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Colin Quinn, Katty Kay on Bill Maher this Friday (VIDEO)

By April MacIntyre Apr 7, 2011, 18:31 GMT

08/29/2010 - Bill Maher and guest - 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards - HBO\'s Post Award Reception - Arrivals - The Plaza at the Pacific Design Center - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Keadrick D. Washington / PR Photos

Bill Maher's roundtable guests this week are news anchor Katty Kay, former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer and commentator Andrew Sullivan.  Comedian-actor Colin Quinn is an interview guest.

BBC World News America's Katty Kay is one of the few powerful women in media today.  A recent report by the Washington-based International Women's Media Foundation claims men hold 73 percent of the top executive posts in media companies and that almost two-thirds of reporters are male.  Kay recently spoke on a panel about this inequity.  

Quinn's one-man HBO show "Long Story Short" on April 9 is a 75-minute romp through the history of mankind—from cavemen and ancient Romans to the rise of China and the recent economic crises in Greece and Ireland.

Produced and directed by Jerry Seinfeld, "Long Story Short" premieres on HBO on April 9, after a four-month run on Broadway.

The show was honed by Quinn who has performed for U.S. troops in Iraq. His one-man show compares current global events to a 3 a.m. bar fight ("Iraq is in the parking lot and he's got a gun"), "Long Story Short" is a study of the more things change, the more they stay the same. And the core of human nature which has changed little through the ages.

Quinn uses the example of ancient Greece, and the plays of Antigone crying for her dead brother. "Now we watch Snooki on her knees crying over the loss of her cellphone."

From HBO

Real Time with Bill Maher continues its ninth season Friday, APRIL 8 (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.  Allowing Maher to offer his unique perspective on contemporary issues, the show includes an opening monologue, roundtable discussions with panelists, and interviews with in-studio and satellite guests.

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:  April 10 (1:00 p.m., 5:00 a.m.), 11 (8:00 p.m.) and 13 (11:00 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates:  April 8 (2:00 a.m.), 9 (9:30 a.m., 12:15 a.m.), 10 (6:45 p.m.) and 12 (10:00 p.m.)