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Politically Incorrect

American late-night talk show hosted by Bill Maher

American late-night talk show hosted by Bill Maher

FieldValue
imagePolitically Incorrect with Bill Maher title card.jpg
runtime30 minutes
writerScott Carter
Bill Maher
genreTalk show
starringBill Maher
countryUnited States
languageEnglish
num_seasons8
companyHBO Downtown Productions
Comedy Central Productions (1993–1997)
Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (1997–1999)
Brad Grey Television (1999–2002)
networkComedy Central
first_aired
last_aired
network2ABC
first_aired2
last_aired2
relatedReal Time with Bill Maher
captionTitle card used during the ABC run

Bill Maher Comedy Central Productions (1993–1997) Brillstein-Grey Entertainment (1997–1999) Brad Grey Television (1999–2002)

Politically Incorrect (stylized as POLITICALLY INCOrrECT) is an American late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that aired from July 25, 1993, to July 5, 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central in July 1993 and aired for three seasons until November 5, 1996; amid its success on Comedy Central, ABC expressed interest in bringing the show to the network to shore up its late-night lineup, moving there on January 5, 1997.

The show first originated from New York City, but soon moved to Los Angeles. The New York episodes were shot at the CBS Broadcast Center and the Los Angeles episodes at CBS Television City, where it remained even after its move to ABC.

The first episode featured comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern co-host Robin Quivers, Republican Party strategist Ed Rollins, and comedian Larry Miller. Frequent guests included Dave Matthews, Arianna Huffington, Michael McKean, Ann Coulter, Carrot Top, and Christine O'Donnell.

On September 17, 2001, Maher criticized United States foreign policy on the show and argued that the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks, "although terrible people," were not cowards. "What was cowardly," he argued, "was America's relationship with the rest of the world." The comments were widely condemned, and while Maher later apologized and clarified the meaning behind his comments, major advertisers stopped advertising with the show. As a result, the show was canceled in June 2002.

Format

The show began with a brief topical monologue from Maher. Then Maher introduces the guests individually, promoting their current projects. Four guests appear, usually a mix of individuals from show business, popular culture, pundits, political consultants, and occasionally regular people in the news, discussing topics in the news selected by Maher. Maher described the program as "The McLaughlin Group on acid."{{cite news |access-date = September 17, 2025 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121106053103/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/27/arts/television-lots-of-political-humor-and-no-morton-kondracke.html | archive-date=November 6, 2012 | url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}

On rare occasions, Maher would interview a single guest. The show was pioneering in mixing political figures and entertainers. Maher tried to air all points of view, especially controversial ones. Guests could be both aggravating and insightful, with the conversation similar to a cocktail party with quick-witted guests.

Writers

The show's writers included Al Franken, Arianna Huffington, Kevin Bleyer, Scott Carter, and Chris Kelly.

9/11 controversy and cancellation

On September 11, 2001, conservative political commentator Barbara Olson was on her way to Los Angeles to appear as a guest on Politically Incorrect, when the airplane she was on was hijacked and flown into the Pentagon during the September 11 attacks.

In the aftermath of the attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush said that the terrorists responsible were cowards. On September 17, 2001, one of Maher's guests, Dinesh D'Souza, said "These are warriors. And we have to realize that the principles of our way of life are in conflict with people in the world. And so—I mean, I'm all for understanding the sociological causes of this, but we should not blame the victim. Americans shouldn't blame themselves because other people want to bomb them." Maher agreed, and replied: "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, [it's] not cowardly." Similar comments were made by others in other media.

Advertisers withdrew their support, and some ABC affiliates stopped airing the show temporarily. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer denounced Maher, warning that "people have to watch what they say and watch what they do." Maher apologized, and explained that he had been criticizing U.S. military policy, not American soldiers.

The show was canceled the following June, which Maher and many others saw as a result of the controversy, although ABC denied that the controversy was a factor and said the program was canceled due to declining ratings. Maher said that the show struggled for advertisers in its final months. There were subsequently comments in various media on the irony that a show called Politically Incorrect was canceled because its host had made a supposedly politically incorrect comment.

The show was replaced on ABC by Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2003.

Maher rebounded with an hour-long weekly program on HBO called Real Time with Bill Maher premiering on February 21, 2003, which follows a similar format, with fewer guests since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards and recognition

The show won a 2000 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video for a Series." In addition, it was nominated for seventeen other awards, including: "Outstanding Variety"; "Outstanding Music or Comedy Series" (every year from 1995 to 2002); and "Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program" in 1997. The show also won two CableACE Awards in 1995 and 1996 for Talk Show Series and was nominated for a third in 1997. It was also nominated for two Writers Guild of America awards for best Comedy/Variety series in 2001 and 2002.

References

References

  1. Creed, Ryan. (September 19, 2010). "Christine O'Donnell: 'I Dabbled in Witchcraft'". ABC News.
  2. Bohlen, Celestine. (September 29, 2001). "In New War on Terrorism, Words Are Weapons, Too". The New York Times.
  3. Brownfield, Paul. (May 15, 2002). "'Politically Incorrect' Canceled; ABC Goes With Jimmy Kimmel".
  4. Brownfield, Paul. (2001-09-26). "Troubled Timing Takes Maher Beyond 'Politically Incorrect'".
  5. Bohlen, Celestine. (September 29, 2001). "In New War on Terrorism, Words Are Weapons, Too". The New York Times.
  6. (September 28, 2001). "In Patriotic Time, Dissent Is Muted". The New York Times.
  7. Harrington, Matt. (September 24, 2001). "'Politically Incorrect' suspended by local ABC affiliate". Triad Business Journal.
  8. (May 5, 2003). "Maher: Politically Incorrect On Broadway". CBS News.
  9. Kirn, Walter. (May 26, 2002). "The End of the Affair". The New York Times Magazine.
  10. (June 29, 2002). "Maher tapes final episode of 'Politically Incorrect'". USA Today.
  11. Maher, Bill. (September 10, 2006). "When can we finally be funny again?". Los Angeles Times.
  12. "Archived copy".
  13. "Boston Legal: Schadenfreude". Boston Legal.
  14. "Awards for "Politically Incorrect"". IMDb.
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