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The Belz, Dan Neil and Michael Oren on Real Time with Bill Maher, Mar. 18

By April MacIntyre Mar 17, 2011, 22:13 GMT

Richard Belzer - Central Park - New York City, NY, USA © Charles Norfleet / PR Photos

HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" hits Friday night with a line up that includes roundtable guests actor-comedian Richard Belzer, columnist Dan Neil and activist Erica Williams.  Actress-author Annabelle Gurwitch and Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the U.S., are interview guests.

Maher's chat show is a free-wheeling think-tank salon moderated by Maher, who wraps each episode with his patented "New Rule" segment.

here is last week's Overtime with Dana Loesch:

The series continues its ninth season Friday, March 18 (10:00-11:00 p.m. live ET/tape-delayed PT), exclusively on HBO, with an instant replay at 11:00 p.m. following the live presentation. 

A favorite of subscribers since his first special on the network in 1989, Maher has starred in nine solo specials on HBO, including the hour-long presentations “Bill Maher…But I’m Not Wrong,” “The Decider” and “I’m Swiss” (both nominated for an Emmy® in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special category), “Victory Begins at Home,” “Be More Cynical,” “The Golden Goose Special” and “Stuff That Struck Me Funny,” and two half-hour stand-up specials, plus the HBO specials “30 Seconds Over Washington” and “Comic Relief VI™.”

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.  He is also author of the books “When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden:  What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism,” “Does Anybody Have a Problem with That?  The Best of Politically Incorrect” and the novel “True Story.”  Maher also starred in the 2008 feature film “Religulous,” the seventh most successful documentary of all time.

                Other HBO playdates:  March 20 (1:30 p.m., 1:20 a.m.) 21 (8:00 p.m.) and 23 (11:05 p.m.)

                HBO2 playdates:  March 18 (2:15 a.m.), 19 (10:00 a.m., midnight), 20 (7:00 p.m.) and 22 (10:00 p.m.)