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THE PANELISTS
Bill Maher
Bill Maher created the perfect forum for his quick-witted comedic talents with POLITICALLY INCORRECT, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1993. He brings together some of the most interesting politicians, entertainers, and journalists to participate in controversial, topical, and comical discussions. The winner of four Cable Ace Awards, he and his program grew in popularity year after year and eventually moved to ABC, capturing the post-NIGHTLINE slot (ABC canceled the program in 2002).
He assembled some memorable highlights from POLICALLY INCORRECT in his book DOES ANYONE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT?: POLITCALLY INCORRECT'S GREATEST HITS. He has hosted many HBO specials and is a frequent guest on Letterman and Leno. A graduate of Cornell University with a major in English, he began his comedy career honing his act during the 1980s on the New York club scene. He reflects upon those times in TRUE STORY, a novel based upon his life playing the clubs -- perhaps the funniest and most revealing depiction of the comic's life to date.
While Maher landed in the catbird's seat with POLITICALLY INCORRECT, he has never abandoned stand-up, his first love. "It's still the most rewarding, the most immediate, and in a lot of ways the most real," he told an interviewer. "It's just you and the audience; they're the director. If I'm in a place where I can speak exactly what's on my mind, that, to me, is the real absolute beauty of stand-up comedy. It's sort of the last bastion of real free speech."
Rita Rudner
Rita Rudner easily shatters the stereotype of the brassy, tough comedienne with her gentle voice, poise, and sophistication. This has been apparent since her regular appearances in the late 1980s on THE TONIGHT SHOW, LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN, and COMIC RELIEF, which helped establish her as one of the country's premiere stand-up performers.
Winner of the 1990 American Comedy Award for Best Female Stand-Up, she starred in her first HBO special, the award-winning BORN TO BE MILD, later that same year. In 1992, she starred with Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, and Stephen Fry in PETER'S FRIENDS, which she co-wrote with her husband, Martin Bergman. Her first book, NAKED BENEATH MY CLOTHES, was published by Viking Penguin in 1993. Recent credits include the made-for-cable romantic comedy A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY, in which she starred with Jack Lemmon, Christine Lahti, and Richard Lewis; a second HBO special, RITA RUDNER MARRIED WITHOUT CHILDREN; and a sold-out tour of Australia.
A native of Miami, Rudner was trained as a dancer and appeared in several Broadway shows, including "Follies" and "Annie," before changing tracks and switching to stand-up comedy. The explanation she gives for this switch on THE COLLEGE OF COMEDY III? "My feet hurt."
Producer Tom Werts notes that Rudner rigorously schooled herself in the art of comedy: "Rita Rudner is the only person Alan has ever met, and myself too, who says she taught herself to be funny. She became a student of comedy. But basically, I think she had it to begin with. She had to, because you and I could take notebooks to comedy clubs, but that doesn't mean we'd be funny."
Top banner photos: Bill Maher; host Alan King; Rita Rudner; Shecky Greene. |
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Bill Maher and Alan King. |
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Alan King and Rita Rudner. |
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The program is not available from Shop Thirteen or Shop PBS. |
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