Sunday, November 12, 2006
Bill Mahr & Real Time
I just watched a rerun of Bill Mahr's HBO series tonight and found it to be pretty dull stuff. The guests were Salman Rushdie, Candy Crowley and and an actor from The Office. Only Rushdie had anything amusing and interesting to say. I don't know who's selecting the guests but he/she is doing a bad job of it. In previous seasons the show had a vitality bordering on rage but these days Mahr seems to be as tired as his guests. I wish HBO would give a similar platform to Robert Klein, who is smarter and funnier than Mahr. I know, I know--Klein is sixty years old now so he wouldn't attract the demographic cable yearns for. But unless Mahr starts taking something and fast-acting, I doubt his show will be on much longer anyway.
Maher's been doing the same show, essentially, for a decade plus, albeit he used to do it a lot more frequently...perhaps he is simply tired of it now.
ReplyDeletePart of Maher's problem stems from the fact that he has responded to criticism of the one-sidedness of the show by trying to get people from the right to appear. Trouble is, none of the fiery people who could really spark interesting debate are willing to appear, so he gets these milquetoast apologists who bog things down. It'll be interesting to see how he responds now that his side has won.
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