Friday night sees Bill Maher entertaining the commentary of David Simon, showrunner of HBO's "The Wire." Maher has as panel guests journalist Richard Brookhiser, commentator Amy Holmes and gay activist columnist Dan Savage.
David Simon (R), Susanna White - Simon discusses the drug war on Bill Maher's Real Time on HBO © Tony Lowe / PR Photos
Maher's New Rules segment was punctuated by an amusing "commencement speech" delivered by Maher in Grad cap, who told graduating students to "give up," and prepare to move in with their parents, after going through "the American educational system." Maher also used humor to comment on the Wanda Sykes recent hosting duties, the Miss USA debacle and Lysol's futile war on germs.
Simon also recently completed "Generation Kill" for HBO, a true story and gritty drama based on the eponymous book by Evan Wright. Simon adapted Wright's accounts as an embedded reporter in 2003 with the Marines' First Recon Battalion in the Iraq war for the smallscreen miniseries.
Maher's show continues its seventh season exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m., following the live presentation.
Neither a GOP or Democratic loyalist, Maher interprets topical issues to his taste and invites a varied mixed panel of notables from their respective fields to comment. Love him or hate him, Maher's unique perspective on contemporary issues peppered with wit (and sometimes contention) makes for unpredictable TV.
TARP overseer Elizabeth Warren is also an interview guest this week.
Maher was the creator and host of “Politically Incorrect,” which was produced by HBO Downtown Productions and debuted on Comedy Central in 1993. The series moved to ABC in 1997.
Maher’s other HBO credits include six hour-long specials. He also starred in the recent feature film, “Religulous."
Other HBO playdates: May 17 (11:30 a.m., 1:00 a.m.), 18 (10:30 p.m.) and 20 (11:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: May 15 (2:30 a.m.), 16 (9:30 a.m., midnight), 17 (7:00 p.m.), 18 (8:00 p.m.) and 19 (10:30 p.m.)
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