Re-Cap of Alex Wagner on "Real Time"

Alex Wagner tries to restrain herself from strangling this guy

My lady, Alex Wagner, shined last Friday night on the season premier of Real Time with Bill Maher. Unlike her last appearance, where she was consistently shouted over by teabagging Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Alex stayed engaged with the panel throughout. Conservative columnist Reihan Salam did his able best to bogart the conversation - no matter the topic - but Alex gave as good as she got. Salam remained a robotic talking point reciter as he listed off the so-called failures of the Obama Administration, while refusing to acknowledge the Republican's sabotage of the president's jobs and economic plans, and the sometimes racist motives behind the right's actions.

The always confusing mega-billionaire Mark Cuban was the third person on the panel. He appears to be liberal in nearly all instances, except when the topic is unions. Like most wealthy people, he sees no need. 

Oh, and Chelsea Handler was on, too. She didn't contribute much to the discussion, even though I basically agreed with her on most of her points.

Alex Wagner Rejoins the Real Time Panel

My lady, Alex Wager, announced today on her show that she is returning to the panel of Real Time with Bill Maher on this Friday's season premiere. Last time she was on, Rep. Darrell Issa bogarted the discussion. This time around, Alex will be appearing along with Peter Byck, Mark Cuban, Reihan Salam, and Chelsea Handler. Should be great.

And praise Jeebus that Bill Maher is back!

Epic "Louie" Last Night

Not sure if you caught last night's episode of "Louie," but it was one for the ages. A few hours before the episode aired, Louis C.K. tweeted that the guest stars for it were Maria Bamford, Sarah Silverman, and Marc Maron. "All Jews, except Maria," read the tweet. I was going to watch anyway, but now that Maron and Silverman were going to be on...

I have been listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast for a year and a half or so. I hate to admit that I am not as cool as everyone else, but I only "discovered" the podcast after Maron appeared on Bill Maher's show. Have been hooked ever since. My love for the podcast prompted to me to do a little "research" on Maron, and I realized that I had seen him many times in the past on Comedy Central, Conan, and elsewhere. I also came upon numerous references to some sort of feud or falling out between Maron and Louis C.K. None of the articles explicitly said what the two were feuding about, so it remained a mystery. I was content to just leave it there, but after last night's Louie, I just had to know more.

Though Louie is a fictional show, writer/director/star Louis C.K. does incorporate elements of his real life into each episode, and often has his comedian friends appear - as themselves - on the show. In last night's episode, Louie is at home watching TV when a young comedians special from the late 80s / early 90s comes on the air. The special features a very young Louie, as well as Sarah Silverman and Marc Maron. Louie calls Silverman to tell her to turn it on, and after a brief trip down memory lane, Maron comes on the screen. Louie is silent while watching his old friend, and then relates to Silverman that he hasn't spoken to him in 10 years. Sarah urges him to call Marc and to get over whatever issue has kept them apart for a decade. That "issue" is not specified.

What transpires next is hilarious, and I won't spoil the whole thing by giving a play by play. Suffice to say, that in this version of events, Marc and Louie's issue is not totally resolved. Forgiveness is offered and accepted, yet somehow, the two are pretty much in the same boat as they were before. 

After the episode was over, I decided that I just couldn't retire for the evening without finding out more of what caused the rift between these two in the first place. I had been told that everything came out into the open on an early episode of WTF. So, I went ahead and bit the bullet and signed up for the premium WTF, which allows access to the entire history of the show. At $1.99 for a month, it hardly breaks the bank.

I scrolled through all the old episodes that I had never heard until I found the two part Louis C.K. episode. Now before you start thinking that this post comes to a great point of resolution, let me disavow you of that notion. I only got through Part One before falling asleep, mildly baked, in my chair in front of the computer. At that point in the show, their "issue" had not been addressed. Most of what I heard was two old friends recalling their early days and reminiscing about the people they used to know. It was great, but where was the confrontation? Where was the controversy? Where was the yelling, the shouting, the crying? 

I guess that's in Part Two. I'll post more later (after I listen to the show). In the meantime, if you haven't seen the episode of Louie yet, go to the FX website, and watch last night's show. My next post on this topic will make more sense then.

Great Bill Maher Interview

Nice interview with my hero, Bill Maher, from the Galesburg, IL local paper. Probably done in advance of an upcoming stand-up performance. Money quote:

"I don’t mind if someone has genuine ideological differences. But I do take offense when people have their own set of facts. I’m not the only one to point this out, but it is amazing the way the Republicans can run against a completely fictional Barack Obama. I saw it on the news just yesterday, something like half the country –– and I don’t mean just Republicans –– half of everybody thinks he’s a Muslim. Forty-nine percent say he’s a Christian. Now this is not something that’s really in dispute. You can easily look this up. And yet they are stubbornly ignorant, they refuse to let any air into that bubble."