HBO has announced the renewal of a long-running series, and the return of a beloved classic.
First off, HBO has ordered a 15th and 16th season of hit comedy/political talk show Real Time With Bill Maher, which will see the show airing through 2018. The show’s currently airing 14th season has boasted an average of 4.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched season since its 2003 premiere.
“Bill Maher’s fearless and irreverent insights make him an important voice of common sense,” said HBO programming president Casey Bloys. “We are happy to extend our partnership and continue to provide him with the same uncensored forum that he’s enjoyed on the network since the late ’80s.”
Maher’s Real Time has had plenty of material to mine this year thanks to the election. For both of the recently finished Republican and Democratic national conventions Real Time featured four live half-hour shows, a departure from the shows usual hour-long format that consists of a monologue, roundtable discussions and interviews. The guests on Maher’s shows are reason alone to check out the series. Maher’s panels are like a political Graham Norton couch, pairing people like Senator Barbara Boxer and Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn with Zach Galifiankis or Sarah Silverman.
“As long as Washington keeps serving up crazy, we’ll be there to push it around the plate, ” said Maher. “In these turbulent, uncertain times, I can’t think of anything more important than me being on TV.”
Maher has a long history with HBO starting in 1989, which has included the Emmy-nominated specials The Decider and I’m Swiss. He is also an executive producer of HBO’s Vice.
HBO has also announced when fans will be able to re-watch the highly influential comedy hit series The Larry Sanders Show, The cabler has revealed that the full series will be made available on HBO Now, HBOGo and HBO On Demand on September 23rd. The series will also be available on HBO Comedy on September 26th. HBO had officially managed to seal the deal for the show on March 23rd of this year, just a day before the unfortunate passing of creator/star and beloved comedian Garry Shandling.
The Emmy-winning series from Shandling centers on fictional late-night talk-show host Larry Sanders (Shandling) and ran for six seasons from ’92 on. Along with Shandling the series featured huge comedy names that include Jeffrey Tambor, Rip Torn, Janeane Garofalo, Linda Doucett, Penny Johnson, Wallace Langham, Bob Odenkirk, Jeremy Piven, Sarah Silverman, Mary Lynn Rajskub and Scott Thompson. The series was also known for its celebrity cameos like Roseanne Barr, Carol Burnett, Jim Carrey, Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres, David Duchovny, Jeff Goldblum, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jerry Seinfeld, Warren Beatty, Jon Stewart and Robin Williams.