S18.E26: Peter Strzok, Ewan McGregor, Jessica Yellin, Peter Hamby

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Peter Strzok, Ewan McGregor, Jessica Yellin, Peter Hamby

Original air date 2020.09.11

[GoldenGirl90]

Shoutout to Peter Hamby for countering Bill Maher’s paranoia and doomsday predictions about the election. 

There’s a lot to be said, but since it wasn’t discussed I’ll just repeat what Peter said because it bears repeating: Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. 2020 isn’t 2016. Of course that doesn’t mean “don’t worry about anything at all,” but it also doesn’t mean freak out and be extremely paranoid like Bill Maher. 

[deirdra]

Isn't pink eye one of the symptoms of COVID-19?

I'm not paranoid, but saying the election is in the bag can cause a lot of lazy people to not bother voting.

Edited September 12, 2020 by deirdra

[GoldenGirl90]

1 hour ago, deirdra said:

Isn't pink eye one of the symptoms of COVID-19?

I'm not paranoid, but saying the election is in the bag can cause a lot of lazy people to not bother voting.

Oh yeah it’s definitely not in the bag and I don’t think either of Bill’s guests said that, but week after week Bill goes on these paranoid doomsday rants. That was my only point.

Edited September 12, 2020 by GoldenGirl90

[Robert Lynch]

9 hours ago, GoldenGirl90 said:

Oh yeah it’s definitely not in the bag and I don’t think either of Bill’s guests said that, but week after week Bill goes on these paranoid doomsday rants. That was my only point.

I am tired of those rants! They are typical "the sky is falling" mantra that makes me roll my eyes. I don't need doom and gloom on TV.

[Victor the Crab]

12 hours ago, deirdra said:

I'm not paranoid, but saying the election is in the bag can cause a lot of lazy people to not bother voting.

Like what GoldenGirl said, this is not 2016. So many people know what's on the line this time around. And besides, ranting about how the Democrats are doomed, like what Bill keeps whining about, and what Michael Moore likewise did four yeas ago, will cause people to stay home and not vote a lot more than overconfidence.

Bill just has to have his studio and audience back, in the middle of a severe pandemic, because he's such a narcissistic personality disorder.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Isn't pink eye one of the symptoms of COVID-19?

I have never seen Bill look this baked before. You could barely see his eyes they were so glassy. Wow. I know weed is legal in CA and Bill is a big fan but can't he even do his one hour show without toking up beforehand? He's got a problem if he needs to be high to do his job. It's really no different than needing to be drunk to do your job.

[BrownBear2012]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I have never seen Bill look this baked before. You could barely see his eyes they were so glassy. Wow. I know weed is legal in CA and Bill is a big fan but can't he even do his one hour show without toking up beforehand? He's got a problem if he needs to be high to do his job. It's really no different than needing to be drunk to do your job.

Exactly...I started noticing this with him a few seasons ago. There were a number of shows where it was apparent he was high as a kite. Wonder if he's still vaping...COVID is twice as bad for people who vape. Even without COVID it can create "popcorn" lungs. For all his preachy stuff about fat people and eating healthy he probably does more damage to his health by vaping weed.

Edited September 12, 2020 by BrownBear2012

[BrownBear2012]

15 hours ago, GoldenGirl90 said:

Shoutout to Peter Hamby for countering Bill Maher’s paranoia and doomsday predictions about the election. 

There’s a lot to be said, but since it wasn’t discussed I’ll just repeat what Peter said because it bears repeating: Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. 2020 isn’t 2016. Of course that doesn’t mean “don’t worry about anything at all,” but it also doesn’t mean freak out and be extremely paranoid like Bill Maher. 

Bill is a negative person. He is highly critical and unsupportive of most Democrats and has been leaning right with a libertarian slant for awhile now. He's turned into a grumpy old man. 

[Gothish520]

I know he's known for interrupting and talking over his guests, but him constantly cutting off Jessica Yellin seemed especially egregious this episode. Maybe it's just because he hasn't been face-to-face with guests for awhile and I got used to him actually letting people talk via Zoom.

I did enjoy getting back to the regular format (for the most part), but Yellin was about to make a point or two that I wanted to hear.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Gothish520

[BrownBear2012]

4 minutes ago, Gothish520 said:

I know he's known for interrupting and talking over his guests, but him constantly cutting off Jessica Yellin seemed especially egregious this episode. Maybe it's just because he hasn't been face-to-face with guests for awhile and I got used to him actually letting people talk via Zoom.

I did enjoy getting back to the regular format (for the most part), but Yellin was about to make a point or two that I wanted to hear.

He does this to a lot of female guests. He's a misogynist...and unless it's Bari Weiss, he really hasn't much use for women and their opinions.

[littlepaw]

Bill does exactly what right-wing talking heads do. He takes  isolated incidents and make them sound like they happen every day. As in, the white woman passing herself off as black. The protesters harassing the restaurant diner. And he just had to get a dig in about "spoiled kids" who eventually go to college and "can't listen to other viewpoints" (obviously STILL can't get over the Berkeley thing from six years ago). When was the last time he criticized Trump, or for that matter, anybody on the right?  I get the concern about this election (laws, yes I do) But this overwrought hand-wringing is ridiculous and serves no purpose. 

[DB in CMH]

This week in long-lost siblings Jessica and Peter talk to their crazy dad...

That look they shot each other when Bill said the more people will pretend to be black was HILARIOUS. Like "are you hearing this?!?"

[Milburn Stone]

5 hours ago, Victor the Crab said:

Bill just has to have his studio and audience back, in the middle of a severe pandemic, because he's such a narcissistic personality disorder.

It sounded to me like his audience was his own staff plus flacks paid to laugh.

Whether that's better or worse, I don't know. 

[heatherchandler]

17 hours ago, GoldenGirl90 said:

Oh yeah it’s definitely not in the bag and I don’t think either of Bill’s guests said that, but week after week Bill goes on these paranoid doomsday rants. That was my only point.

Peter Hamby said something like it’s “baked,” which I think he means that people are definitely voting Biden.  He is relying on poll data, which is wildly unreliable.  This guy is in a bubble.  I’m in democratic Illinois and judging by lawn signs in my area, Trump is the favorite.

No one knows what’s going to happen, polls never tell the whole story.

 

2 hours ago, Gothish520 said:

I know he's known for interrupting and talking over his guests, but him constantly cutting off Jessica Yellin seemed especially egregious this episode. Maybe it's just because he hasn't been face-to-face with guests for awhile and I got used to him actually letting people talk via Zoom.

I did enjoy getting back to the regular format (for the most part), but Yellin was about to make a point or two that I wanted to hear.

I’m glad he cut her off, she is either an idiot or lying.  I’d never heard of her before.  She doesn’t think there is much destruction, only a few blocks here and there.. and thinks looting is ok.  I don’t understand if she’s not watching ANY news at all??  And re: looting- how anyone can look at a person who has a family owned store that was burned to the ground and say that.  There are real people behind some of these businesses with real children who need to eat.  
 

Also when she said she speaks to women swing voters “all day” and they don’t ever talk about the protests, or looting.. I don’t believe her.  

[tessaray]

I normally listen to the podcast version of the show but I decided to watch the return to the studio with real guests edition. And it was okay - the format, anyway.  (Though the lighting in the Zoom segments was off.)  In his home-filmed shows, it seemed like he was headed toward a nervous breakdown without the studio and an audience but now that he has that, he's still bitter about the limitations - whining about the strength of the laughs and snide asides re: the social distancing/size of the audience.  At least, I couldn't tell if he was just commenting on the new format or doing that passive aggressive, put upon thing he does.  

While his interview with Ewan McGregor was painful to sit through, Obi-Wan himself was looking very, very fine. 😊 

But holy cow, Bill needs an intervention.  Real Time is hard to watch sober. 

[Victor the Crab]

3 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

It sounded to me like his audience was his own staff plus flacks paid to laugh.

Whether that's better or worse, I don't know. 

If that's the case, then it's definitely worse!

[BrownBear2012]

7 hours ago, littlepaw said:

Bill does exactly what right-wing talking heads do. He takes  isolated incidents and make them sound like they happen every day. As in, the white woman passing herself off as black. The protesters harassing the restaurant diner. And he just had to get a dig in about "spoiled kids" who eventually go to college and "can't listen to other viewpoints" (obviously STILL can't get over the Berkeley thing from six years ago). When was the last time he criticized Trump, or for that matter, anybody on the right?  I get the concern about this election (laws, yes I do) But this overwrought hand-wringing is ridiculous and serves no purpose. 

He still whining about college kids? That's just proof he's turned into Grandpa Simpson.

[Robert Lynch]

Grandpa Simpson...ha!

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[DB in CMH]

9 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Peter Hamby said something like it’s “baked,” which I think he means that people are definitely voting Biden.  He is relying on poll data, which is wildly unreliable.  This guy is in a bubble.  I’m in democratic Illinois and judging by lawn signs in my area, Trump is the favorite.

No one knows what’s going to happen, polls never tell the whole story.

 

I’m glad he cut her off, she is either an idiot or lying.  I’d never heard of her before.  She doesn’t think there is much destruction, only a few blocks here and there.. and thinks looting is ok.  I don’t understand if she’s not watching ANY news at all??  And re: looting- how anyone can look at a person who has a family owned store that was burned to the ground and say that.  There are real people behind some of these businesses with real children who need to eat.  
 

Also when she said she speaks to women swing voters “all day” and they don’t ever talk about the protests, or looting.. I don’t believe her.  

That was her point. The media is amplifying damage that, in a city like Portland, is mostly confined to a few blocks. Yes, it sucks to be in those two blocks, but let's put it in perspective. I wish she had gotten to finish her story about what those Suburban women's actual concerns were. I would venture a guess that it is the 200,000 dead from a pandemic that has radically rearranged how every American lives their daily lives.

For the record, I live in a city that Fox news says was "destroyed" by riots over the summer.  Only not so much. That's exactly what the two guests were getting at before Bill jumped down their throats.

Edited September 13, 2020 by DB in CMH

[Milburn Stone]

Just idle curiosity...I didn't watch from the beginning so I don't know the answer. Was the show truly "live" from the studio? (I.e., going out to America in real time as it was happening?) One of the downfalls of the home version was those episodes were clearly pre-recorded before the day-of, because the comedic material was day-old at best. 

[heatherchandler]

8 hours ago, DB in CMH said:

That was her point. The media is amplifying damage that, in a city like Portland, is mostly confined to a few blocks. Yes, it sucks to be in those two blocks, but let's put it in perspective. I wish she had gotten to finish her story about what those Suburban women's actual concerns were. I would venture a guess that it is the 200,000 dead from a pandemic that has radically rearranged how every American lives their daily lives.

For the record, I live in a city that Fox news says was "destroyed" by riots over the summer.  Only not so much. That's exactly what the two guests were getting at before Bill jumped down their throats.

But it’s not just a few blocks in Portland, it was in Chicago, LA, New York, etc.  So why does Yellin minimize it?  I truly don’t understand that way of thinking, what’s her angle?

But even if we are only focusing on those few Portland blocks, the small businesses in that area are destroyed.  Why is Yellin pretending to be ok with this?  I think that’s what Bill is so confused about.  
 

I live in a city that WAS destroyed.  They are still cleaning up the glass, and trying to reopen the stores.  But it’s also the morale of the city that is broken, people are sick of the destruction.  The people who live in the suburbs do not want to go downtown to go to dinner, so the restaurants that have just recently reopened are hurting again.  I know that the swing voters here are talking about this.

[Yves]

That's it for me.  For years Ive hung in while he talks over his guests and is dismissive of any counterpoints. 

It's been clear for a while he just wants to keep hearing the sound of his own voice. I enjoy his guests, I thinking booking does a great job. 
Monologues - are mostly elbow jab humour backed up by his laughing before he gets the punchline out. That works against the laugh in my mind. We're not idiots, we get there's a joke coming, his laughing doesn't make it funnier.
Guests - if he could shut up long enough to let his guests finish their sentence... Why not just put plants in the chairs and he can just talk all show about what he thinks of the guests book, show, latest initiative. 
The last straw was him interrupting Jessica on Sept 11 when she was about to comment on what swing women were talking about and he came back with that"Lululemon" comment.  Peter jumped in and we never heard what was the temperature of that group. 
How about be quiet and let's hear what your guests have to say.

Maher lacks interviewing skills and I get he's a comedian first and really likes to shoot the shit about his political ideas but it sure would be nice for HBO to have a show with similar guest booking and a host that can throw out a clever comment and still have you feel like you didn't just get to see what the guests were wearing....

Sure wish George Stephanopolous was funnier... 

I'll continue my search for a less aggravating replacement. 
 

[Gothish520]

18 hours ago, tessaray said:

While his interview with Ewan McGregor was painful to sit through, Obi Wan himself was looking very, very fine. 😊 

Agree on both counts! 😁

[Robert Lynch]

I am frankly surprised they even do a studio audience. And that was not social distancing, no matter how spread those chairs were. They look pretty close to one another.

[ruby24]

They did a studio audience?! Holy hell, how horrifically irresponsible of them.

[sugarbaker design]

The 20 or so members of the studio audience were clearly sitting six feet apart from one another and masked.

Edited September 14, 2020 by sugarbaker design

[ruby24]

1 minute ago, sugarbaker design said:

The 20 or so members of the studio audience were clearly sitting six feet apart from one another and masked.

Even so- why on earth take that risk? Because he has to have someone in front of him? 

[hurrrz]

Yes, he commented multiple times that he is happy to have an audience (but also complained about the audience). This episode was annoying. He's really on a downward spiral of being a cranky old man. Constantly interrupting his female guest (whom I generally agree with). His issue about the white woman posing as black (and soe Ding a good chunk of the show about) was insane to me. This seems to be incredibly rare. He then low key compared it with being trans (you know because people can now decide their gender and pronouns). For someone who likes the ganja, dude needs to chill. 

[sugarbaker design]

35 minutes ago, ruby24 said:

Even so- why on earth take that risk? Because he has to have someone in front of him? 

What risk?  These are the same guidelines for movie theaters in my state (NJ).  I saw Tenet on Labor Day with the same guidelines, the only thing I was afraid of contracting was a coma induced by boredom.

[Milburn Stone]

12 hours ago, hurrrz said:

Yes, he commented multiple times that he is happy to have an audience (but also complained about the audience). This episode was annoying. He's really on a downward spiral of being a cranky old man. Constantly interrupting his female guest (whom I generally agree with). His issue about the white woman posing as black (and soe Ding a good chunk of the show about) was insane to me. This seems to be incredibly rare. He then low key compared it with being trans (you know because people can now decide their gender and pronouns). For someone who likes the ganja, dude needs to chill. 

He is clearly off his game. But...some people are coping with the pandemic better than others, and I think he may be not coping well. I don't mean materially. Obviously, he has all the material resources he needs, orders of magnitude more than some people do. But that isn't everything. We're all suffering internally, but some of us more than others. I feel (entirely on the evidence of his shows over the summer) that he hasn't adapted well. That's not really his "fault." It's not a "fault" at all. It just is.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Folks,

Please do not veer into general election discussion.  Stick to the show. Thanks!

[Caseysgirl]

I thought the constant audience clapping over the slightest thing was distracting and insincere. Obviously these were just flacks put in the audience to build Bill’s ego.

[sistermagpie]

On 9/13/2020 at 11:59 AM, heatherchandler said:

But it’s not just a few blocks in Portland, it was in Chicago, LA, New York, etc.  So why does Yellin minimize it?  I truly don’t understand that way of thinking, what’s her angle?

"Minimizing it" is a relative term. She saw it as putting it in a realistic context by saying yes, these things have happened, but they don't simply overshadow the important issues the protests are addressing and shouldn't be used as an excuse to ignore those issues. There's a of things that go on with a big protest movement. There's the systemic racism and brutality in policing that the protests are addressing to start, there's been brutal and sometimes unconstitutional backlash from the police and the government against protestors, there's white nationalists driving in to support the police and the police recognizing them as allies (somewhat validating the whole premise of the protests), there's property damage being done by some people at some points during protests, there's people choosing not to go into the city for dinner and the business owners who suffer for it (granted given that we're also in a pandemic that makes eating in a restaurant iffy anyway).

What anyone prioritizes out of those things probably just speaks to what they prioritize in general. Bill's much more interested in complaining about looting than talking about what people mean by "defund the police." He was really somewhat proving her point by being uninterested in the actual practical policy demands of the huge protest movement going on and far more interested in signs that that liberals were looking stupid as usual on social media even if he is, in his words, "down with the cause." Capitalism has been good for him and he does not support it getting attacked unironically.

 

It's kind of perfect how he cheers for black voters being skeptical after years of betrayal when he spent the show being the white liberal MLK warned about who prized order over justice. 

On 9/13/2020 at 3:35 AM, DB in CMH said:

For the record, I live in a city that Fox news says was "destroyed" by riots over the summer.  Only not so much. That's exactly what the two guests were getting at before Bill jumped down their throats.

I also live in one of the cities listed above and it wasn't destroyed either, physically or spiritually. That's always a thing with protests--if they're polite and don't get in anyone's way, they're not really protests.

Edited September 15, 2020 by sistermagpie

[AuntieDiane6]

On 9/15/2020 at 12:25 AM, sistermagpie said:

than talking about what people mean by "defund the police."

One of his guests a few weeks ago discussed that issue in-depth.  I guess I have COVID brain now, because I can't remember who!