Bill Maher is too controversial for the Television Academy, which hands out the annual Primetime Emmy awards. For this year's nominations, announced today, Maher's HBO show Real Time didn't receive one.
That's pretty par for the course for Maher, though he's usually nominated. He just never wins.
Since 1995, Maher's talk shows, Real Time and Politically Incorrect, have racked up a total of 39 nominations - 20 for Real Time and 19 for Politically Incorrect. Real Time is usually nominated in the very competitive Outstanding Variety Talk Show category. Except for 2015 and now this year, Real Time garnered at least one nom every year since 2004.
Maher has often joked that he's the Susan Lucci of talk shows. The soap-opera actress received 18 Daytrime Emmy nominations for All My Children in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category until she finally won in 1999. No such luck for Maher.
Maher's cavalier use of the n-word on a 2017 episode might have figured into his omission, though Samantha Bee's recent use of the c-word to describe Ivanka Trump did not prevent her TBS show Full Frontal from being nominated.
"His habit of handing over his platform to right-wing trolls has not played particularly well with liberals during the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency," writes Matt Wilstein at the Daily Beast. "This season, Maher has welcomed Trump defenders like Anthony Scaramucci and Geraldo Rivera along with conservative guests like NRATV host Colin Noir and former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro. The season prior he made his most egregious booking with professional troll and hebephilia advocate Milo Yiannopoulos, who was allowed to walk all over the host until fellow guest Larry Wilmore stepped in to put him in his place. It would be one thing if Maher used his show to take these figures to task for their unsavory views, but instead he more often than not finds himself agreeing with them on anti-PC grounds."
The nominees in the Outstanding Variety Talk Show category are: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Week with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Late Late Show with James Corden and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
CelebStoner's Fave Emmy Nominees
• Silicon Valley - Outstanding Comedy Series LOST to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Mike Judge - Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Silicon Valley) LOST to Amy-Sherman Palladino for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown - Outstanding Informational Series or Special WON
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown - Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program WON
• Lily Tomlin - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Grace and Frankie) LOST to Amy Brosnahan for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Katt Williams - Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Atlanta) WON
• I Love You America with Sarah Silverman - Outstanding Variety Sketch Series LOST to Saturday Night Live
• United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell - Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program WON
• W. Kamau Bell - Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program (United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell) LOST to RuPaul for RuPaul's Drag Race
Check out all of the nominees and winners here.
