Jewish World Review
November 17, 2003
Dennis Miller back to talking politics
Dennis Miller would rather talk politics than live them.
That's why CNBC's newest yakker took a pass when California Republicans
approached him to run against Sen. Barbara Boxer in `04.
"I don't want to live in Wa****ngton and sit in a room with a bunch of
jerks I
don't know," says Miller, 50. "I'd love to debate Boxer, though. I think
she's
a moron. It would be fun to pancake her."
Miller's hourlong political talk show debuts in January, to run at 9 p.m.
EST
Monday through Thursday. It's a homecoming of sorts - he spent six seasons
as
"Weekend Update" anchor on NBC's "Saturday Night Live."
It was NBC Entertainment czar Jeff Zucker's humor that won him over,
Miller
says.
"I like to have funny bosses. I've had idiot bosses, and they're a drag.
When I
have lunch with a guy who makes me laugh, I'm there. We howled. At the
end, I
thought, `I'll work for that cat.'
"I'm looking to have fun in my day-to-day life. I need a boss who I dig.
Jeff's
a good hang. I like guys who let me be me. For better or for worse, my
monkey
trick is my monkey trick. It's all I got."
Miller's monkey trick on HBO, the weekly "Dennis Miller Live," won five
Emmys.
His two-season stint as a Proustian commentator on ABC's "Monday Night
Football" drew mostly bad reviews.
Most recently, Miller did weekly essays on Fox News Channel's "Hannity &
Colmes." His abrupt departure to cable competitor CNBC didn't sit well
with
Fox, but Miller says he and Fox boss Roger Ailes made nice last week.
"We had a nice chat. I like Roger. I like `em gruff, with scruffy elbows.
Ailes
plays a little rough."
Acting-wise, Miller just completed a three-episode arc on Fox's "Boston
Public"
as a snarky teacher. The gig "sounded better to me than the Senate," he
says.
Miller's CNBC show will include his trademark rants, but it won't be all
about
funny.
"It will be more about the events of the day, not a flat-out comedy show.
At
HBO, my mandate was to be a comedian. I'll say what makes me mad and what
I
admire, completely intermingled. It's news as catharsis."
A registered Republican, Miller sup****ted California Gov.-Elect Arnold
Schwarzenegger and was the opening act at a President Bush fund-raiser in
the
state.
"Whatever people want to assume, I'm liberal 99 percent of the time," he
says.
"I just want two things: to keep one of every two dollars I make, and to
have
the bad guys killed before they kill us."
At home in Santa Barbara, Miller likes to kick back with his wife and two
young
sons. For his 50th birthday earlier this month, he had his favorite
dinner:
meat loaf, mashed potatoes and canned corn.
Afterward, the family watched some TV. Says Miller: "I'm turning into Hume
Cronyn."
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