"Real Time with Bill Maher" (2003) TV series 2003-

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | unknown

Release Date:

21 February 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Talk-Show

Tagline:

Inconveniently telling the truth. (season 4)

Plot Keywords:

Performer Name In Title | Talk Show Host | Politics | Live Broadcast | Name In Title

Awards:

Nominated for 15 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 17 nominations

Cast

Bill Maher

...

Himself - Host / ... (281 episodes, 2003-2013)

Series Directed by
Hal Grant		(48 episodes, 2006-2010)
Keith Truesdell		(23 episodes, 2003-2004)

Series Writing credits
Bill Maher		(205 episodes, 2003-2011)
Brian Jacobsmeyer		(204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Jay Jaroch		(204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Chris Kelly		(204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Scott Carter		(203 episodes, 2003-2011)
Billy Martin		(203 episodes, 2003-2011)
David Feldman		(117 episodes, 2003-2009)
Danny Vermont		(114 episodes, 2005-2009)
Matt Gunn		(100 episodes, 2006-2010)
Adam Felber		(55 episodes, 2007-2010)
Lance Crouther		(48 episodes, 2006-2007)
Ned Rice		(46 episodes, 2003-2009)
Paul F. Tompkins		(23 episodes, 2003-2009)
Ross Abrash		(23 episodes, 2005)
Jonathan Schmock		(16 episodes, 2007-2009)
Mike Larsen		(13 episodes, 2011-2012)
Amani Redd		(9 episodes, 2011)

Series Produced by
Bill Maher	....	executive producer (204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Billy Martin	....	executive producer / co-executive producer / ... (204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Matt Wood	....	co-producer / associate producer (204 episodes, 2003-2011)
Sheila Griffiths	....	executive producer (88 episodes, 2006-2011)
Dean E. Johnsen	....	co-executive producer / producer (88 episodes, 2006-2011)
Scott Carter	....	executive producer (68 episodes, 2006-2010)
Brad Grey	....	executive producer (41 episodes, 2006-2010)
Marc Gurvitz	....	executive producer (41 episodes, 2006-2010)
Sue Bennett	....	segment producer (40 episodes, 2006-2010)
Mary Knowles	....	segment producer (40 episodes, 2006-2010)
Deena Katz	....	segment producer (39 episodes, 2006-2010)
Vanessa Gedney	....	segment producer (27 episodes, 2009-2010)
Kelly D. Hommon	....	segment producer (15 episodes, 2008)

Series Film Editing by
Craig Kellerman		(1 episode, 2012)

Series Casting by
Judy Orbach		(5 episodes, 2009-2011)

Series Production Design by
John Yeck		(2 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Makeup Department
Brenda Rippee	....	makeup artist / key makeup artist / ... (203 episodes, 2003-2012)
Michelle Daurio	....	makeup department head / hair stylist / ... (169 episodes, 2003-2009)
Tracey L. Miller-Smith	....	makeup artist (10 episodes, 2003)

Series Production Management
T.J. Baldino	....	production manager (27 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bob Staley	....	associate director (3 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Art Department
Anton Goss	....	scenic designer / scenic artist (5 episodes, 2006-2010)
John Yeck	....	scenic designer (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Linda Lawrence	....	electronic graphics (2 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Sound Department
Mark Radulovich	....	sound (3 episodes, 2006-2009)
Michael Dooley	....	house p.a. mixer (3 episodes, 2012)
Maryann Jorgenson	....	sound (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Nancy Perry	....	sound (2 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Callan	....	lighting director (5 episodes, 2006-2010)
Mark Gonzales	....	camera operator (4 episodes, 2006-2010)
Jim Velarde	....	camera operator (4 episodes, 2006-2010)
Thomas Luth	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 2006-2010)
Brad Zerbst	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 2006-2010)
Gene Beben	....	video tape operator (3 episodes, 2006-2009)
Terry Clark	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 2006-2009)
Bart Ping	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 2007-2010)
Bob Berkowitz	....	camera operator (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
S.M. Linenberger	....	lighting designer (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Eddie Burgess	....	electric swing (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Edward Clark	....	electric swing (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Mike Nawroth	....	head grip (2 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Casting Department
Ashley Schiller	....	casting / casting supervisor (8 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kelly Smith	....	wardrobe stylist / wardrobe (55 episodes, 2010-2011)

Series Editorial Department
David Crowther	....	editor: segment (9 episodes, 2008)

Series Music Department
Christopher Reid	....	performer: theme song (2 episodes, 2009-2010)

Series Other crew
Marc Comstock	....	stand-in (142 episodes, 2006-2011)
Fred Smilow	....	live audience coordinator / production staff (104 episodes, 2003-2010)
Miles Leicher	....	writers assistant / executive assistant / ... (93 episodes, 2008-2011)
Bryan Branly	....	writing assistant (46 episodes, 2004-2005)
Charles Chen	....	audience page (38 episodes, 2006-2008)
David Adam Ettedgui	....	page (36 episodes, 2007-2008)
Bob Claster	....	teleprompter operator (31 episodes, 2006-2012)
Natalie Barbrie	....	executive assistant (31 episodes, 2008-2010)
Anders Holm	....	production staff (30 episodes, 2009)
Mark Cartwright	....	projectionist (26 episodes, 2007-2011)
Laura Stover	....	script coordinator (20 episodes, 2003)
Jennifer Parris	....	executive assistant (16 episodes, 2008-2009)
Kevin Schini	....	researcher (12 episodes, 2008)
Allison MacDonald	....	production staff / production team (11 episodes, 2010)
Brian Anderson	....	stage manager (6 episodes, 2006-2010)
Joaquín Torres	....	script coordinator (6 episodes, 2006-2010)
Patrick Whitney	....	stage manager (6 episodes, 2006-2010)
Shauna Meiri	....	production accountant (5 episodes, 2006-2010)
Stacy Talbot	....	booth production assistant (5 episodes, 2006-2010)
Lauren Katz	....	production staff (5 episodes, 2009)
Nick Licare	....	production staff / production team (5 episodes, 2010)
Ashley Schiller	....	talent coordinator / talent supervisor (4 episodes, 2006-2009)
Courtney Boches	....	audience page (4 episodes, 2007)
David Taylor	....	researcher (4 episodes, 2009-2010)
David Hill	....	audience page (4 episodes, 2011)
Vanessa Gedney	....	talent supervisor (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Tom Ong	....	studio manager (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Bob Staley	....	associate director (3 episodes, 2006-2007)
Shiran Stotland	....	technical director (3 episodes, 2009-2010)
Scott Wyhns	....	production staff (3 episodes, 2009-2010)
David Hallmark	....	technical director (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Rick Labgold	....	video (2 episodes, 2006-2007)
Lisa Rudin	....	production assistant / production staff (2 episodes, 2006)
Mark Sinacori	....	audience page (2 episodes, 2007)
Kevin J. Belliotti	....	production team (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Oleg Sekulovski	....	technical director (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Joshua P. Silverman	....	production team (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Warren Wendt	....	other crew (2 episodes, 2009-2010)
Kim Wood	....	production staff (2 episodes, 2009)
Jordan M. Sloane	....	audience page (2 episodes, 2012)

Series Thanks
Stephen Anderson	....	acknowledgment (1 episode, 2010)
Dara Tallon	....	thanks (1 episode, 2010)

Production Companies

• Bill Maher Productions (2008-)
• Brad Grey Television
• Home Box Office (HBO)
• Kid Love Productions (2003-2007)

Distributors

• Home Box Office (HBO)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies

Also Known As:

"Real Time with Bill Maher: Electile Dysfunction '08" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

CBS Television City - 7800 Beverly Blvd., Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bill Maher Productions

Trivia:

Maher originally wanted the series to be titled "True Dat" but HBO rejected it. Maher settled for "Real Time" but does not like the title.

Quotes:

Bill Maher:You know, if there's one thing I've hated since 9/11, it's that thing I hear all the time, that everything changed. When obviously nothing changed. The best example from the hurricane was the firefighters who came from I forget where, but they were sent down there to help, and they were given - before they could get to the disaster area - eight hours of sexual harassment sensitivity training. Forgetting that most women want to be harassed by firefighters.
Bill Maher:[audience cheers] And I'm glad you cheered because Ann Coulter gave me that joke.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 17 April 2008" (2008)

Bill Maher is back and better than ever. Even fans of "PI" may find the off-the-leash Maher too strong, raw and abrasive.

Network: HBO; Genre: News Analysis, Comedy; Content Rating: TV-MA (profanity, sexual humor); Perspective: Contemporary (star range: 1 - 4);

Seasons Reviewed: Series

As a more conservative-minded person (70% of the IMDb readers just skipped to another review) I've always found Bill Maher to be a social guilty pleasure and an intellectual workout. The late-night roundtable series "Politically Incorrect" was network TV's first and last introduction to the silver-tongued comedian, not to mention a regular time-slot favorite of mine. Whether telling us that pregnancy isn't "sexy" or that all Christians are brainwashed bigots, Maher is a true original who challenges the audience and their safe notions that the First Amendment only protects speech that they like. I say this because HBO's "Real Time" is so free; your likeness of it will directly relate to how much you like Maher and, in a time when everybody wants to listen to ideological parrots, your likeness of him may relate to your own politics.

I defended Maher on his supposedly controversial post-9/11 comments on "PI", though in retrospect being kicked off ABC and onto HBO was the best thing that could have happened to Maher. "Real Time" allows Maher to be his clever, acerbic and deeply iconoclastic best. It is a fully open venue to speak his mind, shape it into riotous laughs and rip into the hot button issues of the week, his own annoyances and his own personal enemies without commercials to break the momentum and network TV channel changers flipping by and catching his comments out of context. Even fans of "PI" might find a now off-the-leash Maher too strong, raw or abrasive.

It all works like dynamite because the guy is funnier, smarter and a better interviewer than Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and David Letterman combined. He really asks the tough questions and pins down the guest to answer them. In the final New Rules segment Maher's rapid-fire wit is shown to be in top form. At any point, his off-the-cuff improvisations are laugh-out-loud funny. He's also more out in the open about his angry liberalism than Letterman (I'm afraid Letterman is really going to explode one day). From one angle you could say that its anger holds it back from really reaching the comic heavens. Maher hates President George W. Bush and the way he twists every joke back to the "Bush is an Idiot" punch-line becomes repetitive and tiresome. The show has a one-track mind. Bush and the Republicans only get a brief break when Maher goes after the ding-bat celebrity of the moment.

The really accented problem with "Real Time" is the audience. For one of TV's smartest infotainment shows it has TV's dumbest audience. Listen as they clap and cheer at the mention of faile US foreign policy or soldiers who come back from war missing limbs in a twisted backward celebration of something they think legitimizes their view. You have to admire anybody remotely conservative who braves this lion's den, gets the back of their ears flicked all night by Maher and the 2 other guests ganging up on them and still maintains their composure. Often the show gets me heated and occasionally Maher's jokes even go off the edge and into tacky, but that is the razor's edge of iconoclastic comedy. It doesn't work if someone isn't offended. A knee-jerk reaction would be to wish that Maher balance it out, but that would be disingenuous wouldn't it? That wouldn't be Bill Maher.

"Real Time" is a red-hot ideological spit wad show. Nobody is able to or given the time on TV to lay out a linear-logical liberal case the way that Maher can on this show. Conversley, the arguments many of the guests are making feel either insightful or clueless and circle, which is another reason the show is such an addicting watch. Conservatives should be listening to Maher the way liberals should be listening to Bill O'Reilly or Rush Limbaugh. There is also something special about it, tucked away on HBO. "Real Time" is like looking through the keyhole and in on a private New York cocktail party where politicians, pundits, actors, salon.com writers, musicians and other pseudo-intellectuals get together, sit around, complain about middle America, pontificate about the world going to hell, pretend that Maureen Dowd is funny and generally pat themselves on the back making themselves feel like geniuses and think their rants are accomplishing something - except on "Real Time" there is probably more smiling and laughing.

Freedom, baby, freedom. To debate and freedom to be heard in your entirety. "Real Time" is the greatest testament to it on American television. A work that becomes great because HBO (a network that craps quality) simply lets the inmates run the asylum. This is an addictive hour of TV that I only wish it was on more regularly. It is great to have Bill Maher back and better than ever. Unequivically, this show is awesome.

* * * * / 4