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'Real Time' brings Galifianakis, Ratigan, Aslan, Tett and Chua Friday

By April MacIntyre May 18, 2011, 20:59 GMT

03/18/2011 - Zach Galifianakis - 2011 NBA - Celebrities Sighted at the Game Between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Los Angeles Lakers (98-106) - March 18, 2011 - Staples Center - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Image of Sport / PR Photos

Real Time with Bill Maher smokes this Friday night with a very smart panel.

The show continues its ninth season Friday, May 20 (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.

The roundtable guests this week are author Reza Aslan, commentator Dylan Ratigan and editor Gillian Tett.  Author Amy Chua and actor Zach Galifianakis are interview guests.

Reza Aslan, best-selling author of No God but God and How to Win a Cosmic War, always has perspective on the latest events in the Middle East, from the tentative uprisings in Syria to the complex role of Saudi Arabia.

Dylan Ratigan, Host of MSNBC’s The Dylan Ratigan Show at 4 p.m. weekdays, recently told New York Magazine his views on what he made of Donald Trump. "A draft-dodging, race-baiting phony who happens to be right about trade with China," said Ratigan.

Gillian Tett is US managing editor and an assistant editor of the Financial Times.  In her previous role, she oversaw global coverage of the financial markets. In March 2009 she was named Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards. In June 2009 her book Fool’s Gold won Financial Book of the Year at the inaugural Spear’s Book Awards.Gillian Tett has a PhD in social anthropology from Cambridge University, based on research conducted in the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. She speaks French, Russian, moderate Japanese and Persian.  -

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™.”

His 2005 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:  May 22 (1:30 p.m., 1:00 a.m.), 23 (8:00 p.m.) and 25 (11:00 p.m.)

                HBO2 playdates:  May 20 (1:55 a.m.), 21 (11:30 a.m., midnight), 22 (7:00 p.m.) and 24 (10:00 p.m.)