent.

I used to think that he was unbearable -- but get past his smirk and he has some intelligent things to say.

http://www.thezreview.co.uk/posters/posterimages/d/dccab.jpg

Since no one has really responded to Maria D's question, I'll go ahead and agree- it was exciting to see Michael Moore butt heads with protofascist David Dreier, and to Maher there representing Common Sense, backing up more, and shutting up Dreier.

Also exciting was proving how ridiculous Nader's stance is, though the former PM of Canada made the point stronger than the comedians (they are comedians, both Moore and Maher, remember).

hurray for those who don't fall neatly into one camp -- it shows they think for themselves.

-- Maria D. (maria...), July 31st, 2004 4:15 PM. (later)

Thinking for yourself = classic; Pro death penalty = unthinking acceptance of american cultural values (but that's my opinion)

huh? i thought the hipoisie CW on maher was that he was a crypto-fascist hack, ie his whole schtick is making a very average american political position sound angry and 'edgy' and somehow under attack.
-- g--ff (gffcnn...), July 31st, 2004 8:41 PM

If only the average american political position was an eagerness to legalize marijuana, and acknowledgement that the terrorists are 'courageous' if nothing else. Crypto-fascist? That's Brit Hume, not Bill Maher.

xpost Ann Coulter - I had a theory that he was sleeping with her- why else would he even listen to her babble?

thanks google

-- oops (don'temailmenicelad...), July 28th, 2004.

Maher is such a bad advert for smoking weed

Lmao

I could honestly watch this 500 times pic.twitter.com/Yxzn8d2Al8

— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) May 14, 2024

I like that Burr didn’t come on with a political agenda or even a specific criticism. He’s just like “You’re dumb and full of shit.”

Watched this whole thing and decided I don't really like Burr either, but Bill Maher is really the smuggest most insufferable prick.

over the past week or so, i watched or at least skipped across most of the episodes of politically incorrect that are preserved on the internet archive. i suppose i expected, despite having watched it at the time, to be surprised by its level of discourse, to get sad pleasure out of its contrast with the stupidity of the present, but it feels more contemporary in its way than most things of its time. the bookers leaned on entrepreneurial conservative commentators whose business models proved successful (some individuals disappeared, of course, like debbie schlussel). authors promoting books, fringe pundits, celebrity academics, usually a source of some depth on chat programs, are underrepresented. discussion is derailed by grandstanding, then a retreat behind jibes to stimulate the audience whooping. bill maher comes across as uninformed and cruel. the unexpected list of guests on a night—dmx and larry hagman, kellyanne conway and scott thompson, picabo street and david duke, naomi wolf and bob backlund...—was part of the appeal, but there's not much payoff. the show was bad. there's no need to say that. it's been off the air for more than two decades.

i watched so many episodes because i had a memory of the show that i would like to confirm is genuine. i will describe it here, as i remember it, in case you know what i mean, in case obsessive politically incorrect archivers are reading this: a woman seated to bill maher's right interrupts the show to talk about madame bovary. the woman says with painful earnestness how much we can learn from great literature. there is respectful silence as she speaks. bill maher offers polite agreement, dropping any cruelty. she was an east asian woman with short hair, i want to say, speaking in her second language, but she might also have been eastern european. this might be a false memory.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:ks3gpa6ftoyaq7hmf6c4qx4c/bafkreigoxzbmmxh3ewxmihyzwnavhvdhn6xllzs4s6puakmu6insbyq4di@jpeg

"We Saw You From Across the Bar and Really Dig Your Vibe..."

AOC was on the other day.

Bill Maher is really the smuggest most insufferable prick

co-sign to infinity, his only remote competition in the smug/insufferable sweepstakes is "billionaire entrepreneur" Vivek Ramaswamy

i swear he has ringers in the audience of his show. i KNOW he does. nobody laughs like some of the people in his crowd. its so phony. someone investigate that. he tells his new rules non-jokes and it sounds like people are going to have to go to the hospital they are laughing so loud!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dskdjJJ7bnQ

I watched an episode recently for the first time in many years and that struck me too, it felt like Morton Downey Jr vibes, just massive hooting and cheering at every tepid zinger

maybe he makes his writing staff go out there and do it and they all say "oh he wants fake laughter does he..."

he must have a small army of disgruntled writers. he just seems like a boss from hell. or maybe he pays them a ton and they love him what do i know?

Paul F Tompkins has worked for Maher in the past and while he's not said anything explicit, he's made it pretty clear he didn't consider him a great boss.

oh wait -- I confused Maher with Jon Stewart. I confused one smug doofus with another slightly less smug doofus.

was gonna say I'd be surprised if AOC gave Maher the time of day, Jon Stewart on the other hand I think is fine

i can't watch john stewart on his monday daily show thing. i think he must be deaf he just screams for 10 minutes. way way way over the top.

and just tired. the act. as tired as bill maher in a different way.

I've never seen one of these recorded, but a friend of mine saw Letterman in his heyday and he was shocked that even with a funny host and funny jokes and writing, there were still hype men in the crowd getting people to hoot and holler louder at every bit and punchline.

I was going n the audience for the first season of saved by the bell

I've always wondered that when it comes to shows like Seinfeld, a lot of times you're seeing the 3rd or 4th take, how are they still laughing like it's the first time they heard it?

Need to change that thread title.

well, he is a classic...asshole.

i can't believe my nearest and dearest started this thread. she'll never live it down. i blame ralph nader. AGAIN. that was the reason she started this thread. when he had ralph nader on his show and begged him not to run for president.

This should be one of those threads like the Morrissey one where it only gets bumped when the subject is dead

he was always a smarm king but now he's just a broken record on woke and the youngs...its so embarrassing. and he's like trump. he'll never back off of it. just become more embarrassing. he is instructive though. what not to do as i age.

still find it hard to get over the Steve-O story. if you don't know apparently he wanted him on as a guest and Steve-O accepted under one condition, that Maher wouldn't smoke weed during the interview. seems pretty obvious, given the substance abuse issues he's had in the past. should be easy to comply with, right? if you wanna be high just smoke beforehand or take an edible. but he just flat out refused, like nah if I can't smoke weed during the interview I won't do it. so the pompous asshole routine ain't just for TV

the world missed out on a really good story about someone hurting their balls. of that i am sure.

Does Maher regularly smoke weed on the show, or is this just more of his libertarian fuck-your-feelings shit?

He apparently smokes all the way through his podcast. Not the HBO show.

he basically spends an hour fumbling with a lighter and trying to put ice into a glass. its maddening to watch. like when dave chappelle ALMOST lights a cigarette or vapes on one of his netflix specials. makes me want to jump off a bridge.

Only bits I've seen of his podcast (on YouTube) are of Richard Dreyfuss having some sorta breakdown, and Bill telling Cameron Crowe why Billy Joel is his favourite artist (I can kinda respect the latter).

Most of what I know about Bill Maher's podcast comes from Tim Heidecker's parody of it.

I saw an episode with Daryl Hall a couple years ago just for the sake of Hall and he was smoking the entire time. Hall stuck with bourbon.

parents could show their kids that podcast and say "see, see what happens...". that oughta scare them.

or just show them steve-o's podcast.

i am watching a lot of comedian podcasts on youtube at work now cuz they are easy to watch/listen to while i do my discogs and i really wish they believed in editing more. i don't need to see david cross and his guest take off their coats and figure out what chair to sit in and get good subway route talk for 5 minutes. i love when guests on these say "wait, have we started...?" a half hour into the podcast. its like watching a band tune up.

Maher did a really creepy bit a few months ago where he interviewed a few little kids and made a bunch of sex jokes and asked them how many times they'd transitioned genders.

He also did a slimy drunken interview with the Hawk Tuah girl that sounded like how I imagine a lot of Harvey Weinstein's assaults began.

Don't think I've ever seen a person who has benefitted less from smoking weed than Maher. It just makes him even less funny, charming, and relaxed.

I went to a taping of Politically Incorrect near the end of it's run. We tried to get into the Price is Right and were turned away so it was either that or the Craig Kilborn show. A difficult choice of smugness, but we went with Maher, who I had enjoyed earlier in the PI run. Yes, the hype man did gin up the crowd a whole bunch to hoot and holler and overlaugh at everything and, in that spirit, when Bill said something about it sadly being one of the last shows, I yelled "WOOOO YEAH!!!" at the top of my lungs over an otherwise silent crowd. Bill seemed genuinely annoyed and squinted to try to see where I was and said "Well, I guess it's not a sad thing for everybody." David Crosby was on stage and grinned like a madman. This was over 20 years ago and he's gotten much worse since then so I remain proud that I hurt Bill Maher's feelings a little bit once.

thank you for your service

David Crosby was on stage and grinned like a madman.

lol

it turns out they don't really look that much alike but my mental image of Maher is forever Leisure Suit Larry

He’s got such dopey Uncle vibes

_David Crosby was on stage and grinned like a madman.

Bill Maher is the jester

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_nGQuVK0j4t8ZBUUAI.r8Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/thedailybeast.com/76649645985fb067664123c803339f8f

I've always wondered that when it comes to shows like Seinfeld, a lot of times you're seeing the 3rd or 4th take, how are they still laughing like it's the first time they heard it?

― frogbs, Monday, January 27, 2025 12:11 PM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

They have separate audience mikes and they just edit it together however they want. Even the "filmed in front of a live audience" laughter in shows like Seinfeld isn't real.

threads that badly need their titles changed lol

Bill Maher— Chronic or Drunk?

when I watched Tim Heideckers impression of him I thought it was funny but probably should've been more subtle then I watched some actual clips of Bill Maher and wow he really is like that