Smallscreen News

Bill Maher coming back to HBO soon

By Stone Martindale Jul 16, 2007, 0:21 GMT

After a bilious summer so far of "Hey, Paula" and "America's Got Talent", I need the laser sharp thorn in the religious rights side, Bill Maher, my favorite misogynistic connoisseur of black strippers and weed to stir things up again on the tube.

Maher isn't for everyone.  But he is undeniably one of the few people with the huevos to keep it real (from his perspective) and walk his talk.  He isn't pandering and doesn't care if you hate his guts.

"Real Time With Bill Maher," his interesting HBO show is returning from hiatus on August 24th. 

His show opens with a topical monologue (weakest part of the show), then he introduces either a live video feed or the featured person of interest on his set in a one-on-one, then his panel of three distinctly different guests are brought on, who are then fielded questions in a round-table style a la Sunday morning pundit talk shows.

The Daily News reporter Michael Giltz got hold of Maher, who has a comedy special on deck at his mother ship of HBO: "I even love playing the red states," says Maher to Giltz.

Maher will be on HBO July 21 AT 10 pm for his latest stand up special, "The Decider," airing live from Boston.  "San Francisco doesn't need me. But when I play St. Louis or Salt Lake City, those people are really happy that somebody with my views has come to their town," quipped Maher to Giltz of the Daily News.

This will mark his eighth solo HBO comedy special, as he takes on a wide range of social and political issues. HBO notes he will discuss "sex, drugs, Iraq, immigration, the environment and, of course, President Bush."

Giltz notes in his interview with Maher that the tables have turned in his favor, with more people open to his process of dissecting an issue from every conceivable angle.  Maher tells Giltz that "the country is much more in sync with him."

"We're stuck with [President Bush] for the next year and a half," says Maher to Giltz.  Maher said repeatedly he was in support of the war initially. "What I'm sensing out there is frustration. There was acceptance of him and then there was hope ...There was a time when being against Bush was sort of un-American. Those days have ended."