He’s Ready for ABC, but Is It for Him?

Is network television ready for a talk show on which the host tells Robert Loggia, one of the stars of the smash “Independence Day,” “I think yours is the stupidest movie I have ever seen”? A show that encourages guests such as comedian Bob Goldthwait to pronounce: “I support the idea of more guns for hunters because that increases the chance of two rednecks blowing each other’s head off”?

“Who knows?” said Bill Maher, host of “Politically Incorrect,” the irreverent, topical discussion that has been a cult favorite on cable’s Comedy Central for the past three years. On Monday, it moves to ABC, where it will air weeknights at 12:05 a.m. immediately following the network’s most respected institution, “Nightline.”

“Probably on a nightly basis we say something inappropriate about some serious topic,” Maher said. “You have to accept that as part of the charm of the show. We don’t edit. Nothing is scripted. . . . The show is real and sometimes it’s going to be over the line, but you can’t be constantly hounded for doing that. I’m not going to worry about it. ABC knows that it’s a show about controversy. They haven’t said word one about changing anything and I’m not going to.”

Maher, a stand-up comic who has centered his act on scathing barbs about politicians and social issues since the 1980 presidential elections, conceived the show as a kind of cocktail party about current events. Each night, he mediates and provokes what he hopes will be a lively, intelligent and hilarious discussion among four guests selected from the worlds of politics, journalism, books and show business.

Participants have included outgoing Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Kato Kaelin and RuPaul.

To help introduce the show, ABC is broadcasting a one-hour retrospective in prime time tonight, and the hosts, to emphasize its eclectic mix of talent, will be Jeff Greenfield of ABC News and Yasmine Bleeth of “Baywatch.” Monday’s installment will feature G. Gordon Liddy, Coolio, Arianna Huffington and Roseanne.

Praising the show as “brutally honest, opinionated, relevant and extremely funny,” Ted Harbert, chairman of ABC Entertainment, called it “a perfect fit with ‘Nightline.’ ”

In an interview, Maher agreed, initially. But then he admitted that he had “no idea if ‘Nightline’ viewers are compatible to our show.”

“Obviously that is the audience that is interested in what’s going on in the world,” he said. “But some of those people are ultra-serious news viewers and they might be offended by what we do or just not care for it. What we have found, I think, is that our audience is really more of a comedy audience--a smart, informed comedy audience. So hopefully that will encompass both the people who watch ‘Nightline’ and yet still like to laugh, as well as those who are watching Leno and Letterman but would prefer something with a little more substance.”

Maher, who turns 41 next month, said he believes that today’s TV talk shows have underestimated the intelligence of the audience. There used to be genuine conversation in the form, he said, citing “The Dick Cavett Show” and “The Tonight Show” under Jack Paar as examples. Now, he noted, the talk on late-night shows is nothing more than free publicity for some celebrity’s latest product.

“Jay and Dave have really become comedy variety shows, almost like ‘Carol Burnett’ and shows like that,” Maher said. “They do more bits and sketches. I remember when I watched ‘The Tonight Show’ in the ‘60s and ‘70s, it was a big treat if Johnny did a sketch, any kind of sketch. It was called the Mighty Carson Art Players and it was a big deal. Maybe once every three weeks. Now they do it before the monologue is even over, or they pre-tape something with the guests.

“If they are going to do that and not accent the talk, then somebody has got to get back to just the talk.”

He acknowledges that he is waging an uphill battle. Gone are the days, he laments, when the average citizen really did talk about politics around the water cooler, really did read the newspaper and voted.

“That’s my wish world that I’m pretending we live in as I do this show,” Maher said. “But the whole country changed at some point. People got softer, more spoiled, more catered to, more pampered, stupider, less responsible, with shorter attention spans.

“I think the [remote control] clicker was a worse technological breakthrough for the dumbing down of the country than TV itself, because that really [destroyed] attention spans. And it’s more of that over-pampering as consumers. You don’t like something, it’s gone in one second. You don’t want it that way, have it your way.

“Everything has to be tuned to our exact moment of desire, and that’s a horrible mentality to put people into. It’s what screws up politics. If the politician doesn’t say what you and your specific little group needs and wants, he’s out. Plus he has to say it quickly in a 10-second bite and with blow-dried hair.”

Nor are comedians exempt, he has discovered.

“Even when they come to my show, pay money to see my stand-up act--to see me, Mr. Politically Incorrect--there are so many subjects that you just mention and you hear these ‘ooooohs,’ this hypersensitivity. I have lost patience with it. What are we all so sensitive about?

“It’s part and parcel of this loss of community in America. It’s everybody’s own little niche, their own private Idaho, and whatever their problem might be is the one you can’t make fun of. If I crack a joke about bulimia and someone has a fourth cousin who suffers from it, that’s not funny: ‘I’m going to boo you.’

“Well, you know what? Everybody has something. Everybody does. If I can’t laugh at your thing, then nobody can laugh at anything, and we’re just going to die from not laughing. Everybody just better suck it up and learn to laugh again.”

* “Politically Incorrect” will air weeknights at 12:05 a.m., beginning Monday, on ABC (Channel 7). A preview, “Politically Incorrect’s Greatest Hits,” airs at 10 tonight. Maher’s stand-up work is showcased in “The Golden Goose Special,” airing at 10 p.m. Saturday on HBO.