Bill Maher has tried in recent months to say nice things about anti-vaccines conspiracy theorist and secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but on Friday’s “Real Time,” he revealed those days are over.

“The knives are out for Bobby Kennedy, and I gotta say, I’m with the knives,” Maher said.

That comment came at the end of his monologue, during which he discussed a lot of recent Donald Trump-related news, which led him to joke that the president has so thoroughly wrecked things that the CDC has been renamed to just the thing the D stands for.

First though, he brought up Friday’s new jobs report, which was not good.

“There’s a new jobs report. Only 22,000 jobs. 22,000? Diddy hired more than that for a party,” Maher joked.

After the report, Maher continued, “everyone was worried about their job, especially the guy who wrote the Report.”

This was of course a reference to last month, when Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after after the organization issued a disappointing jobs report. Trump falsely claimed that the report was “rigged,” and he’s nominated a loyalist for the job who, it was reported Friday, has a history of bigoted social media posts.

But back to Maher, who briefly brought up the ICE raid on a Hyundai plant in Georgia, and then moved on to Trump’s attempt to illegally change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

“We are at war with a lot of people. We are. We’re at war with so many people. We’re changing the name of the Department of Defense at the Department of War… It was originally called the Department of War under George Washington, yeah. And then at some point we changed to the Department of Defense, so it doesn’t look like we’re looking for one. Trump going back to the Department of War. He said it sends a message that we are ‘fierce warriors.’ And then he went back to his Twitter spat with Rosie O’Donnell,” Maher joked.

Then Maher brought up the military attack on Venezuelan citizens Trump claims were drug smugglers (likely a violation of international and American law).

“They said it was involved in the drug trade. Okay? There are countries in the region that are involved in the drug trade. I’m in Mexico, obviously Colombia. I seem to remember people calling cocaine Peruvian marching powder. Okay, so. But Venezuela, not one of them. But Venezuela is our only true rival in the Miss Universe contest,” Maher joked. “We’ve won it eight times. They’ve won it seven times. This is something I think the President is very interested in. This is why he hates Venezuela so much they stole our pageant secrets, like, like, just, how do you make a 19 year old look like she’s 40?”

Then Maher brought up the meeting between several global despots during the week, as well as China’s huge military parade. “Trump tweeted out, it looks like we’ve lost India and Russia to deepest, darkest China. What do you mean? We white man,” Maher joked. “I love when he forgets he’s the president and just reacts to everything on the world stage like, oh, look what happened.”

“So to recap, China had the scariest military parade ever. And America is changing our stationary, the Department of Defense is now the Department of War. Oh, also the Justice Department will now be the Bureau of revenge. The State Department is now just Marco Rubio [at] AOL, and the Centers for Disease Control is now just disease. Oh, yeah, but the knives are out for Bobby Kennedy, and I gotta say, I’m with the knives,” Maher continued. Then he took a brief look at Kennedy’s congressional appearance this week, before starting the show proper.

Greg Daniels and Michael Koman’s highly-anticipated “The Office” spinoff series “The Paper” has hit the Peacock newsstands, and we’re here to break down the first season’s release schedule.

Just weeks ahead of the show’s premiere, Peacock announced that it would shift the mockumentary-style show from a weekly release to a binge drop, which means fans won’t have to wait for the next episode installment to land on the streamer.

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The series follows a hilarious but whacky newspaper filled with a newsroom of non-journalists and a new editor-in-chief who’s confident he can get the paper back on track.

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Here’s the full episode release schedule below.

When does “The Paper” premiere?

“The Paper” makes its debut premiere on Peacock on Thursday, Sept. 4.

When do new episodes air?

All episodes of “The Paper” will be available to stream on Peacock on Thursday, Sept. 4.

Originally, “The Paper was set to drop the first four episodes of the series before going into a staggered release schedule. But the show announced it would be shifting to a binge release on Aug. 21.

Check out “The Paper” creators Greg Daniels and Michael Koman’s decision to shift from a weekly release to a binge here.

“The Paper” Season 1 Episode Release Schedule”

While all 10 episodes of “The Paper” land on Peacock on Thursday, we’re going to give you the episode breakdowns anyway.

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Season 1, Episode 1: “The Pilot” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 2: “The Five Ws” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 3: “Buddy and the Dude” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 4: “TTT Vs. the Blogger” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 5: “Scam Alert!” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 6: “Churnalism” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 7: “I Love You” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 8: “Church and State” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 9: “Matching Ponchos” — Thursday, Sept. 4

Season 1, Episode 10: “The Ohio Journalism Awards” — Thursday, Sept. 4

What is “The Paper” about?

Here’s Peacock’s official description of the series: “From Greg Daniels (‘The Office’) and Michael Koman (‘Nathan For You’), ‘The Paper’ follows the documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch in the Emmy Award-winning series “The Office” as they find a new subject when they discover a historic Midwestern newspaper and the publisher trying to revive it.”

Who’s in the cast?

The cast includes Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, Sabrina Impacciatore as Esmeralda Grand, Chelsea Frei as Mare Pritti, Tim Key as Ken Davies, Oscar Nuńez as Oscar Martinez, Ramona Young as Nicole Lee, Melvin Gregg as Detrick Moore, Alex Edelman as Adam Cooper, Gbemisola Ikumelo as Adeola Olofin, Eric Rahill as Travis and Duane Shepard Sr. as Barry.

Check out the full cast and character breakdowns here.

Are more episodes on the way?

Yes! One day before the Sept. 4 debut of “The Paper,” Peacock announced that the show was renewed for Season 2.

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Producers are reportedly already working on the new episodes, meaning it’s likely another batch will arrive around the same time next year.

Watch the trailer

The post ‘The Paper’ Season 1 Release Schedule: Are More Episodes on the Way? appeared first on TheWrap.

Where to Stream: Real Time With Bill Maher

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Bill Maher came out swinging on Friday’s episode of Real Time, taking aim at Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after the Trump Cabinet member’s fiery Senate testimony.

“The knives are out for Bobby Kennedy, and I gotta say, I’m with the knives,” Maher quipped at the end of his opening monologue. That opener, which you can watch above, also saw Maher riff on the latest Donald Trump headlines — including a joke that the president has so thoroughly wrecked things that the CDC has been reduced to just the “D,” for disease.

Later, Maher elaborated on why he thinks Kennedy is unfit for the job. “I personally find this very disappointing because I am the person who was sympathetic to what [Kennedy] was trying to do,” he told his panel. “I said, ‘Finally, we have a guy in there who cares about this stuff.’ But he’s also just nutty.”

The late-night host repeated his point: “He’s just too nutty. He just does not listen. I mean, he just is. And nothing ever – I call it pendulumism – nothing ever stops in the middle.”

Maher specifically criticized Kennedy for ousting CDC Director Susan Monarez and firing 17 other top officials, leaving what he called a vacuum of expertise. “Okay, this needed a housecleaning, the CDC. But to fire all 17 of the top people? Now you don’t have that voice in there at all. You just have your voice,” Maher said, eventually concluding: “It’s just – he’s got to go.”

His remarks come as Kennedy faces growing internal backlash. More than 1,000 current and former HHS employees signed a letter this week urging him to resign, accusing him of installing “political ideologues” in key positions.

CNN’s chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins told Maher’s panel that Kennedy “stumbled a lot” in his testimony as lawmakers pressed him on the CDC’s decision to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in mRNA vaccine research. “And so that is what the Republicans were putting to him, saying, ‘Do you believe that Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for this? And then do you also believe that was an mRNA vaccine that saved lives?’”

That disconnect, Collins said, puts Kennedy “at odds” with Trump, though she added he remains “about as safe as he can get” in his position unless the president himself changes his mind.

Not everyone agreed with Maher’s takedown. Stephen Moore, a former Trump campaign economic advisor, jumped in to defend Kennedy’s anti-regulatory stance. “When new drugs are being developed, we should let these drugs go to the market, especially if they’re dealing with cancer or heart disease or multiple sclerosis,” Moore argued. “The FDA holds these things up by five to 10 years, and it’s actually killing people.”

Bill Maher tore into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after his disastrous testimony before the Senate this week.

“The knives are out for Bobby Kennedy, and I gotta say … I’m with the knives,” the HBO comedian said on Real Time With Bill Maher before playing a series of clips in which Kennedy lashed out at difficult questions from senators.

“Poor Bobby—he talked so long he gained his voice,” the comic added in reference to the secretary’s voice. Kennedy has been diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a rare neurological condition that results in painful vocal cord spasms and a strained, hoarse voice.

Senators from both sides of the aisle grilled Kennedy over a slew of high-profile firings at the nation’s leading public health agency, including former Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director Susan Monarez; his decision to limit access to COVID-19 vaccines; and cancelling mRNA research—changes he’s described as “absolutely necessary” to reform the body.

Bill Maher eviscerated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his disastrous performance during a Senate hearing on his changes to the Centers for Disease Control. Screenshot: YouTube/RealTimeWithBillMaher

Over three barely watchable hours, Kennedy repeatedly contradicted both himself and established facts about the pandemic—in particular, the U.S. death toll as well as how many lives the vaccine saved—while shrugging off an open letter from more than 1,000 current and former Health and Human Services (HHS) employees condemning his “reckless disregard for science and truth.”

Kennedy’s own family members, including his sister, Kerry Kennedy, and cousin, Joe Kennedy III, have joined in growing calls for him to resign, describing him as “misguided,” “incompetent,” and “a threat to the health and well-being of every American.”

Maher had prefaced his savaging of Kennedy on Friday by making further digs at a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier in the day, which reverted the name of the Department of Defense to its former title of the “Department of War,” held between 1789 and 1947, the

Summarizing some of the other significant developments in global politics from the past week, Maher told his audience that “to recap, China had the scariest military parade ever, and America is changing our stationery.”

Kennedy has faced growing calls to resign for limiting access to the COVID-19 vaccine and for firing CDC employees. A thousand current and former CDC employees signed an open letter accusing Kennedy of “reckless disregard for science and truth.” Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS

He further quipped the Justice Department will now be referred to as the “Bureau of Revenge,” that the State Department has been redubbed “marco.rubio@aol,” and that amid Secretary Kennedy’s much-panned reform of the agency, the CDC would henceforth be known by the title of “Disease.”

Bill Maher made a bold declaration about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — and the Real Time With Bill Maher host didn’t mince words with his blunt assessment.

On Friday, September 5, the late-night host, 69, briefly mentioned RFK Jr., 71, during his opening monologue recapping recent news about President Donald Trump.

“The knives are out for Bobby Kennedy, and I gotta say, I’m with the knives,” Maher confessed.

Later, during the panelist segment of Real Time, Maher reflected on Kennedy’s three-hour Senate hearing on September 4. The health secretary struggled to defend major vaccine changes that limit access to the COVID-19 vaccine and the firing of CDC director Susan Monarez under his leadership.

“I personally find this very disappointing because I am the person who was sympathetic to what [Kennedy] was trying to do,” Maher told the panel. “I said, ‘Finally, we have a guy in there who cares about this stuff.’ But he’s also just nutty.”

Earlier this week, 1,000 current and former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees signed a letter calling for Kennedy to resign and accusing him of appointing “political ideologues.”

“He’s just too nutty,” Maher reiterated.. “He just does not listen. I mean, he just is. And nothing ever — I call it pendulumism — nothing ever stops in the middle.”

He continued, “OK, this needed a housecleaning, the CDC. But to fire all 17 of the top people? Now you don’t have that voice in there at all. You just have your voice.”

To conclude his thoughts on RFK Jr., Maher declared, “It’s just, he’s got to go.”

Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO