Bill Maher’s ‘Swiss’ reveals its age
The star of “Politically Incorrect” returns to perform in front of a live audience in the comedy special “Bill Maher: I’m Swiss” (10 p.m. tonight, HBO), taped some months back in Portland.
As host of his long-running series on Comedy Central and ABC, Maher was an equal-opportunity satirist. With “Swiss,” Maher abandons all pretenses of even-handedness and spends much of his time trashing the current administration.
And while this may serve as an exercise in catharsis for those disappointed by last November’s election, “Swiss” already seems dated and out of touch with recent events that might have provided ample fodder for satire.
This is the problem that comedians face when they abandon the opportunity to be funny about practically any subject and focus exclusively on politics. Real comedy is universal and timeless.
We still love “Lucy” after 50 years and laugh at Shakespeare after 400. Maher’s comedy special demonstrates how even clever comedy dedicated exclusively to political topicality can seem as stale as last month’s newspaper.
Rob Lowe returns to episodic television in the six-part series “Beach Girls” (8 p.m. Sunday, Lifetime), and boy, is he bummed. No, he’s not pining about his decision to quit “The West Wing”; he’s playing Jack Kilvert, a successful Boston lawyer and widower father of 16-year-old daughter Nell (Chelsea Hobbs).
A year after his wife’s death, Jack returns to the posh beach town of Hubbard’s Point, where in the fateful summer of 1985, his late wife, Emma, was part of a popular circle known as the Beach Girls that also included Jack’s sister Maddie (Katharine Ashby) and Stevie (Julia Ormond).
Of the Beach Girls, only Stevie has remained on the point, where she has gone through three marriages and become a famous novelist and a bit of a hermit.
For reasons unclear (but are certain to emerge, gradually, and painfully) Jack has cut off ties to his wife’s former friends. In fact, Jack has cut off ties with almost everything and, most notably, with his razor blade. He mopes around the beach house half-shaven when not spooning joylessly with his new girlfriend, who doesn’t look much older than Jack’s daughter. Can you blame Nell for hating her?
Gary Cole, another “West Wing” veteran, returns in “Wanted” (10 p.m. Sunday, TNT), yet another hyperviolent police drama set in Los Angeles. Cole plays Conrad Rose, the head of a supersecret squad dedicated to tracking and busting the top 100 bad guys in the City of Angels.
With so much badness in the world, there’s precious little time for character development.
Did Tony the Tiger and the Breakfast of Champions begin as part of a radical food movement? “Cereal: History in a Bowl” (10 p.m. Sunday, History) looks at the evolution of the breakfast cereal from the health sanitariums of 19th-century Battle Creek, Mich., to today’s billion-dollar industry.
Tonight’s highlights
Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges star in the 2001 sci-fi drama “K-PAX” (8 p.m., ABC).
A tough guy with a Ph.D. (Patrick Swayze) works as a bar bouncer in the 1989 guilty pleasure “Road House” (8 p.m., Spike).
Without the 1977 comedy “Smokey and the Bandit” (8:10 p.m., CMT), there would be no “Dukes of Hazzard” show or spinoff movie. Blame it on Burt.
The hunt for vampires reaches outer space in the 2005 shocker “Bloodsuckers” (9 p.m., Sci Fi).
Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m., CBS): an attempt to solve two 30-year-old murders.
Sunday’s highlights
Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): interviews with Vladimir Putin and Jane Fonda.
Scheduled on “Dateline” (7 p.m., NBC): bitter court rivals unite to help their son.
A widow’s prayers answered on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC).
Music video madness in the 1998 film “Ride” (8 p.m., WB).
A mentally impaired father (Sean Penn) fights for child custody in 2001’s “I Am Sam” (9 p.m., CBS).
Lynette fights her addiction on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC).
A ritual slaying recalls a killer from long ago on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (9 p.m., NBC).
Space heroes recalled on “America’s Astronauts: From Mercury to Apollo to Today,” (9 p.m., MSNBC).
A mass killing without motive on “Crossing Jordan” (10 p.m., NBC).
A patient needs reassurance on “Grey’s Anatomy” (10 p.m., ABC).
Cult choice
Robert Redford and George Segal star in the 1972 diamond-heist drama “The Hot Rock” (5 p.m. tonight, Fox Movie Channel).