Series Description

Real Time With Bill Maher is a 60 minute political talk show series on HBO where political satirist Bill Maher "gets in the face" of right-wing conservatives although Bill does occasionally also criticize what he feels are errant actions by Liberal Democrats. The show typically begins with a monologue by Mr. Maher making fun of the right-wing of the Conservatives. Then there's a more serious discussion of some political subject of current interest with a guest expert. After that Bill hosts a panel that usually but not always includes at least one Conservative where more current interest subjects are even more seriously discussed although Bill does manage to fit in a bit of satire. The panelists for this segment include celebrities, educators, newscasters, political commentarists and politicians. In closing the show, Bill does a segment titled, "New Rules" which is political satirism at its extreme and provides gut-renching laughs for many Liberals and upset stomachs for most Conservatives by making Conservatives look extremely foolish. It's definitely a show that you most likely will either love or hate.

Real Time With Bill Maher Cast

Bill Maher .... Host

Real Time With Bill Maher Trivia

Bill Maher hosted another series nearly identical to Real Time With Bill Maher that aired on Comedy Central and later on ABC from 1993-2002. It was titled, "Politically Incorrect" which was probably a better title for describing the show than is "Real Time". That show was cancelled due to declining ratings according to ABC. There was a controversy on Politically Incorrect that most likely contributed to the declining ratings. On the September 17, 2001 episode guest Dinesh D'Souza said that the Saudis who attacked the U.S. six days earlier were not terrorists, rather they were "Warriors". Bill Maher agreed with that statement. They discussed how U.S. influence in the Middle East caused many Arabs to believe that America was trying to destroy their way of life. They went on to say that the U.S. military action during the first Iraqi War had also resulted in the deaths of many innocent Arabs and that American arms sales to Israel threatened Arab lives. Therefore, regardless of how one felt about the righteousness of the September 11th attacks, it was a wartime attack, not a terrorist attack. Many newspeople at the time were also stating that the U.S. should consider how its actions might be influencing the thinking of radicals in the Arab world to perhaps change policies to reduce that type of thinking. Of course, it was way too soon to have a serious discussion of any wrong-doing whatsoever on the part of Americans who were shocked by the horrible attack. It unfortunately will probably continue to be to soon for decades to come.

Ironically, some of the most prolific defenders of Maher's right to express the view that terrorists were really warriors were Conservatives including Rush Limbaugh, Arianna Huffington and David Horowitz!

Just six days after the final episode of Politically Incorrect aired, Bill Maher was awarded the "President's Award" by the "Los Angeles Press Club" for "championing free speech. This reflects what is most certainly Maher's greatest contribution to American society. Regardless of how you feel about his views or how he expresses them, he is without a doubt one of the greatest defenders of the right of free citizens to speak their minds no matter how it might offend others.

It may surprise you to learn that Bill Maher is close friends with Ann Coulter but it really makes quite a lot of sense. Ann could probably be described as Bill's anti-counterpart. She's on the far other end of the political spectrum from Bill but she presents her views in a no-nonsense, no-apologies method just like Bill. They are both unrelenting advocates of free speech and they obviously both respect in other's rights to express opposing viewpoints. It's likely that Liberals find Ann's banter just about as ridiculous as Conservatives find Bill's but hopefully we all join both of them in supporting their right to say what they think.