Following the ’06 election, there have been few Republicans who will publicly defend Bush’s war, much less do it on such a liberal-leaning show, so the few existing disagreements have been less than fundamental and more detail-oriented or just downright residual. The current season of the show has been less charged than in the past, and I partly chalk that up to the fact that most of the country seems to be on the same page (or at least the same chapter) when it comes to Real Time’s most common topic of debate: Iraq. Now in its fifth season, the live show wouldn’t seem out of place opposite-or following, since I doubt Maher would ever return to ABC- The Tonight Show or The Late Show with David Letterman, and it would be a much-needed dose of reality on network TV. While Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert continue to skewer Washington and the still-acquiescent media with easy-to-swallow satirical barbs in tidy 30-minute blocks, Maher is tackling politics more directly within the traditional late-night talk show structure on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher: intro monologue, string of celebrity guests, sit-down interviews, and the occasional sketch for comic relief. Ever since the Bush-by-way-of-Disney-owned ABC network cancelled its only viable late-night show in years, Maher’s Politically Incorrect (for living up to its title, no less), basic and premium cable have become the only viable alternatives for dissent in the talk world. I’d like to nominate Bill Maher to replace Conan O’Brien in 2009.
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