I turned on the tube to catch Bill Maher and P.I. for the first time in a long time; it's on at 12:30 PM ET-- not generally worth the wait! Lo and behold, it wasn't on and, in fact, was replaced by some kind of infomercial for travel of all things! I searched abc.com for word about Maher but found nothing in the search. Anybody hear anything?
He made some jackass comments implying that the American military was a group of cowards....last I heard FedEx was cancelling sponsorship of his show and Sears was contemplating doing the same.
http://abc.go.com/primetime/politicallyincorrect/pi_home.html Apparently, certain stations are taking him off the air, but that doesn't mean his show has been totally cancelled. If his show is cancelled, I hope maybe he'll go back to Comedy Central with it. His show was awesome back when it was on Comedy Central. He also has more room to be politically incorrect...
Actually I find his explanation plausible. He is really a supreme smart-ass and that is the reason he has a show with such a name. I don't doubt his patriotism, but he surely should have pulled in the reins with Barbara Olsen's vacant chair haunting the stage. Thanks for the link BGM.
Bill Maher is the voice of dissent Main Entry: dis·sent Pronunciation: di-'sent 1 : to withhold assent 2 : to differ in opinion dissent is healthy in a democracy. those that are quick to pull him off the air are enforcing their station's views of politics, imo. without dissent we wouldn't have a free america. we rose up (dissented) against british rule. this was discussed on his show this past week.. the 'empty chair' episode. I don't think one should squash dissenters, I'm also not taking up for the guy...i hardly watch the show. This is America after all... free speech, blah, blah, blah..
I was wondering about that last night. I turned on the TV and saw Bill Maher. I hit the info button - "Jenny Jones - Wild and Pregnant". I guess the ABC stations showing PI are moving it back.
It was on, and he addressed the situation. I think he did a good job with it and explained what he was trying to point out. It seemed to make him even more bitter - and extremely angry to think that people would say he didn't support our military.
Damn, I generally only watch PI in the summer, but I still think it's a good show. He's got every political science junkie's dream job. Lucky b*stard . Hope he gets some new sponsors. And I hope those tv stations get a clue.
I know I said this earlier, but I'll say it again. That show was at it's finest when it was on Comedy Central. He had so much more freedom with running skits and making comments back then. I think it used to be an hour long show, or at least on special occasions it was an hour long. Plus there were less commercials... Just reminiscing...
Maher's show should definitely be on Comedy Central, as it's one of a select group of programs that's funny without trying to be.
Sponsor dropouts leave future of 'Politically Incorrect' uncertain this is crazy. maybe Comedy Central will pick it up? will the voice of dissent be quashed? rH
I didn't realize that sponsors were required to support dissident voices. People have a right to free speech but no right to be heard. He who has the gold makes the rules. Maher, whether we like it or not, had (and continues to have) a responsibility to not offend advertisers to the point where they pull their ads. He overstepped that (whether we support his comments or not) and now has to pay the consequences for that speech. Personally, I didn't think his comments (in context) were anything to get worked up about. But Sears and Federal Express have every right to not want their ads on his show (and peopel offended by the comments had every right to express their complaints to ABC and to the show's sponsors). Dissent is certainly important, and even if his show is canceled Maher will have every right to say whatever fool thing he wants to say. But again, he has no right to be heard and no right to require ABC to broadcast his show or FedEx or Sears to sponsor a show with viewpoints they don't want to be associated with.
The sponsors have every right to do what they want. However, why would anyone leave a show that has 25 minutes worth of commercials in its 30 minutes.
