This season has been good. They've started doing little visual gags during the panel and it flows a bit better than last season. Last week there was an interview with a guy that talked about Apple's factories in China. Seth McFarlane is a usual guest, as is Neil Tyson.

By far one of my favorites. Was an interesting piece on Apple and how they employ lots of Chinese labor that works in horrid conditions. Shocked at the reply from Apple PR that people care more about the latest iphone than working conditions in China

You are correct been a great season

This has been my favorite show on television since Sopranos/Deadwood ended. I never started a thread, though, because I didn't think it was very discussable (wow, that's a word? SpellCheck is OK with it!). Just seems like any thread is going to regress to Politard very quickly.

Haven't seen the latest ep yet, though.

One thing I like is Bill's frustration by his time constraints ("Gotta wrap this up, there are folks out there who don't want to miss the first few minutes of Taxi Cab Confessions.") He obv pines for the Howard Stern model of "we're done when we're done."

Bill Maher Stands Up For Ron Paul & Calls His Audience "Brainwashed Liberals"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3itRooIkSo

i used to watch his show back when i was a brainwashed liberal... now that i'm a libertarian... i can't stand his show anymore. but i loved seeing this clip... maybe there's hope for bill after all.

hes too liberal for my liking imo

If I was a liberal I would ****ing love this show.

Mind explaining why being libertarian made the show worse for you? Bill is libertarian so what's the deal here?

When I think 'liberal pundit' i think Jon Stewart.

your not watching the show if you think he isnt a full on liberal

Maher is more of a far left liberal. I doubt he agrees with Paul on getting rid of social programs so he's not a libertarian. I think his view last year was that the Democrats didn't go far enough on health care reform. His stance on drugs is libertarian but that might be it.

I like the show. Last week's panel was a little weak but I think it was the episode before that where I almost turned it off because Congressman Rohrabacher just kept spouting off Republican talking points and not letting anyone else speak. Bill looked like he was getting pissed and I kept wondering how that guy got elected in California. And that Kennedy woman sitting next to him was just as annoying.

Kennedy was one of the most annoying guests he's had on the show.

I'm not a fan of Hitchens at all, but him destroying Maher on his own show was absolutely fantastic.

We should make a daily show/colbert/real time superthread IMO.

Last weeks episode was really good, and blew away the week before, with that annoying right-wing radio chick, what a horrible voice she has. I'd hit it tho.

Just watched the latest. The Apple/China stuff was very moving, as were the education stats they threw around. But that Suze Ormand was this week's unbearable panelist. I had to actually lower the volume every time she took the floor.

But that skinny chick last week, Madonn'! Easily the most annoying guest in the history of the show, hope we never see her again. Actually, I hope we never HEAR her again, seeing her wouldn't be so bad. Also, loved Bill slamming the door on the California Congressman guy when he went after Obama.

CCG: This President is gutting our military!

BILL: You Repubs are making **** up a gain! He's ADDED to the military budget, three years running!

CCG: (indignant) You don't know anything.

BILL: (whips out paper) These are facts, not opinions! Here are the numbers!

CCG: Yeah, but you don't know that he's proposing to CUT military spending next year!

BILL: But I do know that. And I know the proposed cut is 1%!!!!! How can you come on here, point to that, and call it "gutting the military"????

CCG: Um, er, uh....you don't know anything!

BTW, like Bill, who isn't much older than me, my own politics have veered sharply from right-to-left over the past 20 years or so. I was still pretty conservative when "The West Wing" premiered in 2000, and when people would tell me they couldn't enjoy it because it portrayed a liberal administration, I would tell them, "Well, you're letting that stop you from watching one of the best shows in the history of television."

It's sad that we've so demonized "the other side" of the political debate, that we've let it divide us so much.

(I'm fighting so hard not to politard this thread, I'm just going to stop now. I'll be shocked if this thread last a week. How can you discuss a political show without speaking about politics?)

Well maybe if we all behave ourselves it won't be a big problem. So far no one is fighting or anything.

I'll agree about the kennedy girl being annoying. "In yoga, we call that 'losing our center'" lol. there another woman on last season I hated but I've mostly deleted her from my memory.

They should have joe rogan on the panel.

nothing annoys me more than when bill maher calls himself a libertarian. he thinks that just because he does drugs and doesn't like federal government drug laws... that this automatically makes him a libertarian.

he loves big government. he's a socialist/communist. he was a big obama supporter. though i like the fact that he's waking up to how phony obama is.

he also understands nothing about economics.

he never has real libertarians on his show (other than ron paul who has been on a couple of times).

back when i was a brainwashed liberal, i used to think that maher and his guests were smart and discussed real issues. now that i understand economics and the principles of liberty, they just seem like a bunch of bumbling fools. i would love to get on that panel and have a real debate with them.

+1

that would be awesome. joe rogan knows a lot more about what really goes on in the world than maher... that's for sure.

A decade ago this guy was one of the cutting edge libertarian minded up and comers. How he morphed into a left-wing nut job is a a mystery to me.

He does not amuse me.

Except- I caught his reverse-baptism for Romney's dead grandfather and found it A+

she was an MTV VJ in the 90s - she def lost some baby fat:



disagree on the super thread - the other shows are pure liberal - at least Maher usually has one repub on the panel - and btw he is not nearly as liberal as michael moore

With Barney Frank being a recent guest and Bill's known advocacy for civil liberties such as legalizing pot, I'm really surprised that nobody has ever used this forum for the online poker issue.

Guests for tonights show: Peter Galbraith, Mo Rocca, Minton Beddoes, Reihan Selam, Al Sharpton.

Wonder how it'll go, only names I recognize are Reihan and Sharpton.

wasnt a great one. Al Sharpton sure looked thin

Reihan and Sharpton are always good on this, love arguing like crazy. Interesting discussion about the bailouts and Santorum.

Pretty good episode. Reihan alwasy does a good job on the show. Normally cant stand Sharpton, but he was ok too. Thought the Economist editor was fine as well. Mo Rocca was a complete non factor. New Rules wasn't as good as normal, but whatever.

Yeah the second guest hasn't been great. I don't know why they feel the need to bring on someone just to plug something and then sit around saying nothing afterwards. Either move it closer to the end, so that they do new rules immediately after or just drop it.

I actually love when the second guest is a good comedian. They bring them in for a little relief if the debates been raging.