Bill Maher Tapes First Amazon Talk Show

The first official Internet talk show was taped on Sunday night, right here in Park City, Utah.

“Amazon Fishbowl with Bill Maher” is sponsored by United Parcel Service and was recorded in front of a live audience composed of invited guests at the Sundance Film Festival.

The guests on the first episode were authors Stephen King, Armistead Maupin and rocker Rob Thomas.

The show also included a regular feature in which a celebrity with a product pays a surprise visit to the home of someone who’s ordered their item.

For the first show, comedian/actor/director Paul Reiser hand-delivered a DVD of his film, “The Thing About My Folks,” to an unsuspecting woman.

The taped segment looked a lot like an Ed McMahon piece from Publishers Clearing House. I’m told none other than Bruce Springsteen has already taped such a piece, and other celebs are being lined up as we speak.

The taping of the show took place in a converted yoga center being used for Sundance parties. On the prior night, Entertainment Weekly had thrown its big bash there, though you’d never have known it from the looks of the place.

As talk shows go, “Fishbowl” — which is about 30 minutes long — is nothing groundbreaking. It’s just pleasant chitchat and good music. Bill Maher is supposed to stay away from politics, but that’s impossible, and he threw in a couple of good jabs. But freed from his usual shtick, Maher proved to be a quick-witted host.

Nevertheless, he almost got into trouble twice. With King, he raised the ire of the famed commercial novelist by asking him about his days as a heavy drinker. King actually stopped him by asking, “Why are we getting into this?”

With Maupin, who was promoting his Sundance movie, “The Night Listener,” Maher crossed into unfriendly territory when it seemed like he was making anti-gay jokes at the writer’s expense.

At least we know “Fishbowl” won’t be boring.

The best element of the show was live music, performed acoustic-style by Thomas. The double-Grammy nominee did “Lonely No More” and “Fall On Me” from his solo album “Something to Be,” with no augmentation.

He sang and played the guitar and was, as usual, stunning in his simplicity. In his generation of rock and pop stars, Thomas continues to stand out as a leader when it comes to composition and performance. It’s fascinating to watch him because he’s such a throwback to “classic” rockers.

The “Fishbowl” pilot was recorded live to tape and will start playing on Amazon.com for free sometime soon. The series of 12 episodes begins on June 1.

And that will kick open the door for Internet series everywhere, so be warned: We are about to be flooded with a whole new genre of chitchat