Wednesday, June 26, 2002

(Rhino's 51st Birthday) 5:29:10 PM    comment

Politically Incorrect QUOTES OF THE DAY "Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." -- Peter Ustinov Rhino here: I for one will be sad Friday when ABC broadcasts its last episode of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect. When the show first made the jump from the Comedy Channel to ABC, I was thrilled. Having such diverse opinions being batted around 5 nights a week on a major network was a dream come true. On many subjects, I thought Maher was as big a horse's ass as many of his guests, but then he'd take up another topic and he'd be speaking my mind. More important than how much I did or didn't agree with him on issues, I have to honor him for creating this forum for dialog and for being willing to stick his neck out. I'm sad to see it go. I hope he finds a new venue. 1:20:22 PM    comment

"R.I.P., P.I." by Arianna Huffington Monday, 17 June, 2002 The last episode of Politically Incorrect will be broadcast on June 28. I'm going to be on it one last time, and I've promised myself I won't cry on the air. Once the cameras go off -- well, that's another story. You see, the show has been a touchstone for me over the last nine years -- both in the evolution of my political ideas and the changes in my personal life. My first appearance was in November 1993, when the show was on Comedy Central and taping in New York. I was on with Harry Shearer, Rep. Jim Traficant, and Dr. Peter Kramer, who had just published "Listening To Prozac." Since then, Shearer -- the brilliant satirist, and voice of half 'The Simpsons' characters -- has become a close friend and co-conspirator, Traficant has been convicted of racketeering, and I've gone on to launch a mini-crusade disagreeing with Dr. Kramer's rosy assessment of the miraculous effects of Prozac. Doing "PI" was always a stimulating two-way street. Sometimes it gave me the chance to mount my soapbox and sound off on subjects I care passionately about, and sometimes it opened my mind to new topics and ideas that I then went on to write about.. ...Bill has said that he considers his last show not so much an end as a new beginning -- "kind of like being transferred to another diocese." Well, my friend, you can count on me to sing in your choir, whatever parish you wind up in. TO VIEW THE ENTIRE ARTICLE, GO TO: http://www.ariannaonline.com/columns/files/061702.html Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law ( http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html ). All copyrights belong to original publisher. 7:04:15 AM    comment

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