As predicted here some time ago, Bill Maher is signing on to do a new talk show — a late-nighter for HBO, set to debut early next year. While it's ridiculous to make a prediction about a show that probably doesn't even have office space yet, I have to say that I think Mr. Maher has all the necessary skills, including the show biz savvy, to do a hell of a good program. On Politically Incorrect, he demonstrated a fine ability to kick-start boring chatter and make it more interesting, and a much greater willingness to work without a net than any host we've seen since the early days of Carson and Allen. Freed from the P.I. format that forced him to tackle current events — whether his guests had anything of interest to say about them or not — and network lawyers and sponsors, he might really score big. Then again, he might do a safe, studiously-planned show, and bomb. Either way, I'll be setting the TiVo for a Season Pass.
Over at Newsarama, Matt Brady has an excellent overview of Stan Lee's lawsuit against Marvel and what it may lead to. Here's that link.
The staff of the comic book Groo the Wanderer extends its congratulations to (and a certain amazement at the endurance of) Becky Grossmann of Olympia, Washington. As of today, she has been married for 26 years to Gary Grossmann, the world-class undisputed champ of Groo collecting. The man spends every cent they make on memorabilia of our silly barbarian, and has their home crammed full of the stuff. If the marriage has survived this, it will survive anything.
I just fixed the Search function on this site. It was broken. It didn't work. Now, it does. I fixed it. Because it was broken. But it isn't now.