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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBill Maher: As He Hits 500 Episodes, the 'Real Time' Host Can't Talk About Trump Much Longer
Bill Maher isnt sure what hell do if Donald Trump is re-elected president next year.
I feel exhausted by this man and by working so hard every week to try to find some new angle, Maher told Variety of his frustration over how much Trump now consumes his show and his life. The prospect of another four years of having to do it looms over me like the sword of Damocles. I cannot tell you how much anxiety that causes me.
Maher has hosted his Emmy-nominated weekly HBO series Real Time since 2003, and the show (now in its 17th season) celebrates its 500th episode this Friday, June 21. Born less than a year after ABC canceled Politically Incorrect, Real Time evolved from that format to focus more on conversations, mostly about politics, with guests from both the celebrity and political world, and from all sides of the political spectrum.
Right now, that means most of the conversation revolves around Trump and whether the Democrats will be able to organize enough of a message and a strategy to take him on next November.
As he prepared to host his 500th Real Time, Maher spoke to Variety about the evolution of him and the show, as well as how he often angers liberal audiences as much as he does conservatives (and why he wears that as a badge of honor). He also addressed a recent on-air debate with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), how he doesnt encounter conservative audiences, whether anything has changed under HBOs new WarnerMedia/AT&T leadership and whether he fears saying or doing something that gets him canceled like what happened with ABC in 2002.
The host has often courted controversy including a 2017 episode that got him into some hot water for referencing a racial slur but he also notes that controversy is part of the Bill Maher brand. If it ends with me getting canceled or fired, Ive been through that before, he said. All I know is the technology keeps changing, and every time it does, all I hear is, But they need content. Well, Im content, so I think Ill be okay.
A transcript of that interview, edited for length and clarity, follows.
Much more: https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/bill-maher-real-time-hbo-trump-politically-incorrect-1203249574/
CREDIT: COURTESY OF HBO
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)He may not have much of a choice, unfortunately. I would rather not hear about him either.
Rhiannon12866
(205,993 posts)But I just ran across it and thought it was pretty interesting. And I'm willing to bet that the other late night hosts feel the same way. Trump is a pox on this country and the jokes are increasingly outrageous and painful.