HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
This week, I’m not even that interested in Bill Maher’s lineup of guests. I just want to watch his monologue, and see how he reacts to Donald Trump, Presidential Weatherman.
Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: Remember the excellent HBO drama series In Treatment, in which Gabriel Byrne played a therapist counseling a series of patients in intimate, often intense concentrated sessions? Well, this new Showtime series is similar, except that both its therapist and patients are real, working their way through actual conflicts and issues, as cameras and microphones record their progress, or lack thereof. This may sound like a paradoxical position for a TV critic, but my personal opinion is that any issues that personal should be addressed in confidence – which means no cameras, and no added stress of the participants worrying, however subconsciously, about how they’ll appear on television. Hence, if these people and this therapist agree to conduct their sessions on camera, that may not be the worst of their problems – but it should be one worth addressing.
Comedy Central, 11:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This new Comedy Central talk show is hosted by Anthony Jeselnik, a young comic with a fine sense of timing, a deadpan demeanor, and an aggressively outrageous comic approach, one that prides on going to unexpected places and punch lines. The question, as always when a comic shifts for the first time into the role of host, whether they will be as adapt at supporting and listening to their guests as to searching for their next opportunity for a one-liner. Those are different skills, and not every newly anointed talk host can make the transition (see Joan Rivers, Chevy Chase, etc.). But I really like Jeselnik’s humor, which demonstrates real intelligence as well as bravery – so let’s go along for the ride for a while, and see what happens. The format for this show is basic Charlie Rose – one host, one guest, one large wooden table – but with Jeselnik asking the often twisted questions, and asking them of fellow comedians, Good Talk should be much, much funnier than Rose’s PBS talk show. And if not, Jeselnik is in real trouble…
