Reply #8: The Best Show In A While

[KharmaTrain]

Mahrer's show is live...and WYSIWYG. There's no editing or re-dos (I see them regularly on the Daily Show) and if things screw up, they can drastically alter the ebb and flow of the show. I've noticed that Mahrer isn't very good at "tap-dancing" or handling things when they mess-up and it affects the show (like when he had a heckler kicked out of the studio).

I actually thought last night's show was one of his better ones. Tavis Smiley was excellent...saying things that needed to be said and heard. Robin Wright is one of the better stenographers, but offers little to the party as she's more afraid of alienating "contacts" and undisclosed sources than really speaking out...and Robert Klein...while I've loved the man for over 30 years...is yet another Hollywood/Entertainment buddy who is great doing stand-up but is poorly informed and isolated from much of what's happening.

Last night's show was a tough one in that they dealt with substansive issues that don't lend easy to one-liners or grandstanding rhetoric. Dan Savage also added to the mix in what was definitely a high-brow discussion that is rare to see/hear on a television.