11 replies to this topic

[TheAvengerLever]

Does anyone else get annoyed when Bill O' Reilly says, "We have a special guest to talk to us about such and such" and then proceeds to talk over everything they say?

[Oberon Storm]

Bill O'Reilly annoys me anytime he opens his mouth.

[Stew]

No, because I don't watch programming that I don't agree with, or that annoys me. Instead I spend my time doing activities that I enjoy.


Crazy, I know.

[Toan]

I'm going to be overly cautious here and move this thread to Contro, if that's okay.

[JRPomazon]

Bill O'Reilly can be annoying like that. You aren't the only one who has taken notice of his way of hijacking an argument by speaking over the other guy. That's just how he is I suppose, I don't think it reflects his political or controversial views so much his personal habits.

[Selena]

I hate it when anybody does this, regardless of their politics or profession. Bill Maher can be pretty bad about it, too. And if not him, then at least half of his guests.

[SOAP]

Maybe that's why I don't mid Bill Maher as much. Half the time it's whoever he's interviewing trying to talk over him. It's not annoying so much as "Okay, will one let the other one talk already. I don't care which one, let's just move on with the conversation!"

Bill O'Reilly is just entertainment. He's just there for people who already agree with his views to feel vindicated when he talks down people they'd consider the opposition. It doesn't matter if he sucks as an interviewer and has horrible debate skills, he's doing what his fans wish they could do in real life. So comparing him to Bill Maher is a pretty good comparison. Maher fulfills a similar wish fulfillment, though the type of people he's up against probably aren't as polite as the people Bill O'Reilly usually interviews.

Edited by SOAP, 06 April 2012 - 03:55 PM.

[Oberon Storm]

Bill Maher will let the other guy gets his side in most of the time before he goes off.

[J-Roc]

Bill O'Reilly is a big blubbering vagina.

[Egann]

Even as somebody who tends to agree with the conservative right position...I just can't stand most of the radio talkshow/ Fox news shows. It's usually either a) talking points I've heard a thousand times, or b) inflammatory conspiracy theories. A few, like Michael Savage, periodically go beyond that to produce an insight, but generally the stuff depresses me.

That said, talking over people is rather standard affair, particularly for television because air time is so pressed. Watch the round table on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Jeez, folks. I'm hard pressed to make out three consecutive words from any speaker. And--what a suprise!--nobody says anything insightful here, either.

[arunma]

Actually I don't watch anything on Fox News. It's not out of some passionate hatred of conservativism or anything. It's just that I never feel I can trust that anything they're saying is necessarily true. It's too confusing, so I don't bother to watch. Back when I did watch though, I actually didn't mind Bill O'Reilly that much. Sure he takes the opposite stance from me on...like, everything. But he does bring up interesting issues, so I can't complain too much.

But allow me to also defend the other Bill, Bill Maher that is. Him I do watch because I agree with whatever he says (pretty much everything except for the atheism stuff, actually). But unrelated to my obvious bias, I have to say that he does not simply bring on guests in order to talk over or trash them. Most of the time he has one or two conservative guests, and I've even seen him chide his liberal audience for booing them. If you're going to invite someone that you disagree with, you've got to be respectful to them no matter what they say. And I think he's good about this.

[SOAP]

I think I may have exaggerated my post about Bill Maher. On second thought, you can't really compare him to O'Reilly.

I'm not sure there's any controversy as far as O'Reielly goes. I think we can all agree that he's annoying, or better yet, a big blubbering vagina.