Any Bill Maher fans out there?

Hey all,

Just checking out who on Bluelight watches / enjoys Real Time with Bill Maher. The US election cycle has begun and The GOP candidates are absolutely hilarious. Bill is 100% in his element during the elections cycle and even being a Canadian, it's a must watch. (We are going to vote in November, but our candidates are sickeningly boring compared to the USA)

Shain.

I'm moving this thread from NASADD to the TV/movies forum.

I'm not a fan of him. He's snotty, not that funny for a comedian, and a wannabe intellectual/philosopher/political commentator.

I used to enjoy Real Time with Bill Maher quite a bit. The show can have some funny segments, and quite often they have some interesting and intelligent guests on there. I still watch the show most weeks, I like to keep semi up to date with mainstream American politics and it isn't the least informative show to that end, although it is basically as partisan as Fox News.

Despite the fact I haven't quit on the show (yet), I have to say I have found myself enjoying it less and less. For the last year or so in particular, I feel like they just discuss the same fucking issues over and over and it gets quite stale. Aside from that, I find Bill Maher to be an increasingly off-putting and dis likable figure. It seems like he frequently selects guests who agree with him on controversial issues to come on the show so he can tell them how courageous and insightful they are for agreeing with him. In particular I have Sam Harris and Islamaphobia in mind, but a few weeks ago he had some woman on there who was talking about how colleges are now way too politically correct and they are imposing ultra left wing views on students, which is something Bill has harped on about in the recent past.

I think he can still be a very funny comedian at times, and I think there is the odd episode that can be quite entertaining and/or informative, but I think it is a little bit over the hill. I am still watching for now, but I don't know for how much longer.

If you have left leaning sympathies and you want to watch a funny but relevant political/news show I recommend Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

I don't want this to come off as me having a go at you, but I'm going to use your post as a reference because I feel it reflects the overwhelming criticism of Maher from the left. And I disagree with it completely.

drug_mentor said:

I used to enjoy Real Time with Bill Maher quite a bit. The show can have some funny segments, and quite often they have some interesting and intelligent guests on there. I still watch the show most weeks, I like to keep semi up to date with mainstream American politics and it isn't the least informative show to that end, although it is basically as partisan as Fox News.

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I have no idea how well you know the media landscape in this country, but I can promise you that Maher's views are no where close to as partisan as those expressed by Fox News. He is often as critical of the Democratic Party as the Republican Party, if not more so. Now, to be clear, Maher is absolutely a leftist...but that is not the same as being a devoted Democrat. Seriously, he rips the Democrats in Congress on a weekly basis.

drug_mentor said:

Despite the fact I haven't quit on the show (yet), I have to say I have found myself enjoying it less and less. For the last year or so in particular, I feel like they just discuss the same fucking issues over and over and it gets quite stale. Aside from that, I find Bill Maher to be an increasingly off-putting and dis likable figure. It seems like he frequently selects guests who agree with him on controversial issues to come on the show so he can tell them how courageous and insightful they are for agreeing with him. In particular I have Sam Harris and Islamaphobia in mind, but a few weeks ago he had some woman on there who was talking about how colleges are now way too politically correct and they are imposing ultra left wing views on students, which is something Bill has harped on about in the recent past.

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Maher would admit he focuses on some issues way more than others, but I think he would argue he does it because the rest of the mainstream media completely ignores them. Yes, there is the occasional mention of climate change on the other networks, but never with the honesty or urgency it deserves. His other pet is clearly religion, but again, nobody with the same platform as Maher will even touch that subject. The reason they won't is partly due to people like you who equate an attack on the ideology of Islam as an attack on every Muslim. You cannot logically justify labeling Maher or Harris as an "Islamaphobe" based on anything they said during the Ben Affleck episode. I welcome you to try. I also am curious to know why you think the majority of college campuses in the United States aren't excessively PC. Every indication is that they are. Or is there a conspiracy among American comedians to defame their own potential sources of revenue?

drug_mentor said:

If you have left leaning sympathies and you want to watch a funny but relevant political/news show I recommend Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

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I guess it won't surprise you that I find his show pretty boring most of the time. He's trying to be Jon Stewart. And failing miserably.

mal3volent said:

I don't want this to come off as me having a go at you, but I'm going to use your post as a reference because I feel it reflects the overwhelming criticism of Maher from the left. And I disagree with it completely.

I have no idea how well you know the media landscape in this country, but I can promise you that Maher's views are no where close to as partisan as those expressed by Fox News. He is often as critical of the Democratic Party as the Republican Party, if not more so. Now, to be clear, Maher is absolutely a leftist...but that is not the same as being a devoted Democrat. Seriously, he rips the Democrats in Congress on a weekly basis.

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Look, I know Bill Maher is not as bad as Fox News, when I said "basically as partisan" I meant it as a concession that I know I am getting my information from one side and not the other. I acknowledge he is critical of the Democrats at times, but I find when he is they tend to be small jabs and not in the same spirit he goes after the Republican party. At the end of the day, it is a very partisan program which is designed to promote left wing political views, regardless of the fact he is sometimes critical of the Democrats.

mal3volent said:

Maher would admit he focuses on some issues way more than others, but I think he would argue he does it because the rest of the mainstream media completely ignores them. Yes, there is the occasional mention of climate change on the other networks, but never with the honesty or urgency it deserves. His other pet is clearly religion, but again, nobody with the same platform as Maher will even touch that subject. The reason they won't is partly due to people like you who equate an attack on the ideology of Islam as an attack on every Muslim. You cannot logically justify labeling Maher or Harris as an "Islamaphobe" based on anything they said during the Ben Affleck episode. I welcome you to try. I also am curious to know why you think the majority of college campuses in the United States aren't excessively PC. Every indication is that they are. Or is there a conspiracy among American comedians to defame their own potential sources of revenue?

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My problem isn't so much the focus on climate change, it is more to do with Islam and religion in general. There are a few other periodic issues which I have felt got discussed over a period of weeks and nothing new was said after the first week. I admit I am drawing a bit of a mental blank right this second, because it is a little while since I felt this was happening.

If you don't want to come across like you are having a go at me, a good start would be to not put words in my mouth. I never equated an attack on the ideology of Islam as an attack on all Muslims. As I mentioned, I watch this show most weeks, until recently I watched it every single week (for years), so don't think when I call Bill Maher an Islamaphobe it is based on the one episode that got media attention. The reason I mentioned the episode with Sam Harris is because at the time he had been consistently taking shots at Islam for weeks, when he brought Sam Harris on it just felt like an attempt to legitimize his own views by saying "look, here is an educated and respected academic who agrees with me!"

He has made it his mission to single out Islam as the "bad religion", he makes some valid points about it, but he also goes too far. He is one of those people who likes to say the Muslim community isn't doing enough to denounce terrorism whilst ignoring the many efforts by the Muslim community to do just that.

There is a LOT of anti-Muslim sentiment out there, I just don't see why he is making this his mission. He has a solid platform to do a lot of good and I find it off putting that he is using it to play in to the hands of bigots and xenophobes. He is clearly afraid of Islam, he seems to think it is the main force driving evil in the world, he doesn't seem to want to place much consideration on geo-politics, the shia/sunni divide (which is as political as it is religious) or a whole host of other factors which drive conflict and extreme ideology in the Middle East.

In regards to US College campuses, I have no idea what they are like. My intention was not to comment on the accuracy of the claim, I just found the way he treated that guest to be extremely telling, and again, off-putting. He was really gleefully telling her how she was courageous and it is about time someone came out saying these things, the fact these are things he has already said himself makes this display come across quite self-congratulatory and smug (to me).

Aside from these things, he is really dogmatic and simplistic with his views. More than once when he has been challenged that some of the greatest atrocities were done secularly (Stalin, Mao Zedong, etc.) he has responded with the asinine line that "Communism was the state religion". He has difficulty conceding when there is counter evidence to his position, and he tends to use very sloppy reasoning to dodge it.

mal3volent said:

I guess it won't surprise you that I find his show pretty boring most of the time. He's trying to be Jon Stewart. And failing miserably.

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I really enjoy the program and I see it as different (but similar) to The Daily Show. I found the first season was solid from a comedic and informative perspective. There was a period not long after the start of the second season where I was getting sick of the show, the jokes just weren't landing and the stories seemed a little less engaging. I feel the show has since recovered.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

drug_mentor said:

Look, I know Bill Maher is not as bad as Fox News, when I said "basically as partisan" I meant it as a concession that I know I am getting my information from one side and not the other. I acknowledge he is critical of the Democrats at times, but I find when he is they tend to be small jabs and not in the same spirit he goes after the Republican party. At the end of the day, it is a very partisan program which is designed to promote left wing political views, regardless of the fact he is sometimes critical of the Democrats.

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Yeah, I know what you're saying. I think he is so critical of Democrats because they simply don't have the balls to stand up to the Republicans or call them out on their shit. Democrats simply aren't as passionate or effective as Republicans, and its a shame, because in our fucked up two party system they are the only choice we have.

drug_mentor said:

If you don't want to come across like you are having a go at me, a good start would be to not put words in my mouth. I never equated an attack on the ideology of Islam as an attack on all Muslims. As I mentioned, I watch this show most weeks, until recently I watched it every single week (for years), so don't think when I call Bill Maher an Islamaphobe it is based on the one episode that got media attention. The reason I mentioned the episode with Sam Harris is because at the time he had been consistently taking shots at Islam for weeks, when he brought Sam Harris on it just felt like an attempt to legitimize his own views by saying "look, here is an educated and respected academic who agrees with me!"

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Sorry, I didn't intend to imply you based your opinion on only that episode. That being said, I still don't think you can justify labeling Maher or especially Harris as an Islamaphobe. It is true there are millions and millions of moderate Muslims in the world. They do not dispute that fact. But it is also true that liberals in the US are more than willing to criticize Christian theocracy but are deathly afraid to do the same for Islamic theocracy.

I think their main point is illustrated pretty concisely here:
4:10-5:34
https://youtu.be/vln9D81eO60?t=4m10s

drug_mentor said:

He has made it his mission to single out Islam as the "bad religion", he makes some valid points about it, but he also goes too far. He is one of those people who likes to say the Muslim community isn't doing enough to denounce terrorism whilst ignoring the many efforts by the Muslim community to do just that.

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To be fair, he thinks all religion is bad. But he does assert that at this moment Islam is overwhelmingly more destructive to the world than any other religion. 800 years ago it was Christianity. Even though what I just said is a simple fact, you couldn't say it among the democratic establishment or even supposed "progressives" (Ben Affleck, Cenk Uygur, pretty much anyone on MSNBC...) without being labeled a bigot.

drug_mentor said:

There is a LOT of anti-Muslim sentiment out there, I just don't see why he is making this his mission. He has a solid platform to do a lot of good and I find it off putting that he is using it to play in to the hands of bigots and xenophobes. He is clearly afraid of Islam, he seems to think it is the main force driving evil in the world, he doesn't seem to want to place much consideration on geo-politics, the shia/sunni divide (which is as political as it is religious) or a whole host of other factors which drive conflict and extreme ideology in the Middle East.

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I'm sure we would eventually come to much more nuanced points if we could first get past the starting line. Most people are not even willing to accept the premise that a problem exists, much less debate how much of the problem should be attributed to ideology vs politics.

drug_mentor said:

He was really gleefully telling her how she was courageous and it is about time someone came out saying these things, the fact these are things he has already said himself makes this display come across quite self-congratulatory and smug (to me).

He has difficulty conceding when there is counter evidence to his position, and he tends to use very sloppy reasoning to dodge it.

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I won't argue with you there.

drug_mentor said:

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

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Yep.

Maher is an idiot. He often embarrasses himself, from what I've seen.
He talks over his guests, when he doesn't like what they have to say.
I don't see how he's much different from Bill O'Reilly.

Like most celebrity atheists, he repeats the same anti-religious "jokes" endlessly.
I don't know how many times I've seen him say exactly the same shit.
(Real Time used to play in the background at work.)

Fox News is bad. Religion is bad.
Fox News is bad. Religion is bad.
Fox News is bad. Religion is bad.

Ugh.

He has this smug look on his face, like he's saying something clever/profound.
But, really, he's just selling popular opinions.

The crowd always applauds when he shits on Fox News.
They gobble up what he has to say, because he says what they want to hear.
It's like shooting dead fish in a barrel... Just like Fox pandering to conservative expectations.

He's snotty, not that funny for a comedian, and a wannabe intellectual/philosopher/political commentator.

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Agreed, on all points.
I'd rather watch O'Reilly, honestly.
At least O'Reilly is (accidentally) funny.

ForEverAfter said:

Maher is an idiot.

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pretty much.

Although I do enjoy his show from time to time, and found Religulous pretty funny. But he's very much in the same annoying, self affirmative exercise of vanity as Richard Dawkins.

Maher is a pretty lousy stand up in my opinion but I do enjoy the show. Yes he has the same guests debating the same topics frequently and without a doubt is as vain as it gets, but compared to most of the drivel on TV, Real Time isnt so bad.

Regarding political correctness..

Bill Maher is one of the few t.v personalities left who can get away with speaking his mind. Jerry Seinfeld complained he cannot do stand-up to college crowds anymore because they basically can't take a joke. Jerry Seinfeld isn't exactly known for his profane stand-up routine.

I think the issue with college professors is the same. (In General) The professors are not pushing super leftist views onto students, they are afraid to say anything that might offend their delicate sensibilities.

^But he's not saying anything of value.
He's just separating the divide even further.
What's the point of "pushing" extreme left or extreme right views?

You're saying Maher has the courage to say what he thinks, despite the reaction.
And, that's true. (But so does O'Reilly and countless others... what's the difference?)
I don't think anyone is saying that he shouldn't be able to express himself openly.
But, I guess my problem is, what's the point of exercising freedoms just for the sake of it?

As for the delicate sensibilities of the right, who is more delicate (really)?

Bill O'Reilly describes himself as Stephen Colbert.
Colbert, in good humor, says "yeah, Bill. But you're louder."
At least to some extent, he's aware of the hypocrisy.

To say that Maher knows how to take a joke and O'Reilly doesn't isn't fair.
If BM (pun intended) hears something he doesn't like, he cuts his panelists off.
The only difference, that I can see, is: BM is a comedian and BO (again, pun intended) isn't.
He passes his criticisms of Fox and co off as humor, but - half the time - he doesn't bother to construct a joke.
He just says, "Fox news is run by a bunch of assholes," (or some derivation thereof) with a silly expression.

Maher has been on the air so long, that - of course - you can provide video links of RT moments that "work".
But - like Fox News - most of the running time doesn't work.
His monologues (and the delivery of his monologues) are awful.
His interview skills are awful.

He often blatantly corners himself by more intelligent/informed panel members and then (in order to avoid being exposed as the fraud he is) erupts into some cyclical rant about how the right are idiots and religion is absurd. There's this tone of self-righteousness in his voice, that I find baffling.

Most arrogant people have something going for them (something to be arrogant about).
Maher is a clown, who - for some reason - thinks he's an intellectual.
He's got the emotional maturity of a twelve year old.
I, honestly, prefer O'Reilly (I think).

...

And maybe Seinfeld should change his routine a bit, if people aren't laughing.
He's been doing the same jokes for decades. He talks about it, openly.

Maybe people (who don't pay to see him) aren't laughing at his jokes because his material is stale.
Coffee in Cars with Comedians is the only evidence required to confirm that Seinfeld is a hack.
Larry David is to John Lennon as Jerry Seinfeld is to Paul McCartney.

Lots of writers and comedians "get away with speaking their minds".
And, a lot of them (unlike Maher/Seinfeld) actually have something interesting/original to say.

(End Rant.)

My post was solely regarding political correctness --->

Sigmond said:

Regarding political correctness..

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Hmmm....Difference between Bill Maher and Bill O'reilly.

FEA said:

He often blatantly corners himself by more intelligent/informed panel members and then (in order to avoid being exposed as the fraud he is) erupts into some cyclical rant about how the right are idiots and religion is absurd. There's this tone of self-righteousness in his voice, that I find baffling.

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Well, if this is true not much. I thought O'reilly was the one who invited people on his show mainly to bully them and cut them off whenever they said something he did not agree with. I stopped watching his show because he did this almost every episode, that was about 10 years ago (maybe longer). Perhaps his show has improved since then and Bill Maher has gotten worse.

I actually find Bill Maher to be funny at times, O'reilly isn't funny and most people think he is a massive asshole. I don't believe O'reilly is more intelligent than Maher, they both end up talking about topics which they know very little about.

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Also, quite a few talk show hosts and college professors have lost their jobs for supposed 'inappropriate' remarks recently...you can google it.

A few from ESPN come to mind, the professor who got fired for saying 'fuck no' in class is another one..

article: http://www.vox.com/2015/6/3/8706323/college-professor-afraid (ofc this guy gets a bunch of shit for posting it)

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I agree with you regarding Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee I watched the Larry David + Steven Colbert episodes and each made me sleepy.

have a nice day..

One more thing...

Bill O'reilly is not a made up TV character like Colbert. He was on my local news before he became famous and he was the same guy then as he is now.

misc:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0
(Ronson wrote a book about this)

-guy has to apologize for calling black actor "too street"

-Curt Schilling stupid tweet gets him suspended, previously Schilling himself gets other people fired for insulting online messages.

etc

I think O'Reilly is smarter and more self-aware than Maher, personally.
O'Reilly knows what he's doing. I can see it in his face.
He knows his demographic. He knows what they gobble up.
I'm not convinced he believes what he's saying, half the time.
And that probably makes him an asshole... or a great anchor.

I actually find Bill Maher to be funny at times, O'reilly isn't funny and most people think he is a massive asshole.

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I think O'Reilly has a pretty good sense of humor.
He has to play the part he was cast in, though.

And, like I said, he's not a comedian.
So, whether or not he's funny is irrelevant.
(Having said all that, I think Maher is a horrible comedian.)

As for the people who think he's an asshole.
Don't a lot of right-wing people think Maher's an asshole?
I don't have the statistics on who is perceived as the bigger asshole...
But, Maher is certainly up on the list somewhere.

they both end up talking about topics which they know very little about.

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Yeah, but - at least - O'Reilly knows he doesn't know what he's talking about.
He's playing a part... Whereas, Maher seems to gobble up his own shit.

I don't like either of them. And, I don't watch either shows.
But, O'Reilly doesn't make me want to smash my television set.
Fox News is funnier than Real Time (albeit accidentally).

I thought O'reilly was the one who invited people on his show mainly to bully them and cut them off whenever they said something he did not agree with.

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They BOTH do it.
And, they do it A LOT.

Also, quite a few talk show hosts and college professors have lost their jobs for supposed 'inappropriate' remarks recently...you can google it.

A few from ESPN come to mind, the professor who got fired for saying 'fuck no' in class is another one..

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I couldn't be bothered googling it, because I won't get the full story.
And, university lecturers shouldn't be using the f-word in class. Should they?
I mean: it IS inappropriate and unprofessional (for that context)... Isn't it?

guy has to apologize for calling black actor "too street"

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I'm not sure if that pertains more to Maher or O'Reilly... ?

Bill O'reilly is not a made up TV character like Colbert. He was on my local news before he became famous and he was the same guy then as he is now.

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I'd just like to point out that I never criticized Colbert.
If I had to, though, I'd say that he hides behind the fictional personality a bit.
O'Reilly could - just as easily - justify being an extremist by playing a character.
And, he does play a character.

When O'Reilly (who is a smart guy, despite some of the shit he says) compares himself to Colbert, he's not unaware of the fact that Colbert wears a mask. He just can't admit that he does, as well. There's not a huge difference, as far as the politics go... But, in Colbert's case (unlike Maher), there's a huge difference in terms of talent/intelligence. Stephen is an amazing comic actor. His repressed homosexual high school teacher character in Strangers with Candy (Chuck Noblet) was fucking hilarious.

...

I don't know, man... I just think we (the left) aren't any better than them (the right) if we don't acknowledge when we're doing exactly the same thing that we're criticizing them for. It's just like Democrats and Republicans.

(Although I used the word "we" there, it was the proverbial "we"... I don't identify with right or left.)

I agree with you regarding Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee I watched the Larry David + Steven Colbert episodes and each made me sleepy.

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I'm glad we can agree that show is cold testicle soup.



Without Larry David writing his dialogue, Seinfeld is about as interesting as Maher.

cold testicle soup indeed

My other examples where just to provide more proof that certain people like Bill Maher can get away with saying whatever they want regardless if it is offensive while a lot of other people cannot. (There is a double standard and an attack on free speech)

From what I remember the college professor was a woman and the 'fuck no' was more of a blurt/slip of the tongue.

I honestly do not watch either show anymore..

Also I wasn't aware that Bill Maher engaged in the type of bullying that O'reilly does.

I agree about the double standard, to some extent, although who can get away with what depends on who you're talking to... (The left tolerate the left and the right tolerate the right.)

From what I remember the college professor was a woman and the 'fuck no' was more of a blurt/slip of the tongue.

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Yeah but news is sensational. They need to sell papers... Like I said, we don't know the full story.
Maybe it was the last straw in a series of things that led to the termination of her employment.
I don't trust the media (left or right).

What determines what Maher & O'Reilly can get away with is, in one word: ratings.
The left don't control the media, and - really - nobody gets away with anything if it effects ratings.
Anything / anyone that boosts ratings - no matter how controversial - is rewarded.
O'Reilly knows this, I think. He knows the part he's playing. Maher is oblivious.

Yeah I'm a Bill Maher fan for sure. I don't agree with everything he says but do for the most part. It's been a while since I've been into watching Real Time though...

He'll be in town on the 10th.

I'm considering shelling out the $30 to catch his show. Worst case scenario - the show sucks but I get a nice view of the lovely auditorium (which coincidentally, is on a college campus )

I find him very hit-or-miss. I agree with much of what he says, and find him frequently hilarious, but I'm less entranced with him now than I was say, 10 years ago. I hate the format of his show, which is basically "let's gang up on the token conservative", consider his dogmatism tiresome, and have come to realize that he can't take as well as he gives (note how rattled the Ben Affleck episode made him, such that he won't even talk about it). Then again, as a media figure who is entirely a product of our already radically polarized political environment, criticizing him as if he's a stand-alone figure seems kind of pointless.

To steal a movie line, his work is very much "taste--don't swallow".

Bill had Richard Dawkins AND Neil Degrasse Tyson on Friday. Was a really great show. Hope to see NDT in the media more, very smart, funny and engaging.