You'll be able to keep hate-watching Real Time With Bill Maher through at least 2022
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Say what you will about Bill Maher, but he’s managed to scrape together a successful career as a talk show host despite being disliked by pretty much everyone. He’s too liberal for the right-wingers, but too annoying, anti-PC, and generally unlikable for the left-wingers, so it’s a testament to… something, surely, that he’s been able to do Real Time on HBO for 18 years despite all of that. In fact, HBO wants him to continue doing Real Time, as Variety is reporting that it has renewed his show through 2022—which will bring it up to 20 seasons. (Variety also helpfully references the time Maher defended Donald Trump’s use of “Chinese virus” to refer to the coronavirus, because we had forgotten about that and it’s a good one to add to the list of reasons why people don’t like him.)
There’s no real explanation for why HBO continues to hand out renewals to Real Time With Bill Maher even though nobody likes the show, so the only possible explanation is that so many people are hate-watching it that it doesn’t matter how anyone really feels about what they’re seeing. Or maybe complaints on social media or news stories about Maher saying some awful thing are actually a useful promotional tool? You have to pay for HBO if you want to see what everyone’s mad about, right? You know, if that’s the approach HBO is taking, the Game Of Thrones finale suddenly makes a lot more sense…
212 Comments
One thing I think was good about Dennis Miller in his prime is that he seemed aware of how he came across, whereas Maher to me seems like he unironically doesn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t think he’s a genius.
I mean, he HAS been saying “Trump won’t leave” for like three years despite almost every guest dismissing his statements away almost every time, foolishly holding onto the belief that we still live in a world with “norms.”He’s wrong/dumb on a lot of stuff, particularly from a generational perspective, but his penchant for embracing worst-case scenarios has unfortunately been pretty spot on.
I remember, though, that when he went on Colbert early in the election season Stephen made a bet that Trump would win the nomination but Bill said he wouldn’t(he later denied having said that when was on Colbert again after Trump had clinched it).
Maher’s too certain to be a Libertarian. Besides, a Trump Government (tm.), is Massively Obese ™.
Eh, nitpick-wise, the President leaving if he loses the election isn’t a “norm,” it’s the law. Hearing judicial nominations from the opposing party’s president is (was) a norm; not required by statute but the expected way to behave. If Trump refuses to vacate the White House then he’s literally violating the Constitution.Not to say that he necessarily won’t do that (although he’s a coward, I don’t think he will when push comes to shove), but I don’t like the inaccuracy of mentioning “norms” when the issue is laws, not norms.
My youngest son thinks Trump’s going to end up committing suicide. If he loses, I could see it happening. He knows he’s going to prison once he’s out of the White House.
Laughable. Obama, the Bushes and the Clintons should have all been imprisoned for war crimes, but did that happen? It’s all a show.
I’m not so sanguine. He’s still got a lot of money and can afford a lot of expensive lawyers, and history has shown that he’s pretty good at obfuscating and covering his tracks. He’s more likely to get fucked over financially by his actions, but actually getting prosecuted for something I think is less likely. But, who knows.
Legal impunity is the only reason This Regretting Egomaniac (tm.) wants to stay in office … Once he’s out, the knives will be, too. He should have just remained a lying self-promoter; but unlike those who have far more, and think he’s a garish dick, he just couldn’t keep That Head (tm.) down.
Stop giving him super human powers. He doesn’t have them. The only reason he’s not on trial right now is because his enablers have kept him in the White House. Once he loses the election, they’re going to throw him right under the bus.Also, he is not fucking rich. He’s about to lose it all.
What part of “has enough money to afford fancy lawyers” constitutes a superhuman power? Even if he does take huge financial hits (as the New York Times article about his taxes suggests he’s going to, in the next couple of years), he’s got a 40-year track record of worming out of financial problems and continuing to get idiots to give him money.
You really don’t understand what’s going on financially with him, do you? He’s got massive loans he’s going to default on and the IRS can (and will) foreclose on his properties. He is done. It’s only a matter of time and not all that much time.And that’s just what we know from the NY Times reporting so far. There’s more to come. Before it’s all over, we’re going to know all the Russian entanglements. The national security people are already saying his financial situation is a huge national security risk. This is going to dwarf Watergate by several degrees.
I read the entire NYT article, so yes, thanks, I think I do understand. My point is that he’s been on the verge of financial ruin before and gotten out of it; I don’t trust that our world is sane enough to make sure the right thing happens, despite how things may look.The number of times that people have sworn up and down “THIS is what will take Trump down!” only to have him totally unaffected by it are countless at this point, so excuse me if I take it with a grain of salt.
… And that, finally, is The News. But he’ll do it with fried chicken, and nobody gets the satisfaction they got from Hitler’s Cyanide. Cyanide doesn’t come with secret herbs and spices. Cyanide’s an honest junk food.
He’s a coward. He isn’t going to risk the pain of a heart attack or stroke. He’ll do it fast and painlessly.
Well, they did reference that on the last show, where Trump could basically install cronies into state electors to just pledge all their electoral college votes to him and not Biden. It’s not a law that the electors have to vote for the winner of the election, it’s just the norm.. Remember there was an idea/hope that some conscientious electors would do that for Hillary, but of course didn’t because it was a norm. Trump obviously doesn’t care about such things. So that would be a way for Trump to not leave while losing… just getting the electors to say he didn’t lose.
I’m not sure how Trump would do that; it’s usually the parties who pick the electors that will represent them in the Electoral College if that party’s candidate wins the state. If Biden wins California, all 55 electors are chosen by Biden (or, really, the Democratic Party), so there’s nothing Trump can really do about that (aside from, I suppose, bribe/threaten them). I’m pretty sure it works the same in every other state, too. You can occasionally have faithless electors (whose votes can’t be countermanded, but they can be punished by their respective state governments for being faithless).
Well, it’s already being suggested in PA that the Republican controlled state legislature could pick its own electors: https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-republicans-bypass-popular-vote-20200926-fojbwizvt5cptfypjstftxwzzm-story.htmlThat would be a “break with tradition.” Not breaking the law.
And if ever there was a time for “Faithless electors” to take the national stage, it’s during the Trump presidency.
Yeah, I mean, I’m not optimistic that everything will go great. If Pennsylvania’s popular vote goes to Biden and the PA legislature tries to cheat, I’m hoping to hell the people there rise up, because that would be some straight-up bullshit.
To bring this back to Maher, I’m pretty sure his take would be “the Republicans will cheat, people WILL rise up, Trump will call them ANTIFA thugs, smash them, congressional Republicans will stand by, and then the case goes to the Supreme Court and Trump wins.”
Yep this is what keeps me watching Real time, Maher’s track record on his predictions. He’s scary accurate.
Because he is a lot smarter than people seem to see. Oddly I tend to agree with almost everything he says, and my predictions have come to fruition regularly as well. Maybe some of us just see things that others refuse to acknowledge?
Bullshit.Your opinion.
Maher’s a libertarian, a group of people who generally suck at self-awareness.
What makes you say that?
It’s a by-product of living in fantasy land.
I don’t agree with libertarianism, but I don’t think having wrong beliefs inherently means a lack of self-awareness. Also, what makes you think he’s a libertarian?
“Also, what makes you think he’s a libertarian?”Him saying he is one.
Does he still do that? I thought he stopped years ago.
Like those Penn & Teller blokes?
And penn and teller are also geniuses. Their show bullshit was (and still is) great.
I used to watch the show about once a month. He’s not a libertarian. He was, back in the Politically Incorrect days, but not in the last 20 years or so.He’s a free speech extremist. He’s against gun control. He’s opposed to the war on drugs. These used to be libertarian positions, but he also believes in climate change, spending money on schools and infrastructure, unions as a counter valence to corporate greed, PETA, government run health care and a bunch of other government paternalistic programs. He’s a liberal. He’s also smug. Very smug.
Those fanatical free speech extremists are just the worst.I’ve been watching him since I was 10 or 11 on Politically Incorrect. I’m pretty sure he’s not against gun control and never was, but everything else seems fair.I get why people hate him. He’s unrepentantly smug, but I’ve always felt like he has the best political conversations that reach a relatively wide audience (probably because I was always still asleep for Meet the Press, back when TV was still relevant).
He gets to be “smug”. He’s objective, which, post-social media (yes, I get it), is out of fashion. Which makes objectivity alternatively “cool” … (What a crock).
Where did you pull “hes anti gun control” from?
Ah, irony.
No he’s not. Bill Maher supports higher taxes on the wealthy and universal health care. Those are not Libertarian ideals.
he was a libertarian in the 90’s. but hes been a pretty steady liberal(who isnt afraid of being boxed in and labled) since about 2000. remember this was the guy who the conservatives railed against in the fervor following 9/11 when he said something in reply to what “president” bush said about the terrorists being cowards on his show ‘politically incorrect’ (how ironic) eventually ending in the cancelation of that show. overall i can’t say real time is as good as it used to be. but i still watch it when i can. he doesn’t care about these stupid liberal pc police who spend their time being offended by everything and i consider myself very progressive. but its not exactly an easy time to be doing a political comedy show without a live audience. afterall he is a stand up comedian first
I’ve always had one big problem with him- his delivery. He waits for laughs or applause and when he doesn’t get them (often because his jokes are not great) he gets annoyed, or prompts the audience to do so. FUNNY!
I’ve noticed since March his monologues definitely got worse- almost like hacky, old-timer Borscht belt humor. Sometimes like crickets, “Ugh”, I’ve said to my wife several times watching. He’s great w/ topical/political discussions and jokes, but when he falls back on “comedy” like his 80’s standup act, he comes off old and not quite so sharp on it anymore.
He gets increasingly agitated by whiney liberals who show up to his shows and then refuse to laugh or clap and act offended when he says common sense things. Oh God forbid he says anything critical of liberals or PC babies or anything remotely controversial and the pathetically soft super liberals groan and moan about it. Then he flips out on them and I would too. I would be worse. Any time my crowd got offended at my jokes I would stop my show and have some of them physically removed by security, it’s his show they can be scared of everything on their own time. They know who they are going to see and if they whine and pearl clutch they are at the wrong place.
I think you woketards need to turn off Maher and return to your scheduled circlejerk.
Maybe the secret is not being an insufferable extremist who won’t take a second look at their own positions.
“There’s no real explanation for why HBO continues to hand out renewals to Real Time With Bill Maher even though nobody likes the show,”I mean, that’s a pretty simplistic take isn’t it? Although it might be more accurate to say “nobody likes ALL of the show.” I think the reason it’s successful is that many people like *parts* of the show. I find his platforming of people like Steven Bannon and others, particularly some of the quack doctors he’s had on, to be troubling, but I generally like his panels and how impolite he is to most of his guests.But as you point out, it’s too liberal for the right, too anti-PC for the left… So somehow in 2020, Bill Maher is the most centrist voice in mainstream political commentary. Which really tells you where we were as a society when the most centrist voice is an outspoken liberal.
I think that’s spot on, but at the same time it’s not a very compelling argument for HBO when you can watch the best clips on YouTube for free.
Well, you could use that same argument for any non-fiction book recently… No one’s buying Michael Cohen’s book, few people will buy Bob Woodward’s book, etc, since most of the interesting parts are all excerpted in the news. But someone has to pay for these things to be produced, I guess. It’s a good reminder that for a large swath of liberals, Twitter does not really represent the political discourse of most of the country.
You could say the same thing about John Oliver’s show, couldn’t you?
No, not really
Spot on my ass.
Maher’s not a liberal.
Sure he is. He’s a neo-liberal.
That’ll be news to him. You should shoot him an email.
“neoliberal” is what schmucks who don’t read books call everyone they don’t like
Sure. I just made it up to entertain you.
“Neoliberal” has a very clear definition. If you’re not familiar with the concept there’s several books on it. You sound like a schmuck who thinks “liberal” and “left” are synonymous. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
i’m quite familiar with the concept, dumbass
My favorite tactic of morons is to pretend words they don’t like are meaningless. Do microagressions next!
I’m not sure royalists would really appreciate the nuances of american political terminologyhappy?
He’s a Libertarian.
He’s a liberal but not a progressive.
I’m guessing you don’t watch his show, because he’s called himself a liberal on it more than once.
He’s a liberal just not a woketard.
Some of us have higher standards than upscale Joe Rogan.Maher’s legacy amounts to making hot takes that age badly.
This is such bs. What really happened is the right went fascist, authoritarian, trump insane, the ultra liberals became the second most annoying group of people on earth and Bill Maher never changed for anyone. Maher and me are apparently the only two in the world who are “liberal classic”. I love Bill Maher and my gf and I watch him weekly.
Like many people, I despise most aspects of the Bill Maher persona, but he’s one of the only left-of-center TV hosts who even books conservatives/Trumpies, and he usually calls bullshit to their face, which we don’t often see anymore. Stewart was far better at this type of thing during the Bush era, but nearly every Daily Show offshoot has eschewed in-studio interviews during the Trump era, in favor of the safer (more cowardly?) format of playing video clips of conservatives saying horrible things and then having the host do scripted jokes afterwards. Real Time is worth hate-watching because it’s a dialogue and not a monologue. And I disagree with the idea that it’s dangerous to “platform” douchebags like Milo, Steve Bannon and Michael Cohen. They always come off horribly on the show! And if you really disagree with everything they stand for (and you should), then there’s little to fear from putting them on a platform where someone will actually challenge them in a live setting.
Yeah, I do appreciate that Maher will tell someone to their face they’re full of shit. Even when networks like CNN book Trumpsters, they always make it a “both sides” kind of deal, as if the Trump view is equally sound and equally represented in the world as the non-Trump side.The only reason Maher isn’t even more of a dick to the conservatives he books is because the conservatives are winning, and he seems to recognize there’s not really much you can do to slam someone who’s still in first place.
I think the reason Maher holds back some on conservatives is because they’ll stop coming on the show otherwise. You have to wonder why many of them come on at all.
I think he gets a lot of conservatives on largely because most conservatives are absolutely shameless, and if they can spew their nonsense and get one single person to change their mind, they’ll do it. Liberals won’t go on Fox News for the most part, and I don’t blame them as its not really news, but conservatives will gladly spread their message over and medium that will have them.
Which is a flaw of liberals. Why do we not exploit the same avenues that we see conservatives succeed with every time? Liberals should go on Fox and do whatever they can to get their messages out there because people in trumpland don’t even know what we really believe anymore. And all this PC nonsense has to end, it is literally the cause of trump. Obama being elected twice and Americans being told what they can’t say and how there are 82 genders and sexualities or whatever the bs number is. By and large we reject this censorship and we are embarrassed that our own party and people we should agree with have become so fragile and ridiculous. It makes us all look bad.
Backwoods, I don’t think he holds back on the right, per se. But, honestly: I think we as a country are REALLY becoming WAY too polarized for our own good. Yeah, the left wants him to be WAY more “Politically Correct” (pun HELLA intended!!!). And, as the conservatives that come on his show USUALLY display: they’re either “NEVER Trumpers” or they’re Trump apologists. There hasn’t been very much in-between. Love him or hate him, I think he’s maintained a certain degree of balance on his show. I personally don’t like some of the shots he levies against Christians, but he is an atheist. Conversely, he has guested Christians. So there’s that, for what it’s worth. Bottom line: he’s NOT perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But, like I feel our country needs most: he’s attempted to maintain balance.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how Michael Cohen handled his opening interview last week, likening the Trumps to a cult, and not realizing just how bad it was until he was out of it. I also thought it was super awkward how Bill interrupted the show to announce RBG’s passing. I realize that he had to do it, but it put the guests, and Jane Fonda, on the spot as to how to react. But the one guest on the right nailed it when he said ‘Mitch is gonna ram this through,’ and knew exactly who Trump would nominate. I do visibly wince at the screen for about half the show, but there are almost always some gems in there that you would never find anywhere else.
That RBG bit was damn fine television and justified Real Time’s continued existence for several more years. It perfectly captured the horror we all felt when the push notification first blinked on our phones— that we were already conditioned to understand within seconds that the Court was lost forever, and that it was possibly the death knell of the republic. And yeah, it helped that with no advance preparation, that guy knew exactly who was on the Federalist Society’s shortlist. The show is worth watching for stuff like that even as Bill Maher becomes increasingly insufferable as the culture moves further beyond him.
Yeah I watched this episode late, and when Bill announced RBG’s passing I had a flash of exactly where I was when I got the notification: getting in the car after leaving the grocery store, checking my phone, muttering ‘fuck,’ to my wife, she says ‘what?’ I tell her and she screams “Nooooooooooo!!! We’re fucked!!!’ It’s almost like our JFK moment of our generation.
The awkward part wasn’t that he mentioned the news that was the right thing to do. But when he attacked his guest for daring to question him simply because he was shocked was really awkward. He’s a guy with some serious character flaws.
Lol Cohen is full of shit, he got caught and he just wants to wipe the stink off him
Why do you “visibly wince” through half the show? Seriously people on both sides need to toughen up and get over themselves. Obviously trump is the evil one in this equation and his supporters are on a different level but I can’t stand to watch whiney “progressives” carry on about gender pronouns and how we should never offend anyone ever. Go clutch your pearls elsewhere if you can’t handle what he has to say. I for one think he may be the last remaining political pundit who hasn’t sold out and who says whatever he wants to say (and is nearly always spot on).
I think I was wincing at the forced laughter from his canned audience. I get that he can’t perform in front of a packed studio, but if it’s going to be that awkward listening to six people trying too hard to laugh at his bad jokes, then he should just record remotely until things get back to normal. Honestly, even before shit hit the fan there were always a few audience members laughing just a little too hard during his monologues. Even Bill would look over with an expression on his face like, ‘Whoa lady, it’s not that funny.’
I can’t believe after four years of Trump there are still people who believe letting bigots and right-wingers spew their bile for millions of people to hear will ever end well. They come off horribly to you. Plenty of people are waiting to hear exactly what they have to say.
So we should put a liberal gag order on them? Never let them speak in public? What exactly is it that would make you stop whining? He has guests of every political belief he can and that’s what we should all be doing. Don’t be scared of letting the right speak, be scared of silencing them and giving them legitimate reasons to attack us. When we let them speak, like what trump did at the debate last night, they always show their true, cowardly, raging, hypocritical selves.
We “let Trump speak” all through 2015 and 2016 and look how well that worked out but thanks for all the strawmen, glad to think you see concern over giving neo-Nazis exposure is “whining”
That whole platform argument is childish
Agree…and disagree!Platforming Nazis IS a really bad thing. We’ve done actual scientific research on this, and the message is clear: Nazis benefit from this, so it should not be done.Even though WE may think it makes them ‘come off horribly’, in the eyes of the people who they appeal to they’re strengthened and legitimized by appearing on established media shows and the like. It also gives the Nazis another avenue for outreach to influence impressionable people whom otherwise might not have heard these messages they spread.Maher brings these shitheaps onto his show just to stick it to those he deems “the PC crowd”, it’s his teenage-going-on-cantankerous-sixty-plus rebellion against the mainstream liberal media who have shunned him for exactly this very reason to a large degree.
The Woke seem to have a pretty loose definition of “Nazi” these days. It pretty much just means “anyone whose opinions aren’t sufficiently far-left enough for me.”Deplatforming actual Nazis is one thing. But when you start calling everyone who questions or criticizes any aspect of progressive dogma a “Nazi,” you end up with cancel culture. Which, BTW, doesn’t just affect rich celebrities. Plenty of average folks — professors, scientists, even truck drivers — have lost their jobs and careers to angry mobs of Woke people.
What a bunch of dumbass circular reasoning strawmannery. Literally the stupidest post I’ve read all week.Steve Bannon is a Nazi. Milo Yiannopolous or whatever the fuck his name is is a Nazi, and they’ve both been on Maher’s show. Other guests he’s had on just to stoke his own ego and feel contrary to “the mainstream” are so closely Nazi/fascism-adjacent that distinguishing between them isn’t really relevant.I’m calling literal Nazis Nazis. Fuck you and your bad faith “progressive dogma” accusations.
I don’t think that makes him centrist, I think it makes him spineless. It’s a more respectable version of South Park’s “everyone’s equally bad” shtick.
Love him or hate him, i wouldn’t call him spineless. If anything, he’s too assured in his opinions. But having watched his show for a long time now, he’s at least pretty consistent in his views, which are not what you would traditionally call “centrist,” but it works in respect that he’s got a lot of far left views and some disturbingly right wing-ish views too. So it basically averages out to center-left.
Yeah, I suppose that tracks. I still feel like he picks left and right positions in order to seem balanced, not because they’re the result of a consistent defensible philosophy.
Close minded idiot… the whole platform he stands on is free/independent thinking. I def don’t agree w everything he says and thats a good thing. If you agree w all info you’re ingesting then you are a close minded idiot. Look for contrasting idoligies from your own then come to your own conclusions.
“too liberal for the right, too anti-PC for the left”No. He’s too liberal for the left too.“Which really tells you where we were as a society when the most centrist voice is an outspoken liberal”It tells you that liberalism is a center-right ideology.Hopefully the US is finally understanding that and catching up to the rest of the world.
The point is that ‘The US’ is too identity-riddled to understand anything about itself … Go back to making pinball machines. Pinball machines were honest about how you lose.
I like 75% of Real Time. And the other 25% is Maher being a total asshole. He’s a misogynist, a bigot, and he goes off on tangents about young people all the fucking time (full disclosure: I am going to be a bona fide old person on my next birthday, but Maher is a whiny, obnoxious prat about Millennials and Gen Z. He thinks he’s still reasonably young, but he’s rapidly crossing into old man yelling at clouds).
It’s like a fucking spiteful ten year old wrote this article. “… Even though nobody likes the show”. I think just this thread itself disproves that silly notion.We get it AV Club, Maher offends you. But you have to learn how to roast better than this; “nobody watches” is some lazy shit and also false.
In particular his opening monologue is pretty hackey and dated. I feel like he is trying to be Johnny Carson decades too late. Edgy Johnny Carson. So many of those jokes whiff. He’s good at running a panel and in interviews he’s pretty good at asking hard questions. He’s a smug motherfucker and I imagine he’s a dick in real life though. I enjoy the show.Andres Sullivan drives me crazy though.
Being rude and arrogant to “both sides” doesn’t mean he’s a “centrist”.It might just mean he’s a jerk.
Who the hell watches Bill Maher to keep him on the air? He’s like the textbook definition of a “pretentious jackass.” Fuck him and 6 people that look like him.On the real: I watched the second season of True Detective over the weekend. Is it the first season? Nah, but what is? Anyway.Second season, True Detective: it’s a fantastic show. Divorced after all these years from the first season, it’s a great show. Colin Farrell frickin nails it. Vince Vaughn also brings the heat. I highly recommend a rewatch from anyone that watched it.
Divorced after all these years from the first season, it’s mediocre and rushed and they didn’t know what to do with Taylor Kitsch and they should’ve gone through at least a couple more drafts.
I loved it, man. All 4 characters (Ray, Ani, Paul and Frank) all had moments that they thought changed the trajectory of their lives. Fate caught up to all of them, and they all wanted an escape, but then you realize that shit happens and it’s gonna play out how it plays out. There’s a sad inevitability that happens with Colin Farrell’s character. You realize, no matter what he thinks, that he’s not actually a “bad person.” That he’s willing to let go of his son and accept what comes next.
No amount of time can make the needlessly complicated storytelling and unsympathetic characters any better.
You ain’t watched it recently. Watch it, detached from everything. It’s really well done. Ray is haunted by the guy he killed that he thinks raped his wife. Frank is frantic after his money and liquid assets are gone. Ani is stuck wanting to be a detective and to make a life for herself despite her brothers being dead or in prison. And Paul is unable to get past his background and accept that he is gay.None of them accept their fates, but by the end of the season, they all realize that it’s inevitable.
“Vince Vaughn also brings the heat.”Shame he sucks when it comes to any other pitches.
Does Fox have a stake in his show? They cover it like no other.
It’s the worst of the three. I just can’t give a fuck about Vince Vaughn playing anyone. So that was a personal hurdle. But Colin Farrell doing some lines to the New York Dolls and breaking shit made it worth it for me.
Bullshit
The people who complain about Maher’s attitude are generally people who need treated with kidd gloves and confuse directness and terseness — both dictated by a time restricted format, but also both acceptable among mature adults in discussion — with rudeness. Of course, these same people always turn out to be even more smug, rude, and aggressive than the people they complain about. As your comment neatly demonstrates.
Bill Maher gets a lot of shit here, but he is successful and has an audience, despite the “complaints on social media.” I for one like that someone on our side will take his side to task. Also, as I think I’ve said on this site before, Bill Maher was one of the first to come out against Donald Trump when he displayed political ambitions, to the point where he was sued by Trump, and later gave $1 million to that Donald Trump’s opponent in the 2016 election (whom I won’t mention because to mention that person’s name on the Internet is akin to when the family opens the bedroom door in Poltergeist). He was also the one yelling loudest about how Donald Trump could and would win the election if people continued conflating him and other candidate, to the point where on this show a few days before the election, he came out, admitted he’d been drinking backstage, and yelled ‘People keep saying they’re the same, no they’re fucking not!’ He’s looking pretty good on that one.
Correction, he gave the $1 million to Obama, I think in 2012.
I used to really dislike him but like Howard Stern I think Maher aged into a much better person than he used to be. I understand the hate though and wouldn’t try to convince anyone otherwise.
Well said
The people who hate Bill Maher can’t accept that he can’t be pigeonholed. They need people on TV to be either Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity. He is the perfect foil for people who can’t handle a guy who can say five things they agree with, and five things they don’t.
Funny you should say that since I’m a liberal and he actually annoys me more when he expresses liberal views because I think he sounds way too much like a stereotypical “liberal elite.”
Well said. I agree with a lot of Bill Maher’s positions, but definitely not all of them. I also like that he has guests with whom he firmly disagrees and he’s not afraid to tell them that, but he does manage to be respectful and he always allows them to speak their minds. That’s more than anyone can say for Bill O’Reilly, whose show ran for more than 20 years and would almost certainly still be on today if he hadn’t screwed up and gotten himself fired.
Bill Maher is guilty of the most serious crime of all….he refuses to get woke. And being an atheist does not allow you to criticize Islam. Islam is special for the woketards.
He’s too liberal for the right-wingers, but too annoying, anti-PC, and generally unlikable for the left-wingers“Libertarian” is the word you’re looking for, Sam.
Too crazy for Boy’s Town, too much of a boy for Crazy Town!
I think he used to identify as libertarian and now identifies as progressive, liberal or even Democrat.
Bill Maher is not a Libertarian. Libertarians don’t support higher taxes on the wealthy and universal health care.
I used to hate watch. Can’t do it anymore. He has no value.
He can still deliver pizzas.
I wouldn’t tip him.
I dunno, that smirk makes me suspicious he might have jerked off on the pie.
Fuck that asshole. He’s high up on the list of people I would love to see take an ass-whipping.I keep waiting for him to get #metoo-ed, cuz if there’s any dude who you know asked multiple female employees for sex……
Politics aside, he’s a hack. Relies hard on super obvious punchlines, fat jokes and talking shit about everyone who doesn’t live in NY or LA. I don’t like his politics, but I hate him because as a comedian, he’s shit.
…or not.
this is just another version of “nobody watches the Big Bang Theory”…Maher is one of the most successful standup comics in the country, regularly selling out arenas, being in denial about his popularity is asininequestioning why is not asinine
As big as Larry the Cable Guy.
If you are the kind of Liberal who enjoys watching the all star pundit line ups on CNN or MSNBC, where opposing views are expressed politely, and you like that warm bi-partisan ‘working across the aisle’ feeling, and the knowledge that they all go out for drinks after the show, this is just a fun extension of that.If you are done with that shit, and you care about how politics affects actual people instead of just watching news celebrities Bill Maher is a smug Washington starfucker and you have no use for him.
and you care about how politics affects actual peopleSpare us your self-righteous ridiculousness, you pathetic neohippie.
I support your right to be part of the problem rather than the solution.
And right on schedule, there’s the smug. The fallback position of White Privilege Progressivism everywhere. And you guys can’t muster a majority anywhere outside of deep blue districts? Imagine that…
Keep backing the losers. Keep living in the 1990s.🎶Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow…🎶
Sorry (not sorry!) that your particular strain of misogynistic and racist “progressivism” isn’t gaining traction with voters who don’t think Twitter is the be-all-end-all of the universe. How’d Bernie do the second time around? Worst than the first? Yeah. Sour grapes makes for bitter whine.
When the establishment’s favorite weak do nothing president (Obama) calls to all the candidates taking votes away from Biden to tell them to drop out for the sole purpose of stopping Bernie, Yes, it has the desired effect. And let’s not forget the massive bias of the mainstream media. Or don’t you remember Chris Matthews practically pissing his pants on live tv because he thought he was going to get executed in Central Park by Bernie Bros?But all’s fair in politics.Luckily the voting demographics are getting younger, more diverse, and more progressive, so the likes of you won’t be gumming up the works anymore.
It must burn that a black liberal succeeded where a white bigoted “progressive” failed, huh? Choke on your hate, Klan-Lite. Yeah, we all know why Bernie moved out of NYC in the ‘7os when it was diversifying for 95% white Vermont. The same Bernie Sanders who thought “all the drug dealers are African-American.” The same Bernie Sanders with a triple-decade gap in his civil rights resume. And as always, it’s hilarious to hear some dumbfuck neohippie claim that liberals are simultaneously so strong they can suppress Bernie Sanders but are weak enough to be defeated any day now by Rose Twitter. Bwuhahahaha.
Been trying to google stuff to help your argument? You’re all over the place like a sloppy drunk. Sorry, didn’t mean to take up so much of your headspace today. Sure, Bernie and his supporters are all bigots and sexists. That makes total sense. Forget that the progressive movement is incredibly diverse and liberals cater to higher income white suburban women. The reason? We care about the working class. Simple. No bullshit. No corporate money.What do you stand for? Status quo. You corporate Democrats are like Wile E. Coyote. You’ve already run off the cliff, you just haven’t looked down yet.
LOL Those suburban women you shit on are what delivered us the House in 2018. Remember? It was the Blue Wave that happened with zero support from the Dirtbag Left. The same Blue Wave that left Bernie-endorsed candidates losing by ridiculous margins. 70-some candidates endorsed, and maybe 6 won? And you’re the future of the party? Sure, Jan. Liberals actually stand for the progress we’ve made that you born-yesterday-just-got-here neohippies have been trying unsuccessfully to either steal credit for or ignore completely for years now. Universal healthcare? Hillary pushed for that in the 90s while Bernie Sanders was a back-bench loser in the House. (Unlike today, when he’s a back-bench loser in the Senate.) Bernie was there, in the background of photos from Clinton unveiling her plan. I guess you forgot about that, huh?And again with the rhetoric about mainstream Democrats being out of touch, while “progressivism” lost worse in 2020 than it did in 2016.
Oh my goodness, this is actually like talking to Trump. You throw out complete bullshit, presented as fact. Unless you are purposely avoiding facts, you know damn well the Blue Wave was Progressive lead, particularly AOC, and there were records broken left and right by women of color. We now have a Congress that looks more like the population instead of the pale sickly 70 year old men that you like to keep in office.And I’m not sure why you are bragging about Hillary pushing for universal healthcare when it’s clearly something that you consider way too Progressive. Make up your mind.Where you get this information from, I can only imagine, but it’s probably somewhere between Morning Joe and the Joy-Ann Reid show. Isn’t it cute when Mika and Joe flirt?
P.S. am I being punked?
Blue Wave was Progressive leadCitation missing. AOC winning in a safe blue district that Democrats already held did nothing to win the more moderate seats that gave Democrats control of the House. You’re the one calling “fake news” on the moderate Blue Wave that happened, clown. And I’m not sure why you are bragging about Hillary pushing for universal healthcare when it’s clearly something that you consider way too Progressive. Make up your mind.Wow, you’re just all over the place here. My comment was about Democrats being for universal healthcare long before the neohippies started claiming that Bernie Sanders invented the topic. Do try to keep up with the actual topics being discussed, clown. It’s OUR progress you’re trying to take credit for with no actual effort on your part. You’re not “being” punked, you ARE the punk.
Uh, Dude, you don’t seem to be aware that your arguments only support Bernie and the progressive wing.Firstly – Hillary and Bernie were on the same page back then. And yes, she would be in front because she was the freaking first lady and it was her project.
So what has happened since then? Well because Hillary was defeated, she gave up and stopped fighting. She joins the establishment, she started working across the aisle so she could build her resume to run for president.Then “everyone should have healthcare” turned into “how are we going to pay for it”Bernie, has never wavered, has always been fighting for working people. You know why, because he’s not a fake and he’s not a hypocrite.All your poshy bougie establishment liberals look out for themselves and their own 401Ks and don’t give a shit about anyone else.Progress will come, and people like you will pretend you were on the right side of history, but all you did was stand in the way.FYI: AOC took on an establishment Democrat that was seen as a lock. The importance of the win has nothing to do with the Democrat or Republican. It’s Progressive vs. Establishment Democrat.
LOL at the three-home-owning millionaire socialist being portrayed as not a hypocrite. Do you even realize how much shady money he funneled through his two presidential campaigns, and how many times he was dinged by the FEC for campaign contribution violations? Educate yourself, perhaps. Bernie conned your dumb asses $27 at a time. But it is refreshing to see you concede on the point of the Blue Wave. Again, taking over a seat that is already blue doesn’t do shit to expand the House majority. Winning red seats with moderate Democrats though? That’s what won the majority. Our Revolution and Justice Democrats endorsed about 80 candidates and maybe 6 or 7 won. For you to think of that as a progressive victory makes you dumber than George W Bush and his Mission Accomplished banner. but all you did was stand in the way.Says someone who clearly voted for Trump or Jill Stein in 2016. It’s Progressive vs. Establishment Democrat.Keep telling yourself that, Putin stooge.
I can see by the flavor of your comments that you rely on a lot of your information from whatever crackpot conspiracy theories your Russian bots friends on Facebook feed you.I really can’t figure out if you’re a Republican or just a really uninformed, in the bubble, loyal MSM watcher. Probably it’s the latter, because of the way you talk about government like it’s just horse races. In a way you’re just a victim of the system set up to keep people like you ignorant. You are hostile to meaningful change. All you care about is whether a Democrat is in office, doesn’t matter if they are a lousy grifting Democrat.I think I’m done talking to you because you make me sad about this country. You are the same as those Maga hat-wearing tools.I’ll leave it to you to get the last word. My gift to you.
LOL Your entire “revolution” was nothing but a Russian front. And really, calling me the same as MAGA when you’re the living proof of the Horseshoe Theory of Politics? Go back to playing with your fellow Rose Twitter Bigots, you pathetic pajama boy.
yeh, i don’t understand why people pretend that he’s an unpopular nobody. he’s liberal catnip with just enough ‘edge’ to make people feel naughty.which is all well and good, but it’s entertainment.
also, it’s kinda time to burn things down.
He’s the Dennis Miller of YOUR generation, babe.
You don’t know what you’re talking about, cha-cha…
Your commitment to this bit of “how could Richard Nixon have been elected when no one I know voted for him?” is impressive.For what it’s worth, here’s what he said about the “Chinese virus” thing:“Scientists, who are generally pretty liberal, have been naming diseases after the places they came from for a very long time. Zika is from the Zika Forest, Ebola from the Ebola River, hantavirus the Hantan River. There’s the West Nile virus and Guinea worm and Rocky Mountain spotted fever and, of course, the Spanish flu. MERS stands for Middle East respiratory syndrome. It’s plastered all over airports, and no one blogs about it. So why should China get a pass?”I mean, this is no reason to take it out on civilians (here or there) who are blameless, but…the virus originated in China, and in large part spread because they initially covered up the truth. An asteroid could be hurtling toward Earth, and the AVClub would run articles about how people tweeting “run for your lives” is ableist and non-inclusive.
Sam’s gonna report you to his asteroid overlords.
I love how one of his examples is the Spanish flu, which didn’t originate in Spain and was named that for nakedly xenophobic reasons. But then expecting Maher to know that would be expecting him to stop being a smug moron for more than a second or two, which is definitely asking far too much.
i think the idea that its called “Spanish flu” based on a misnomer (or specific misdirection to slander a group of people) is a fairly obscure fact, in context of naming 10 other diseases named after places of origin, I think it’s just one more throwaway to make his point. Yes, its wrong. No the other 9 or so are not. It’s focusing on 5% of the statement or so, and the overall point still stands. Maher epitomizes the concept of “sometimes we have to agree with things or people we don’t like” that many of us struggle with. I’m a bleeding heart liberal, but sometimes DT is NOT wrong that China may be a danger to us in ways. Even a broken clock is right 2x a day. Doesn’t mean 99% of what he says is true or accurate or even close to right, but once in a while you have to step back and acknowledge he may be onto a kernel of accuracy. (Yes, I hate it too.)With that said, “Wuhan Flu” might have made sense when it began, if it was ONLY in China, but after the US took full custody of that game ball I think we should rename it AMERICANO
It was named that because Spain was one of the few European countries that could report on it freely, since it had no media blackout due to its neutrality in WWI. Also, I don’t think anyone knows where it originated. So, I guess he isn’t right about that example, but it wasn’t called that for xenophobic reasons.More relevantly, COVID did, in fact, come from China.
I think the issue is more that Trump calls it the “China virus” in a very accusatory way. No one is disputing that it originated in China, but the virus already has a name. SARS also originated in China, but Bush never referred to it as the “China virus.”
I have no problem buying that Trump did it for all of those reasons, but there’s a long (hopefully, hopefully finite) history of people getting angry about every single thing Trump does, including cases in which we’d otherwise give it a pass (another president we liked said this, we’d probably be making a similar to Maher’s).
I have no problem believing Trump means for it to be accusatory and a distraction.
Yes, it was very much called that for xenophobic reasons. Here’s literally the first academic journal article that comes up for a search of “spanish flu xenophobia” since you apparently don’t have access to the internet:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30252513/
https://www.history.com/news/why-was-it-called-the-spanish-fluThis is a good summary of it, since there’s no way you didn’t just skim a couple sentences of the abstract, which doesn’t even conclude that it was *named* that for xenophobic reasons (“Intentional or not” is the quote).
Also, your account name is your choice, but there are a lot of good players on teams who have actually won a playoff game in the last 15 years.
Very very well said and also very accurate. It was not named the Spanish Flu as a result of racial bias or indignation now there were negative consequences of it being called that but you are correct. Also, I find it most often the case that the individuals who have such personal disdain and have taken that phone number sells to trying denigrate Bill Maher also happened to be the exact people who have for lack of a better word sissy fits, were they have a clear issue with being presented with beliefs or arguments that they don’t personally hold or agree with. They like to hear what they believe and they don’t care to hear from people unless they are Yes Man following along and saying Kudos kudos! So I find it very disturbing that the left has regressed into this ‘cancel culture’ type militant online Troll Army. Free speech is the foundation of a free society & free exchange of ideas, you don’t have to agree with what someone else says. It is key to remember that one does not win arguments or convince the person or people whom you find yourself at odds with by attacking them personally & devolving into immature & just a truly unbecoming behavior. The line of attack is one of personal attacks. The sad trend is to abandon trying to not help the other side to achieve “clarity”, but instead to try and denigrate and put down the person they find at odds 4 the sin of daring to Harbor opposing views. Truly sad & truly an unwelcomed fascist-like trend that really needs to cease.
Have you got a citation for that? Everything I’ve read online about it points to the fact that Spain was neutral in WW1 so their media was free to report on the disease while the countries at war were under heavy censor.
Thanks China bot. Here’s your 50 cents.
Excuse me, I’m a Russian bot.
It wasn’t named for nakedly xenophobic reasons at all. It was named because as Spain was neutral in WW1 they were not at war and were being honest about reporting. Everyone else in the world was covering up that thousands of their people and soldiers were dying so as not provide intelligence of weakness to the other side. So Spain was seen as the epicentre. So maybe you be a little less judgy and your facts straight before calling anyone a smug moron. It concerns me that we eat our own on the left which leads to utter disaster like Trump.
He’s not a moron, but, yeah, he did screw that up. I like his show and agree with him on a lot of things, but I don’t agree with him on everything.
What disingenuous garbage. Trump called it that because he hates the Chinese and their trade policy. He did it for political reasons. I never thought I’d have to point this out but trump is not a scientist lol. Maher’s racial superiority complex bleeds through his supposed hot takes and you just fell for it.
lol you morons think Maher is a white supremacist. Nazi Maher!
Woketards must defend their commie masters at all costs.
Does anyone in the world think that Trump’s choice of names was the result of a logical process of observation about Zika and West Nile and not a racist dogwhistle intended to distract from his massive mismanagement? Maher is consistent in defending obvious assholes on the grounds that in theory, a non-asshole could conceiveably say the same thing, plus calling someone out for being an asshole is the same as state censorship.The US has 4.25% of the world’s population and 20% of the world’s deaths from COVID-19, mainly because Trump made taking basic measures to test for, contact trace, or contain the virus into a “Democrat” political position that all good Republicans have to resist. China may be culpable in the virus not getting contained initially, but that does not clear Trump of culpability.For damn sure, though, he’d rather get called out for language use than for actively undermining containment efforts, repeatedly lying about the risks because he cares more about the stock market than American lives, and causing hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. A thousand Americans are dying every day and he’s still refusing to take action.
Whenever Bill Maher comes up, the focus is always on his shitty politics. But we really don’t talk enough about his stale, hackneyed humor.
You wanna talk failing upwards? Bill Maher has gotten cancelled something like two or three times because of his dipshit remarks and everyone inside and out of the industry agrees he’s a prick, yet he still has a successful TV career.
We get it: you think America can do no wrong and the 500k Iroquois civilians had it coming.
You’ll be able to keep hate watching Real Time With Bill Maher through at least 2022.Well, assuming he doesn’t get MeToo’d by then.
He sucks and the sooner he goes away the better off the country will be
I do like Bill Maher. From the success of his show, it’s clear that many other people do too. If you think nobody likes him, you may be mistaking twitter for the real world. Sure, sometimes he is completely wrong about some things, but often he is also spot on. What this article and some of his other detractors don’t get is that one can value and respect someone’s opinion even if you don’t always agree with it. I’m in favor of, in principle, the idea of listening to alternate viewpoints that challenge my way of thinking. Unfortunately much of the conservative media in this country has lost its mind and spews pure propaganda that just isn’t worth listening too. Bill is a sincere, independent thinker, who espouses his own views no matter how unpopular they may be. Few other media figures are willing to follow their own path instead of telling people what they want to hear.
Ps. I also like the ending to game of thrones
While Maher is a dyed in the wool contrarian and generally delights in being a pain in the ass, I’ve found that I often have to grudgingly agree with him on a lot of issues. To his credit, he calls it like he sees it and has at least as good a record as the political pundits he often interviews. And he’s not afraid to have guests on his show whose beliefs are diametrically opposed to his. That makes the show interesting enough to watch even if you don’t like everything about his personal style.
Finally somebody’s got Bill Maher pegged correctly. It’s too easy to get confused and even angry when we can’t pigeonhole someone with assurance. It’s unsettling. This is how Maher leaves people feeling. Unsettled. And that’s a damn good thing!
My 75 year-old mom and 78 year-old aunt love Bill Maher because they don’t have to deal with subtle wit or clever humor. They just want him to blurt an obvious comment and follow up with “AM I RIGHT? HUH? AM I RIGHT?”
I guess Sam isn’t a fan of the show lolI love Real Time and have never missed it ever since it started. Bill’s non PC take on topics resonates with a lot of people and he reguarly has quality, intelligent, cogent and articulate guests. Many of whom are his friends and inform his opinions. He isn’t trying to befriend hipster liberals who want to outrage over every little thing that triggers them.
Totally agree. It never ceases to amaze me why the AV Club talks about Maher while wondering why people talk about Maher. An now they justify it by calling it hate-watching. If you’re so disgusted, have the balls/integrity to not report on it, you ouroboros of snark you.
Part of the problem is “if you’ve seen one Bill Maher show, you’ve seen them all.” I stopped watching regularly years ago. Then I stopped watching altogether. I still think his smugness is funny. I generally enjoy his monologue if I happen to catch it. New rules is still funny. I don’t manage to catch it very often, though. Who plans their schedule around Bill Maher? What type of humor is it anyway? edgy dad jokes?
Why would you need to plan your schedule around an HBO show?
even if you record it, do you not have to watch it? That’s an hour you have to set aside at some point. For Maher.
You seem to have plenty of time for pretentious comments I can’t imagine your time is particularly valuable.
oh my feelings are hurt by some dolt on the internet lol. anyway, answer the question snidely….you still have to fit a recorded program into your schedule, right? Dolt.
You’re the one who said he enjoyed the monologue and found new rules funny that’s 50% of the show. This isn’t 1960 you can watch the parts you like and skip the rest either on demand or recorded or even on Youtube. Or don’t which means you don’t enjoy the show so there’s no point in making pretentious comments about your schedule.
or I could just stop watching the show. Which I did. Don’t cry because you’re wrong. And it seems like you have a lot of time on your hands. Keep coming back dolt
There are magical things called a DVR and On Demand that mean you don’t have plan your schedule around any show.
even if you record it, do you not have to watch it? That’s an hour you have to set aside at some point. For Maher.
There are magical things called a DVR and On Demand that mean you don’t have plan your schedule around any show.
even if you record it, do you not have to watch it? That’s an hour you have to set aside at some point. For Maher.
And when are you going to stop telling us about how much you dont watch it?
I really really don’t watch it
He’s not too anti-pc for the left wing, he’s too Islamophobic, misogynistic, up his own ass, too often platforms bad faith right wingers, and goes on and on about pc society and cancel culture. Also, Bari Weiss.
So…he talks about cancel culture too much and he needs to be silenced?
Nope. Just correcting the article. He’s free to continue spouting whatever idiocy suits his fancy. The funny thing about cancel culture is that no one has ever actually been canceled because of it.
Hasn’t his misogyny dissipated over the years? On Politically Incorrect he apologised for his past behaviour w/ female guests and he hasn’t done any rape apologia for female perps in decades to my knowledge.Maher’s irresponsible w/ who he platforms and how, but his show is pretty good and the panels are great.
His bits are absolute garbage but the panel discussion is sometimes watchable. When he doesn’t bring on dudes who love to hear their own voices (Rushdie, PJ O’Rourke, Neil deGrasse Tyson) it can get interesting.
Bill Maher is the only reason I have HBO. If anyone thinks that there are no people left in the middle, they’re wrong. Where extreme views have no place, here lies common sense. A non-extremist progressive can acknowledge others on the other side of the fence and recognize we’re all still human beings. If we lose sight of what makes us a country then we’re lost to these divisive issues and this won’t be a good place to live. We’re getting a taste of that now.
… So The Av Club pays more for anodyne opinion pieces than The Fucking Guardian? Jesus, get a paper round, Trumpist.
Maher i refreshing in American media. I appreciate the diversity of opinions and guests, and that they’re all given space to articulate their POV, while also often being challenged. And while I often vehemently disagree with Maher on a host of issues, finding him too far to the right, I also often agree with him on other issues that the woke far-left have declared settled.
I couldn’t disagree more ! I ran across your article by accident.You are nothing ,but a two bit low ball hack.How dare you make such broad assumptions concerning Real Times audience and why we watch.Its the only reason i pay for HBO is not only to hear Bill Mahers perspective but his wide varience of guests.Your not qualified or smart enough to assume an educated audiences. reasoning or patronage.Signed ,Captain.
I still watch. He get’s a bad wrap. Good interviews and panels. I learn a lot by watching. My only legitimate gripe is his reaction to the audience when his jokes don’t land. Never blame the audience for your corny jokes. It’s uncomfortable.
“hate-watch” is SUCH a perfect term for how I watch Bill Maher any more. His latest dead horse is how much less damage the pandemic would have caused if Americans were healthier. He’s not wrong, but this is like complaining about rebuilding the barn after the horse has escaped through the unlocked door. We can only climb one mountain at a time dude, no need to harp on it week after week (but then as I recall he’s a vegetarian so it makes even more sense).
Translation: you don’t like Bill Maher and your one conservative friend doesn’t like bill maher, therefore nobody like Bill Maher. Unfortunately for you alot of people like Bill Maher and HBO recognizes that.
My wife and I watch the show because it actually has real conversations about meaningful topics. We don’t agree with everything he or anyone else says on his show, and that is ok. We need more shows like this and 100% less Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN opinion shows (and 200% less OANN).
Bill Maher is a national treasure. Real Time has been a Saturday morning ritual for so many years. He speaks truths, is really funny, and has interesting discussions.the author’s dislike in the article is embarrassing.Also, Religulous (2008) is a great film!
Sure, Maher’s not perfect, but he’s got some of the ballsiest takes on pressing cultural issues of anyone on TV. Proof of this is the fact that he’s been relegated to HBO, where you’re actually allowed to be anti-PC without worrying about being instantly cancelled by a virtue-signaling mob of spoiled Millenials. And where did you got this idea that he’s “unlikeable” to left-wingers…did you just pull that out of your ass? I think what you meant to say was, he’s unlikeable to extreme leftist snowflakes who can’t take a joke. Maher is one of the few social commentators left who panders neither to a particular party nor to his audience for the sake of ratings, and the notion that this somehow places him in the hate-watch category is absolutely absurd. If this is what constitutes commentary on the AV Club, remind me to stay away.
You couldn’t have written a stupider piece. You’ve set up two preconcieved camps each of uniformly thinking viewers. Sorry, but this is a disgusting oversimplification. And we wonder why the US is so polarized. Listen pal, just because a person may not agree with EVERYTHING Maher says doesn’t mean that they are necessarily “hate-watching” his program. My staunch conservative and religious Father laughs his ass off because Bill is first and foremost a COMEDIAN with some of the raunchiest, funniest and insightful monologues. My Dad VEHEMENTLY disagrees with Maher on CERTAIN ISSUES. Some viewers, like myself, don’t even have a political bent, they tune in to hear Maher eviscerate the sheeple like yourself. Maher “not PC enough”, seriously were you born yesterday? The whole point of him being on HBO is that he has that uncensored freedom to BE BILL, WHICH IS WHY WE WATCH HIM. And as for him not being PC enough for the left, please. You clearly haven’t watched a live broadcast pre-covid. The LA liberal crowd absolutely pops for him. Quit compartmentalizing people onto the political spectrum, you’re part of the problem.
Sweet. Maher is the only liberal worth listening to. I love how much he pisses off you woketard shitstains.
Hey what you talking about I think he’s great and I’m not even a Murrikin.
I like it! 🙋🏻♂️
Maher can’t please dogmatic people because he reasons for
himself and speaks his opinion without apology. Those of us who can
accept differing views are able to enjoy the show for what it is, and
part of the appeal is that Bill invites guests that he disagrees with.
He is also highly intelligent, educated and funny.
No one likes the show? Maybe the social media isn’t representative of the population.
I like the show just fine. Didn’t know ‘nobody likes the show.’ Is that a fact or opinion? Hm.
I caught some recent Bill Maher clips and I thought they were clearly a lot better, more interesting and more entertaining than the woker-than-thou posturing that passes for discourse in most of this site’s articles and comments.