I didn't say he "can't criticize them," but I'll never be able take him seriously having seen some of his movies and after all the dumb things he's said in his long career and his unjustified opinion of himself as the smartest person in the room.DarkImbecile wrote: ↑Sat Nov 17, 2018 5:43 pmWithout engaging in the question of whether he’s right or wrong about comic books, it’s a bad argument to say he can’t criticize them because he acted in garbage movies while trying to survive in the entertainment industry. Also, seems like a hell of an overstatement to say he “made his career” in those as if that’s what he’s known for.
I was talking about the work that started his career, which isn't the same thing as what he's most famous for.
He would not have been able to land Politically Incorrect on Comedy Central if he didn't already have some kind of career in comedy (overlooking that what he'd done was never actually funny). Comedy Central was pretty hard up for real talent in those early days, and they slotted him into the comedian with real ideas, who isn't afraid to tell it like it is kind of persona, in 1993. Pizza Man was from 1991, and it takes time to develop a series and get it on the air, so Comedy Central did this for Maher immediately after Pizza Man, which was his only real star vehicle at the time, in his thirties. And when they were ramping up Politically Incorrect into a viable series, I remember them showing Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death repeatedly in early-morning time slots to fill what they hadn't sold for infomercials (which were funnier anyway). I don't think his standup chops are any better than his acting career, and in his talk show host guise he (and his writers) have mistaken smug soundbites for insightful political comedy for decades now, so his comments about books that combine words and images dumbing down our culture are self-defeating at best.