LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Bill Maher has announced that his HBO political talk show 'Real Time' is returning to the air, but without its writers amid the ongoing dual Hollywood strikes.
Citing the need "to bring people back to work," the 67-year-old comedian said on Wednesday, September 13 that his show will be back with an original episode on Friday, September 22 at 10 pm.
Maher has now become the first late-night host to return to air after the WGA strike, which started on May 2.
The eponymous host’s announcement came just days after Drew Barrymore announced the return of her daytime series without writers.
What did Bill Maher say about the return of 'Real Time'?
Maher took to his Twitter handle on Wednesday to announce that “Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing.”
“It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems, and concerns,” he continued
The comedian went on to claim that “much of the staff is struggling mightily” and even though he loves his writers, he is “not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much.”
He then admitted that his show would return but without “a monologue, desk piece, New Rules or editorial, the written pieces.”
"And I’ll say it upfront to the audience: the show I will be doing without my writers will not be as good as our normal show, full stop," Maher contended, adding, “But the heart of the show is an off-the-cuff panel discussion that aims to cut through the bullshit and predictable partisanship, and that will continue. The show will not disappoint.”
Maher previously sparked a controversy last week when he voiced his opinion on the WGA strike and called a lot of the writers’ demands “kooky”.
“What I find objectionable about the philosophy of the strike [is] it seems to be, they have morphed a long way from 2007’s strike, where they kind of believe that you’re owed a living as a writer, and you’re not. This is show business. This is the make-or-miss league,” the host said on his 'Club Random' podcast.
How did the WGA respond to Bill Maher’s announcement?
In a statement posted to social media, WGA denounced Maher’s announcement, calling his decision ‘disappointing’.
"If he goes forward with his plan, he needs to honor more than 'the spirit of the strike,'" the union said, also vowing that its members will be "picketing the show."
"As a WGA member," the union wrote, Maher "is obligated to follow the strike rules and not perform any writing services."
Maher’s surprising announcement also garnered immense attention on social media, where users were stunned to know that his show had writers in the first place.
“Kind of surprised they had writers in the first place,” one user said while the second wrote, “It’s fairly unwatchable with the writers. I can’t imagine what it’ll be like without them.”
“Good thing I stopped watching a while back. It sucked with writers, can't imagine how bad it is going to be without them,” the third user fumed.
“WAIT, you’re telling me he had writers?!?!” another user joked. “Maher's show will go from "unwatchably stupid" to "explosively horrible,” one more user slammed.
