CNN - 'Politically Incorrect' Bill Maher bares chest, soul
'Politically Incorrect' Bill Maher bares chest, soul
| Maher |
August 12, 1999
Web posted at: 12:54 p.m. EDT (1654 GMT)
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Among those in the television world preparing for the Emmys is Bill Maher, whose "Politically Incorrect" talk show is up for two awards. But that's not the most important thing going on for the wisecracking analyst-comic. He has a new stand-up act, he's planning a TV special and he's just done a show in which all the guests wore swimsuits.
"One day we were talking about the fact that when you go in for a job interview, you should imagine that the person who's interviewing you is naked, so you have a psychological advantage," Maher told CNN Showbiz Today's Jim Moret.
"I said, 'Well, what would happen if we did a show of our normally contentious, fighting panel, in which everyone is nearly naked? This summer let's do a bathing-suit show. Let's see how that changes the dynamic of the panel.'"
While it's the first time that "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher" has been done with so little clothing, the attitude is typical of the show's host.
Easy cable-to-network shift
His show started in 1993 on Comedy Central. Then, in 1997, it arrived on ABC's schedule -- as a late-night offering, to be sure, yet with surprisingly few changes, given that some viewers thought network TV could never embrace the always-outspoken Maher.
Over the years, Maher and his eclectic groups of guests -- a recent show discussing condoms in prison featured "Spin City" actor Alexander Chaplin and Cyndi Mosteller, founder of America Deserves an Honorable President -- have drawn what Maher calls "a small but very rabid following, who would do anything for me. A little army of 'Politically Incorrect' people."
While politicians appear on the show regularly, Maher considers the show first and foremost a comedy program. "Most of the guests are celebrity, showbiz types, people who hang around CBS where we tape," he says.
One category he refers to graciously as "mature" includes Grace Slick and Don Henley.
"But it mixes -- that's always been the thrust of the show: to mix all different types of people, the comedian with the politician with the journalist with the actress, whatever they are. And not ask them interview questions, ask them what they think about what's going on in the world."
In the course of every show, Maher says his real requirement of his guests is honesty. "That's the one thing that will get me going -- my BS radar goes up if I hear a lie, and I'll call people on it. But as long as you tell the truth here about whatever it is, we're cool."
A standout stand-up comedian
When he's not hosting his show, Maher can also be seen on the stand-up comedy circuit. There, he's been known to tell his audiences that the country isn't cynical enough for his tastes: "If you think that Rosie O'Donnell and Penny Marshall are getting their clothes at Kmart," he says, "you need to get more cynical, not less cynical."
The comic has a new act and plans a new HBO special next year -- to be his fifth. "After you do one, you have no material left, because you just blew it on TV," he says. "So like for the next year you have to get pregnant again, you know what I mean? You have to get more material."
He says he finds it particularly important to get new material so he can resist the people in his audience who egg him to do an old bit.
"Comedy is not like music," Maher says. "They don't want to hear the same thing, most people, over and over again. If they just saw you do your special, then they don't want to come and see the same thing, because jokes are like virginity. It's a match, it's over."
Get more cynical
A cynical attitude isn't just a bit from his routine -- it's a personal stance he urges others to adopt. "I think I'm going to call the special, 'Get More Cynical,'" he says, "because all we hear in this country is, you know, we're too cynical.
"And I think we're not cynical enough. I think we have to get more cynical, because we're too stupid; we're too naive; we're too easily sold to; we're too easily scared by the people who sell us products. And one of those products is politics, and politicians.
"And until we catch on to their tricks and can resist the advertising, we're going to be in the bad shape we're in. We need to be more cynical about it, yes."
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'Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher'
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