Friday night was the finale of Bill Maher’s 20th season of real time on HBO, and the host joined a special friend.
Matthew Perry, best known as Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom friendsis on the talk show selling his book Friends, Lovers, and the Great Terrible: A MemoirWhoever does it so well beats Bonos Give up In Ireland.
Bill Maher was impressed by the latter, comparing Perry to “the Taylor Swift of writing”. However, he later compared Perry to the Joe DiMaggio of drug abuse, as Perry openly admits in his book, holding nothing back about his drug abuse.
“A lot put you in the dead pool,” Maher said, noting that Perry looked “great,” had a great tan and seemed rested.
As he did throughout his book, Perry was candid about his journey. He was placed on a hospital machine commonly used as the Hail Mary to keep someone alive, his colon exploded from opioid abuse, suffered from impotence in high school, went to open houses in properties and stole from people’s medicine cabinets. He even wrestled on his TV show friends was a huge success and a cultural landmark.
How did Perry come out the other side? He mocked Maher about the host’s atheism, admitting “I believe there is a higher power,” adding that he “has a very close relationship with him.”
Speaking for many, Maher said: “Everyone is on your side. Everyone is glad you are here.”
The host later reflected on why the human body is so resilient. Maher boasted, “I’m very lucky to be able to do drugs.”
Perry was quick with his hilarious comeback. “You don’t have one with you, do you?”
Maher closed happily, saying he believed Perry’s acting would be his best in the next 20 years.
Perry didn’t argue. “A couple of good friends said, ‘Your best work is yet to come.'”
The panel featured Laura Coates, a CNN anchor and host of SiriusXM’s “The Laura Coates Show,” and a social psychologist at NYU’s Stern School of Business and co-author of The Permissiveness of the American Spirit: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Shape a Generation to Failure Jonathan Haidt.
The conversation turned to the special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, the collapse of the crypto company FTX, and ended with criticism of social media and its impact on today’s youth. While Coates said she takes a hard line with her young children when it comes to social media, Haidt suggested something stronger: banning social media before high school to preserve the spirit of youth.
For Maher’s New Rules editorial, he closed out his 20th season with the “Scorn of Plenty,” thanking former President Donald Trump and his fellow travelers for “scare a little on Americans on Election Day.”
“The deniers lost and the naysayers won,” Maher said. This represented a victory for America, he claimed, as “reports of our death have been somewhat exaggerated.” He added: “Maybe we’re not as crazy as we look.”
Faced with the issue, Maher said the country needs to seize the moment and move forward. “Let’s gather the standards that we now know most of us still are.”
Don’t shut up about the madness, Maher said, adding that we need to find a compromise between conservatives and liberals.
This includes Conservatives abandoning claims that people vote twice. “They recognize that, and liberals will recognize that getting photo ID is not (hard) work,” Maher said. “Stop flirting with authoritarianism and we will stop flirting with communism.”
He continued, “Stop saying Democrats eat babies and we’ll stop saying men can have them. Stop denying that ice caps are melting and we’ll stop saying ‘Stop ICE.’ Stop saying there is war on Christmas and we’ll admit that Kwanzaa is completely made up.
Finally, “Keep an eye on the Proud Boys and we’ll see what we can do about Kanye.”
Mahr and real time Winter holiday until 20.01.
Author: Bruce Herring
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
