3/20/24
Newsletter #574
The Crack of Dawn
This week’s edition of Bill Maher’s “podcast” Club Random was his best so far. His guest was John Cleese, whom I like a lot, always have, and the guy is still sharp as hell at 84. Other than wanting to correct incorrect movie trivia spouted on the show – on an earlier episode, Martin Short stated, “Father Goose is Carey Grant’s last movie.” No, it’s not. Walk Don’t Run (1966) is Carey Grant’s last movie – I’ve never felt like I wanted to be included in the conversation, until this week. There were legitimate things I could’ve added. However, I really enjoyed the two-hour “podcast.” I put “podcast” in quotation marks because to me, and millions of others like me who are watching on YouTube, it’s a TV show. Yes, it’s two people talking, and you can just listen to it if you’d like, but it’s photographed with cameras, I get to watch it, and therefore it qualifies as a TV show, at least to me.
Bill has been cleverer about this podcast/TV show idea than anyone else. In his awesome guest house in Beverely Hills (formerly belonging to Ben Affleck), Bill set up a situation that nobody else has – he rigged out the whole house with (I assume), about ten GoPro cameras, placed in nearly the right places to rationally cover a conversation in three different areas of the house. Therefore, there is no film crew in the room, it’s just Bill and his guest. Sadly, there is no music, which Bill has assured us would be playing, and is always playing in my house, but it would interfere with editing. And it would. However, if Bill were a mensch, he’d pay for the rights of songs that he likes and add them afterward (just my suggestion).
I like Bill Maher in many ways, and dislike him in a few others, but I truly do appreciate his love of movies and music. He thinks of himself as a movie buff, although he hasn’t seen all that many movies, but I like anyone who thinks they’re a movie buff, because that’s my thing. People who like movies are my people. Bill has a habit that I find charming in its childishness (I’ll bet he’s been doing it since he was a teenager) – if the title of a movie from the 1970s or ‘80s comes up, as it was in this conversation, specifically Catch-22, Bill blurts as though he’s Leonard Maltin, “Catch-22, 1970,” and he’s usually right.
As conversations go – particularly one being filmed – Bill Maher and John Cleese did an excellent job. They kept the conversation pointed, funny, polite, and moving right along for two whole hours. I was breathless when it ended, like a meteor might hit them before they pulled this off. I must admit that I have rarely made it all the way through any of the Club Random shows, which are generally just an hour. I think I’ve tuned in for almost all of them, then bailed within fifteen minutes. To use one of my father’s favorite words, Bill is very “convivial,” particularly when having a drink and smoking a spliff. Bill can pretty much get anyone on his show (apparently, he and I are now on a first-name basis), and he can mostly figure out how to have a conversation with most of them. Sadly, most people are dull, even if they have some level of celebrity. Whether it’s Richard Dawkins or Gene Simmons or Quentin Tarantino, within 15 minutes I’d rather be somewhere else.
By far, comedians are the best guests. You put two comedians in a room and it’s always going to be a bit of a competition. Dana Carvey was up to it. Bill’s bro, Woody Harrelson, was pretty good, but he seemed weary, like he just got off a movie. All of the younger stand-up comics he’s had on, most of whom I didn’t know, couldn’t hold up their side of the conversation for ten minutes. Martin Short was extremely good (even if he was wrong about Father Goose, which is one of my favorite movies, and BTW, won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1964).
When Bill and John Cleese finally got around to the Monty Python movies – which Bill clearly loves – I was a tad ashamed of him. Bill hardly knew who Monty Python was, or who the different members were. He didn’t know that Graham Chapman was gay, a drunk, or dead. Bill didn’t know any of the Python history, or how those guys worked, which they’ve been discussing endlessly for 50 years. Oh well. All that stuff is fan bullshit anyway, so it’s not really important. Bill loves the Monty Python show and the movies themselves, which is point. He was about to launch into the Universe Song from The Meaning of Life, but Cleese politely interrupted him to keep the conversation moving. I really wanted to see Bill recite the song. Oh well.
I just looked up the episode list on IMDb and Club Random is already in its third season, with 110 episodes. Chevy Chase’s interview was also good, although he did seem really old. Jay Leno was OK, but appeared distracted. Daryl Hall was just plain good.
As I mentioned recently, the interview with Richard Dreyfuss, who kept sliding out of his chair onto the floor, is a classic. I was pleased to see that it was the top-rated episode – Richard Dreyfuss | Club Random with Bill Maher - YouTube
In conclusion, this week’s interview with John Cleese was smart and funny and informative, and the only episode that has been worthy of two hours. Why? Because it was able to go for two hours.
Spring started yesterday, but it’s still snowing in Detroit.