Real Time with Bill Maher

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Television series
Original title Real Time with Bill Maher
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) since 2003
length 60 minutes
Episodes 480 in 16 seasons
genre Talk show , comedy
First broadcast February 21, 2003 on HBO
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Real Time with Bill Maher is an American talk show that airs weekly on HBO . The host is comedian and presenter Bill Maher . The broadcast was recorded live in front of a studio audience in Studio 33 of CBS Television City in Los Angeles until the end of the tenth season ; the eleventh season is live for the first time.

predecessor

Bill Maher had a similar show on ABC, Politically Incorrect . However, this program was discontinued due to a scandal . In response to President Bush, who called the terrorists in the September 11, 2001, cowards, Maher said, “We were the cowards who shot down cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying on the plane until it hits the building, however you can see it, is definitely not cowardly. ”“ We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly. ”After Maher realized that this sentence was misunderstood as a trivialization of the attack shortly after the events of September 11th, he apologized for it. The show was canceled a little later. Bill Maher then switched to HBO.

The broadcast

The show begins with (mostly political) stand-up comedy by Maher. This is followed by an interview with a well-known personality on a controversial topic. Afterwards, the mentioned and other topics will be discussed in a discussion group. The discussion group usually consists of a more democratically-minded commentator or politician, a more Republican-minded commentator or politician, and one or two "third parties" known as actors, comedians, or in some other way. With this cast, the guests come from all political backgrounds, so that there is always a contrary opinion. The broadcast ends with the recording of the New Rules, a humorous commentary on current events.

Scandal

On May 12, 2006, there were considerable disruptions during the live broadcast when conspiracy theorists loudly booed the talk guests and the host about the events on September 11 and had to be forcibly removed from the studio. Despite the incident, Maher affirmed in later broadcasts that the incident on September 11th could have nothing to do with President George W. Bush , as it required a great deal of planning and was actually carried out successfully.

Another scandal almost came after Maher announced that she would switch the (according to her own description) conservative polemicist Ann Coulter live into the studio for an interview on her new book "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)", whereupon the more left-wing comedian Richard Belzer with the accusation that she was a "fascist" wanted to leave the studio in protest and could only be prevented from doing so with great difficulty.

In a panel discussion on the controversial California Proposition 19 , Zach Galifianakis suddenly pulled a joint out of his pocket and smoked it while it was broadcast live. Bill Maher later denied that the "joint" actually contained marijuana.

Political agenda

Maher supported John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election . In the 2008 presidential election , he declared his support for Barack Obama , but was also positive about Republican MP Ron Paul . Maher is a sharp critic of the Iraq war and the policies of George W. Bush . Other recurring themes on the program are global warming , Maher's skeptical attitude towards religion, as well as the food industry's policy - which he considers harmful to health - and the liberalization of drug policy, especially the release of cannabis .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ THINK TANK: In New War on Terrorism, Words Are Weapons, Too
  2. ↑ Example New Rules
  3. ↑ Hat's Off to Bill Maher ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Fox News @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.foxnews.com
  4. ↑ Der Spiegel : On a joint on the talk show (German, accessed on November 1, 2010)
  5. ↑ cnn.com: "Not one toke over the line?" November 1, 2010. Accessed September 8, 2011