HBO Should Have Succession Plan In Mind For Bill Maher, Who Turns 69 Next Month

Bill Maher somewhat jokingly told podcast guest Jane Fonda that he may "quit" his HBO program "Real Time" because he doesn't want to cover another Donald Trump presidency.

"I may quit because I don’t want to do another," Maher said. "I did all the Trump stuff before anybody. I said he was a con man before anyone else. I called him a mafia boss."

"I’m bored with it," he concluded.

Hmm.

Maher is not quitting anytime soon. He has already announced he will host "Real Time" for a 23rd season, starting on January 17, 2025. Still, we don't dismiss Maher's comments as just another "I will move to Canada if Trump wins." 

And HBO shouldn't, either.

Bill Maher turns 69 in January. He doesn't need to host the show anymore. Hosting" Real Time" is a grind. Maher frequently laments the exhausting five-day writing process required to craft the show each time.

Moreover, Maher owns and operates the expanding podcast network, Club Random Studios, separately from HBO. He recently added Sage Steele and Jillian Michael to the network, along with his own weekly show, "Club Random."

Maher can and will generate more money from owning a successful podcast network than he can from HBO, whose parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, remains in mountains of debt.

Trump or no Trump, Bill Maher isn't going to host "Real Time" forever. The end is probably somewhat near. Again, he's almost 70 years old.

Inside baseball: Maher's HBO contract prohibits him from signing with another network. But he could stop doing the show at any time – as in a "retirement" – if he were to focus only on his podcast business.

Therefore, HBO should at least have a succession plan for Maher in mind for three years, five, or 10.

Presumably, HBO will want to continue airing a similar type of show after Maher's departure. There's an argument that "Real Time" is more valuable to HBO today than a decade ago. HBO has migrated to the all-in streaming service Max, which lacks a signature drama series like "Game of Thrones" or "The Sopranos."

("House of the Dragon" isn't cutting it.)

Replacing Maher will be a challenge. Unlike most television stars, viewers pay to watch him on HBO/Max. And simply replacing him with another liberal satirist won't work. HBO already has one of those in John Oliver, who has never been less relevant than he is today.

Comedy Central tried that approach in 2017 by replacing Jon Stewart with Trevor Noah. It didn't work. Viewership cratered around 70 percent after Stewart handed the baton to Noah. 

Like Stewart, Maher's appeal to viewers is that he's funny and not afraid to criticize his preferred party, the Democrat Party. In fact, Maher chides the "woke left" as much as he does the "MAGA right."

See his recent monologue below:

The segment was humorous and not ideologically driven. Such a duo is rare in political satire today. 

Therefore, we asked OutKick readers — who helped us fantasy book a conservative on "The View" — to name Maher's ideal successor. You can vote here.

So far, Dave Smith is the pick.

Smith's politics differ from Maher's. He's an avowed libertarian and voted for Donald Trump in 2024. However, like Maher, he calls out and mocks both sides of the political aisle.

In August, Joe Rogan endorsed Dave Smith as the best political comedian available today.

"I’m not the guy to get political information from," Rogan said on X. "If you want that from a comic, go to @ComicDaveSmith. He actually knows what he’s talking about."

Smith recently derided the neo-conservatives and neo-liberals in Washington (both of which are equally awful and hawkish) on Fox News' "Will Cain Show" below:

HBO could also lean more into debate with Smith. Here's him recently debating (and humiliating Chris Cuomo) one on one:

Not a great look for Fredo.

"I think @joeroganhq has prepped the world to embrace Dave," commented an OutKick reader. "[Smith on HBO] would be must-see streaming every week."

Another reader just asks that HBO not replace Bill Maher with the shills holding down late-night on broadcast television. "Anybody not named Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, or Stephen Colbert."

And Seth Meyers.

An OutKick reader has yet to nominate Clay Travis for the job. But it's coming.