Bill Maher’s show was far less controversial this week, at least in terms of what the guests said on the show. As the host pointed out many times, there were more protestors outside the studio for Rep. Darrell Issa than last week’s Milo episode, with Maher blaming last week’s deadly storms in California. It wasn’t the only time that Maher brought up last week’s controversy, once again taking some form of credit for the Breitbart personality’s downfall by letting the sun “shine” on him with his interview. Though Milo’s CPAC invitation and the tape that led to that invitation being rescinded were publicized after the interview and were knowledge before Maher entered the picture, it must fall in that safe proximity where the host can claim credit alongside the other things.
This would be fine if Maher didn’t decide to target the media at the very end of the episode in his “New Rules” segment. While most of his criticism is understandable, the idea that media needs to get serious seems like a bit of cherry picking. He’s not only a bit late to the party that chastised the news for propping up Trump above other candidates for ratings, but he’s also using puff news pieces to show that journalists aren’t being “serious” about their jobs.
There’s plenty that’s right with this segment, including how the news is meant to be for the public good but has been made part of the profit game by the entities that own the news. But this type of segment is hard to stomach after Maher’s own chance to be serious in last week’s interview with Yiannopoulos and how many critics felt he missed his chance. He’s got the luxury of saying he’s not a journalist, though. He just shares his opinions on TV.
After the defense, Maher and his panel moved on to brighter topics, like Kyrie Irving, flat earth truth, and Donald Trump. Those three aren’t connected, but Seth MacFarlane couldn’t help tying flat Earth into Trump support. “You’re entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts,” according to the Family Guy creator and it created a mini-discussion with Asra Nomani that Maher tried to steer back to Irving.
It wasn’t the only hectic moment of the night with MacFarlane, who had his mug of booze mixed up with Rep. Issa’s water. This led to a humorous return for Issa later in the show, who was booed during his interview below.
The Trump discussion continued into the “Overtime” segment and led to MacFarlane revealing the two faces of Trump he saw while playing roastmaster for the Comedy Central roast of the current president. The consensus seems to be that Trump is a pretty boring guy when the cameras aren’t turned on, like your typical boring business man. Then his public persona is the loud, boastful, and controversial demagogue that managed to roll his way over the finish line for the White House — roll because of the campaign’s numerous shakeups during the election.
And finally, Maher tackled the Oscars with his brand of edgy humor, drawing some groans from the audience and earning them a middle finger in return.
(Via Real Time)
