I think the Fox on Nascar guy, Chris Mathews, Michael Steele would be a great panel.

Cornell West is always awesome

Yeah I like him, Dyson, Hitchens, that guy that is mayor of San Francisco I think.

March 17, 2006. He was beyond obnoxious on that episode. To the point Bill told him he was out of line. He was bullying a Republican House Rep. He wouldn't let her even speak and he was cursing up a storm towards her. It was just out of line and uncalled for. Tactless. I say this and I'm no fan of Republicans but am a fan of fucking cursing.


Say it, brother! Cornell is awesome.

One guest he's had on a couple of times, who I am totally at odds with ideologically, is Dana Loesch and damn is she fine. She is total eye-candy and I would love to debate on, I mean with, her.

Ah 2006, a bit before I started watching in late 07, would like to see how crazy he was though.

Dana Loesch is great to look at and all but she's fairly uninformed on the issues, debating from a position of what feels "right." Her last appearance, they were talking about which red states are "welfare states" in that they get more federal money back per dollar than blue states, which pay more in taxes but get less, and she disagreed with that fact.

Dana Loesch lost all credibility in that episode when she honestly said she wanted Michelle Bachmann as a presidential candidate. (Can't remember if that comment was made in the main show or the Overtime part of the show)

I think it was this season, but i remember the last time dl hugley was on, and the topic was on taking the n word out of rap music, and at first DL was hesitant, but Bill reminded him "hey, its HBO, go ahead, you can say it, i can't", and then DL went on a tangent using it like 15 times in a minute. Made me laugh

I totally agree. I like when has all of those people on the show.

But what about conservative suggestions? Bill doesn't have trouble finding interesting and/or intelligent liberal panelists.

He just had the former RNC Communications Director on. He's had Republican House representatives several times. He's recently had Michael Steele, Bill O'Reilly, Dana Loesch (Tea Party), conservative columnists, etc. He's had Meghan McCain on before, too.

Are you implying none of these were interesting or intelligent representatives of the conservative viewpoint?

Yes, I agree. And her comment about collective bargaining not being an inalienable right provided by the constitution, while technically right, showed a certain amount of naivety. Neither is the right to drive. What is an inalienable right, is the right to vote. Collective bargaining was made a right by the electorate voted in by the will of the people. While the electorate can strip away that right, they will likely pay the price if it is not the true will of the people. I think we'll see that in WI given that Brown didn't campaign on that issue and therefore wasn't enacting the will of the people.

To me that's just indicative of her role...hot cheerleader. Team could be losing by 50 and she's still smiling & doing flips.

I've been watching the show for years now and he seems to try and bring on more from the right. The first episode this season had Andrew Breitbart and Amy Holmes on there. There's been more episodes of at least 1 from the right and sometimes 2.

Did anyone remember the episode when Eddie Griffin was on? It was a few years back. He was probably the absolute worst guest I've ever seen on there. I remember almost every topic they discussed, he had no clue what was going on and looked totally lost. I remember Bill gave him a "WTF?" look at one of his comments. I felt like he wanted him off the set about 5 minutes into the show.

As far as favorite guests, I definitely enjoy it when DL Hughley is on. He's always hilarious. I also like when they have Dana Gould as well. He's been very funny the last couple of times he's on. I'd love to see Ben Affleck again too.

No. I'm "implying" their numbers pale in comparison to the number of liberals who frequent the show.

LOL, how apt!

Since when is Maher obligated to have a certain quota of conservatives on his show? Am I missing something?

Dyson?

I see enough of him on his vacuum cleaner commercials.


If you're talking about Eric Michael Dyson (or Michael Eric Dyson...I never can remember which), I find him hilarious because his shtick is to talk so fast that the audience can't process much of what he's saying and thus won't call b.s. on him.

After all, his show is called LibeReal Time.

To be fair, I think Maher is willing to have more right wing guests on his show. But it's a hostile crowd and an unsympathetic (often vicious) host. They're probably not going to win any of the viewers over. At best, they come out unscathed. At worst, they say something stupid and the soundbite haunts them forever.

Exactly. I'm pretty sure Maher would LOVE to have someone like Bachman or Gingrich on, but they would get torn asunder, and they know it.

If that tearing asunder is coming at the hands of the host, who can blame them? Bill's audience is a direct reflection of him. There are conservatives who live in CA and who are visiting CA who would otherwise be in the audience, but why bother when the host will treat the people you like (and really.. by extension, you) with disrespect? And it isn't just shouting down. He'll also change the subject prematurely if he doesn't like what he's hearing. His right, but I think conservatives see through it.

I think some of you have either forgotten what the show used to be like or are relatively recent viewers. I go back to Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central. I remember people like Ron Paul, Jesse Ventura, and even Arianna Huffington back when she was a conservative. And Dennis Miller. There was one conservative guy who'd come on, though I forget his name, who I really liked. He wasn't a politician. More like whatever Ann Coulter is (except sane). I'm pretty sure he wrote for an on-line paper, but I don't think it was the Weekly Standard. The guy kind of looked like Robbie Benson circa 1980's, but without the fluffy hair.

Anyway, it's Bill's show to do with as he pleases, but I find it much less "edutainment" than it used to be. Right now, it's just shilling.

I think Maher is a lot more fair to his conservative guests than O'Reilly is to his liberal guests.

Coulter's a good example; he used to have her on all the time, back when she was just slightly insane, before she went full-bore bonkers. Again, I'm sure she has an open-invite, but she won't go because deep down, she knows her shit won't hold up to proper scrutiny.

I've been watching for well over 10 years. I watched for years when his Politically Incorrect show was on ABC and followed Nightline.

He bashes Democrats constantly, too. He's been extremely critical of their actions & stances. Ideologically he is more aligned with them but not to the point he's blind to criticizing them.

I would argue he's much nicer to his conservative guests than O'Reilly, Beck, & Limbaugh are to their liberal.

I have been watching Maher all the way back to the days at Comedy Central, and have seen his arc to a complete liberal democrat talking point. Now Maher always leaned liberal, especially on social issues, but he was more moderate fiscally back in the day.

What changed Maher through the years? He went from political outsider who was edgy, now he is a political insider who is friends with all on the left now. When he was on ABC, he was never a mouthpiece for the left, as he would go after Clinton all the time (except he was consistent throughout the Lewinsky scandal, and thought Clinton should be able to get blowjobs without the American people needing to know about it.)

Once he came to HBO, that is when he started to become friends with all the left insiders. They routinely go on his show and tell him how great he is for their cause. You would never see mainstream liberals applaud Maher in the ABC days, because of fear of being associated with his edgy, out of line jokes. So Maher plays up to all his friends on the left now, and along with Jon Stewart, they are the darling of late night TV to them.

His jokes were never one sided as he would take shots at both parties equally. Now his monologue is 95% republican jokes, and a liberal joke here and there. He also rails against the tea party, Sarah Palin and religion on EVERY show. Now as I have said, I actually agree with him on those issues, but for god's sake its not funny if you do the same joke every week!

I agree that he seems to tell the same jokes practically every week.

But he constantly refers to Democrats as pussies etc. He makes fun of Obama too.

I always loved Politically Incorrect on ABC in the late 90s, but this is just a different show.

I've seen his stand-up act live a few times, and I think he's much funnier in that forum.

Bill Maher truly doesn't give a fuck. He says whatever he wants whenever he wants.