I’m not sure if there has already been a thread about this but…
I’m a big fan of PI on ABC and the SDMB seems to deal with these same issues. What do ytou guys think of the show leaving forever? Also, can someone post a link to Bill’s new website? I want you guys to discuss the site and how you think it will affect his audience. I think we should alert him to straightdope message boards in some way, because the type of people who post here seem to be his target audience: smart, insightful, and skeptical (for the most part ).
Personally, I’m disappointed that “Politically Incorrect” is going off the air. I’ve always enjoyed the show, even when I’ve disagreed with Maher and/or his guests.
I’m glad they’re getting rid of it. Maher’s snotty attitude was really irritating, and the whole premise of the show was utter phony intellectual bullshit.
Politically Incorrect started out as a really good show, but degraded drastically over the past few years. Maher lost control of it at some point, and his own views became increasingly wacky.
In the early days, Maher would have on two ‘serious’ guests like heads of think tanks or politicians, and balance them off with two hollywood stars. And they would have a serious attempt at a debate, with some humor injected.
At the end, it was an incoherent cacaphony of idiots yelling over each other. Maher stopped bringing on serious people, and instead brought on a parade of flakes from the fringes of the various parties. Many nights it would just be four hollywood yammerheads who collectively couldn’t break 200 for an IQ. It all got really painful to watch.
I’m gonna have to agree with Sam Stone here. I really enjoyed the show when it was on Comedy Central. Then it was moved to ABC. And then it became a joke. They were bringing on people who really didn’t know what the hell they were talking about, who just made ideological points with nothing really to back it up. It was like Crossfire (another show I despise) but without the credentials. That’s when I stopped watching.
PI got cancelled because Bill Maher was a “September 10” kind of guy. He said the same sorts of things he always had said–pointed, controversial, critical, sarcastic–after September 11, and America’s sensibilities had changed. Couldn’t be critical–not patriotic. Couldn’t question the government–there’s a war on… Couldn’t look for causes, couldn’t try to understand–that’s aiding the enemy, being an apologist, that’s un-American! Yeah, he said some crap, maybe he was serious, maybe he was trying to get a reaction. He didn’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater, though, so he had the right to say it. ABC waited long enough to not look completely knee-jerk about the whole thing, and they’re well within their own rights to cancel him, but it would be refreshing if they’d admit they cancelled him because he tried to make people think.
What disenchanted me from the show was Alyson Hannigan being mocked by the American Pimp, with Maher and the airhead actor what’s his name encouraging the pimp. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Kallessa. I think I agree with the others who say that the show was on its way out–before 9/11. Commercial tv just brings everything down to its lowest common denominator.
I agree. That show was the perfect example of how people have gotten confused into thinking that there’s something noble about just being assinine. That you’re bucking the system and not catering to the over-sensitive “politically-correct” mentality, when in reality you’re just being selfish, self-righteous, self-indulgent, or just plain obnoxious.
Maher and his fans can rationalize it away all they want by saying that they were victims of a hyper-sensitive post-9/11 climate, but the fact is that the show was bound to implode sooner or later. You can’t survive just off a panel of people trying desperately to be controversial and/or funny; they’ve got to have some knowledge to be able to support what they’re saying.
Oddly enough, the remarks that finally got Maher’s show cancelled were remarks I wholeheartedly agreed with. Suicide bombers may be evil, but they’re certainly not cowardly.
Fact remains, though, outrage over those remarks wasn’t the reason “P.I.” got cancelled. It just gave ABC an excuse to do something they’d been on the verge of doing for a long time.
I USED to watch the show regularly, and even when Maher outraged me, he was usually clever and interesting. And it was often a revelation when guests I’d thought were idiots turned out to have positive IQs and well thought out positions on serious issues.
Still, he stopped being interesting or clever several years ago, and just became smug and mean. I used to love the show, but I hadn’t watched it at all in over a year. I’m sorry to say that I won’t miss it.
Still, Maher is a talented, smart guy, and I hope he finds success with a different format. I also hope he doesn’t draw the erroneous conclusion that his post 9/11 remarks are the only (or even the primary) reason he got canned.
I’ll agree that the show was more uneven after it left Comedy Central. Whether it was Maher or ABC, PI often seemed to try to hard. The show had gotten too aware of itself, and at least half the Time I watched it, I was annoyed that the panel seemed to be deliberately set up to get people to just shout at each other–people who saw their issue in black and white, with an “either for us or against us” mentality. You can’t discuss issues with closed minds, but having well defined opinions is different than being close minded. I liked it when Maher had on guests, regardless of who they were, wo would listen to another point of view, and respond with arguments specific to what the other guy had just said.
Sure, PI would have been cancelled, or, better yet, Maher would have ended it, eventually, and I don’t consider the show a “victim” of anything–I would not demean victims in that way. But the mood or mentality of this country has shifted in the past year, and it has had an impact on the kinds of political discussions that the major networks are willing to support. Even though it had actually lost its true edge years ago, PI suddenly became riskier, and ABC was not willing to keep backing that risk.
I used to love PI, but when it moved to ABC, I thought it became worthless. The discussion segments were so short – am I wrong, or did they seem to last only about 3 minutes at times? I also agree with the comments that the calibre of guests took a major downturn. 2/3 politicians, 1/2 Hollywood cranks = potential to be entertaining and interesting. 4 Hollywood cranks = an irritating, ignorant mess.
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