He was kind of funny on the show News Radio before even that. That was a good show with a lot of good actors but seems like a lot of people never heard of it.
RIP Phil Hartman. After he died the show wasn't the same and it just kinda faded away. So it wasn't a cult classic that got cancelled too soon kind of thing. But also not a show that ran more a long time.
But one of favourite shows of all time. The cane episode was one the best half hours of TV of all time.
I liked him as a comedian early on. Was a huge early jre podcast fan. But he lost me circa 2015/16. He started believing he was actually smart. His stand-up has been awful for a long long time now. To say nothing of his political influence.
What sort of respect are you referring to when you say stuff like this? It feels like people these days judge everyone by the same standards they would a politician and that seems really odd to me. Comedians are supposed to say edgy stupid shit. That's quite literally their job.
You're certainly entitled to your own opinion on the artistic merit of that kind of comedy but I don't think there's any denying that's what it is. Nevertheless, why would you look to any artist, especially comedians, for balanced political discussion? That's not what they do. Even the ones that talk about politics are doing it more for the laughs than the nuanced discussion. If any comes from their jokes that is a side benefit, not the primary purpose.
Nevertheless, why would you look to any artist, especially comedians, for balanced political discussion?
I'm not sure what you mean by "balanced". Less about that than having nuanced and complex views. Being entertaining doesn't preclude you from having something insightful to say. Often, simply highlighting the absurd contradictions in the modern moment can be entertaining on it's face.
When a very rigid corporate controlled media limits the scope of conversation, comedy venues are often the only places you'll find a soap box for contrary opinions. That gives you a diversity of views. Some are good. Some are profound. Plenty are dog shit.
Rogan's classically the type that entertains more dog shit fringe views in pursuit of some very banal conclusions. He's only funny in the sense that he's easily mocked for being so gullible.