Smallscreen News

Olivia Wilde and Richard Haass on Bill Maher's Real Time Fri. Feb. 26

By April MacIntyre Feb 24, 2010, 21:15 GMT

01/28/2010 - Olivia Wilde - © Tina Gill / PR Photos

Bill Maher opened up his new season of "Real Time" this past week with a table of guests that included Seth MacFarlane, Eliot Spitzer and Wanda Sykes.

This week's HBO "Real Time with Bill Maher" will see a mix of actors and politicians on Friday, Feb. 26 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m., following the live presentation. 

The show allows Maher to open in a traditional late night chat show monologue and segue into a table discussion that showcases his perspective on contemporary issues.

The roundtable guests this week are editor Chrystia Freeland, author Reihan Salam and actress Olivia Wilde; Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is an interview guest.

Other HBO playdates:  Feb. 28 (12:30 p.m., 3:35 a.m.) and March 1 (8:00 p.m.) and 3 (11:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  Feb. 26 (2:40 a.m.), 27 (11:30 a.m., midnight) and 28 (7:00 p.m.), and March 2 (10:00 p.m.)

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 and ran through 2002.

His most recent book, “New Rules:  Polite Musings from a Timid Observer,” made the New York Times best seller list, as well as best seller lists across the country.