No Grist from the Miller

Those of you who saw the premier of Dennis Miller's CNBC show know he's telling the truth when he says that 9/11 changed him: It made him stop being funny. His first interview, with the Governator, felt like an E! puff piece, only less edgy. As a one-time addict of his HBO series, it's some consolation to know that this wounded dog will probably be put out of its misery within a few months.

Comments

[yoyo]

I used to like him as well -- once he started writing op-eds for the WSJ I knew he was through...

[Ryan]

"Did anyone else think the weekend update segment was a little weird without a studio audience? I guess there is a reason they always tape stand up specials with an audience present."

I thought that until I realized he DID have a studio audience....maybe a small one but there was one there.

Hopefully the show gets better because he just wasn't very funny and his interview with Arnold was good only for unintentional laughs.

[rst]

Yeah, Naomi Wolf, that was the chick's name. I'm surprised the left hasn't disowned her.

[Lonewacko]

One of the only Dennis Miller HBO shows I saw was the one where he fawned all over Pat Schroeder. He actually said a few funny things on Monday Night Football, but, after the Pat Schroeder thing I don't trust anything he says.

[SteveInClearwater]

During his HBO run, I was one who shared the opinion that he was the best show going.

But in his final season, he interviewed then DEA director (now Homeland Security honcho) Asa Hutchinson and softballed him all over....Completely failed to address the DEA's raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, complete with DEA troops in full body armor and auto weapons pointed at cancer patients lying on hospital beds with IV drips attached. "PUT UP YOUR HANDS!!"

Not sure why he wimped out there or on other topics since. He's obviously bright enough to 'get it'.

[Stephen Fetchet]

Oh yeah, I much preferred the earlier, left wing Dennis Miller. The conservative/libertarian hybrid Miller sucks. Oh wait a minute, this isn't Atrios? Huh? Where am I?

[Kronos]

It's called selling out. I have no problem with a comedian having a political slant, but to make a conscious decision to not make critical observations about the current administration is really sad. I've lost all respect for him, and I used to be a big fan.

[Julian Sanchez]

Sorry; my assessment of how funny someone is doesn't depend on the extent to which I agree with their politics.

[Jim Treacher]

"I thought that until I realized he DID have a studio audience....maybe a small one but there was one there."

I believe that's what's known in TV parlance as "the crew."

[AndyinSDCA]

Naomi called David H. "cute" at least once that I remember....maybe she thinks she can convert him back to the dark side?

[Danny Riendeau]

I never quite understood what "cringingly bad" meant until I Arnold coo "Oh Dennis I love your lines." Here's hoping this is Miller's final nail.

[Troll]

>>>Sorry; my assessment of how funny someone is doesn't depend on the extent to which I agree with their politics.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No THAT'S funny!

[Dean Libertarians]

We prefer the unbiased, objective opinions of Al Franken and Margie Cho, such as "Bush is a Nazi," ha ha ha.

Laugh or I will tackle you.

[Jim Walsh]

The funniest thing he said was in the promo: "watch, or I may go back to football..."

Oh, and for the record, it's not a monkey, it's a goddam chimp.

[Dan]

Sorry; my assessment of how funny someone is doesn't depend on the extent to which I agree with their politics.

Sure, keep telling yourself that. 🙂

Anyway, "The Raw Feed" was one of the better comedy routines he's done, and that was post-9/11. I can't comment on the quality of his CNBC show (which I haven't seen), but -- just as a reminder -- his previous experiment with broadcast TV, back in 1992, was (a) boring and (b) a dismal failure. I'm not sure how well he plays in a censored environment.

[Douglas Fletcher]

I think Julian Sanchez hasn't been nearly as funny since he cashed his last paycheck. Sellout.

[Gaf]

Why bother talking about this show? It's on CNBC. Most people can't even find it on their remote.

[Andrew]

Different niches in the American information/entertainment spectrum appear to supply differential opportunities for different slices of opinion-- conservatives dominate talk radio (liberal talk radio sucks), liberals dominate slick off-hours TV (SNL, ALL the late-night shows, most HBO comedy etc).

Exceptions occur where against the grain guests have a real opportunity to speak for themselves-- Buckley's guests commonly got the best of him...same with Charley Rose.

The blogs clearly suit culturally-liberal/anti-war/outside-the-galaxy-on-everything-else crowd...but guests in the comments sections cover the spectrum.

[Grumpy Bob]

Um...when WAS Dennis Miller funny? Did I miss something??

[Kevin Carson]

Andy in SDCA,

A "Betty van Patter" incident might result in a new political conversion. If Naomi Wolf could get herself killed by the Weekly Standard editorial staff or something, Horowitz might spend the rest of his life seeking absolution from yet another authoritarian political movement.

[Jack]

I'm with Grumpy Bob; Miller has never been particularly funny.

[Jeremy]

He seemed like the same old Dennis Miller to me - the occasional funny bit, with a lot of awkward moments.

Yeesh - ever see that movie of his, "Bordello of Blood"? About the same, only that at least has lesbian vampires and a midget.

[Al Franken]

Kevin makes fun of murder. Ha ha! See it's funny because Horowitz is a nazi (like bush and the weekly standard).

[rst]

I didn't think it was so bad. I thought he took it too easy on that whiny wannabe "social critic," who was little more than a seriously indoctrinated young woman whom they could have plucked from the street with just as much consequence. Most of what she said was silly and airheaded.

Anyway there's only so far you can go first out on CNBC, he's going to have to get the stiffs and suits accustomed to him before he can pull off good ranting.

[Paul]

Hey, it's his first show, and he admitted on camera he had a stick up his ass. 🙂

Give him a week or so, and he'll be the Dennis Miller we've come to know and love...

[Slippery Pete]

Julian, cut him a break, man. He had a monkey!

The show was a little rough, but all new shows are rough. But you're right - he needs to throw more hardballs, even to people he's inclined to agree with (both Miller and Arnold describe themselves as socially liberal and fiscally conservative).

And there was something creepy about the way Naomi Wolf kept rubbing David Horowitz's arm.

[B.P.]

His most recent HBO comedy special (post-9/11)sucked, as opposed to the one he did in the late '80's, which was hysterical.

[Equality 7-2521]

Did anyone else think the weekend update segment was a little weird without a studio audience? I guess there is a reason they always tape stand up specials with an audience present.

[Kevin Carson]

Al Franken,

No, I'm pointing out Horowitz's folly: having surrendered his soul and mind to one loathsome ideology, which resulted in his perceived complicity in the death of an innocent victim, he attempts to find absolution by surrendering his soul and mind to another loathsome ideology.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Sigmund Freud lives.

[Liberty Lover]

Yeah, I think Dennis gets a pass on his first show. The second was better. The biggest problem is Naomi Wolf during the Varsity segment. She is obnoxious, rude, and undisciplined; not ready for prime time.

[dj of raleigh]

> this wounded dog will probably be put out of its misery within a few months.

[kevrob]

Is Naomi still a babe?

Kevin

[Steve in CO]

Are there any funny Bush-luvin' conservatives? I know Bill Hicks was a pretty good libertarian, at least as far as the drug war. I don't know, but I find right-wing humor a bit, I dunno, mean-spirited. I know, I know, nothing like a Cho making nice by calling Bush a Nazi. To be far, she didn't say he was a Hitler, but that he could be if he would just apply himself.