Bill Maher of the infamous and now defunct, "Politically Incorrect" show and author of "When you Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Ladin" among many others, has been picked by Amazon.com to host a weekly online talk show called "Amazon Fishbowl With Bill Maher". Bill Maher will record for the show when he's on hiatus from his current show, "Real Time With Bill Maher", on HBO .According to the New York Times, "...the half-hour show will have a format familiar to any late-night television viewer, with a monologue by Mr. Maher, followed by an interview with an author, a conversation with a filmmaker and a performance by a musician or musical group.
Not surprisingly, the common theme among the guests, who will be chosen by Amazon, is that they will have products for sale through its online site. As guests are talking, Amazon will display buttons that will let viewers instantly buy the book, DVD or CD they are discussing, as well as links to pages with their other works or those by similar artists.
Each segment will also feature a commercial of sorts for United Parcel Service, which is sponsoring the show. In those ads, a celebrity will make a surprise delivery to an Amazon customer. The program will be Webcast live every Thursday night at 11 Eastern Standard Time, beginning June 1..."
" 'Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher' has a simple, yet powerful mission -- to help our customers discover new books, films, and music, and to help the creators of these works find new audiences," said Kathy Savitt, Amazon.com Vice President for Strategic Communications, Content, and Initiatives. "We believe that Bill Maher's interviews with some of the world's most renowned and up-and-coming artists and entertainers will offer customers unique insight into the motivations and inspirations behind the books, films, and music they love."
Personally, I applaud Amazon for picking Bill Maher. I love his forthright style and his sense of humor; best of all, he's not afraid to ask tough questions. Ofcourse, this being a show with a non-political agenda, he will be asked to steer clear from politics, still, I have no doubt he will make this an entertaining and enlightening half-hour, so watch out for this one folks!
