New York magazine profiles comedian and raconteur Bill Maher, and reveals a surprising fact about the first guest on the first taping of Maher’s Comedy Central show:
He pitched a show to Comedy Central executives that would remake political-debate programs like The McLaughlin Group with comedy and celebrities. He would do a monologue like Carson and feature assorted stars tackling current affairs. The very first guest during the first taping, in a studio on East 23rd Street in New York, was a Republican TV executive at NBC named Roger Ailes.
The article goes on to have Maher impersonating Larry King (“Let’s go grab a nosh with Larry King”) while his friend refers to MSNBC’s Martin Bashir as “Martin Balsam.”
(Source: MediaBistro.com/TVNewzer)
