The BEST episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher

Every episode of Real Time with Bill Maher ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher!

Each week Bill Maher surrounds himself with a panel of guests which include politicians, actors, comedians, musicians and the like to discuss what's going on in the world.

Last Updated: 12/9/2024Network: HBOStatus: Continuing
April 18, 2003
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2 votes

#1 - April 18, 2003

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/18/2003

Guests: Author Ann Coulter, author Michael Eric Dyson, comedian Dennis Miller, journalist Fareed Zakaria, Earthquake Topics: Iraq, New York smoking ban

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April 11, 2003
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1 votes

#2 - April 11, 2003

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/11/2003

Guests: Author and columnist Arianna Huffington, writer, radio host and professor Michael Eric Dyson, radio host Doug McIntyre, musician Jerry Minor (L. Witherspoon), professor of political science As'ad AbuKhalil Topics: Developments in the Iraq war, the Supreme Court, Augusta National Golf Club membership controversy

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June 03, 2011
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1 votes

#3 - June 03, 2011

Season 9 - Episode 18 - Aired 6/3/2011

Guests: U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, professor Melissa Harris-Perry, former New York Rep. Rick Lazio, journalist Larry King, writer/director Adam McKay Topics: Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign, Republican hyperbolic rhetoric about Obama, Sarah Palin's bus tour, Rep. Anthony Weiner scandal, Lee Atwater, John Edwards scandal, the US budget deficit, link between cell phones and cancer, businessmen as politicians

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June 11, 2010
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27 votes

#4 - June 11, 2010

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 6/11/2010

Guests: Queen Noor of Jordan, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, ex-Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist, director Oliver Stone Topics: Oil spill, Republican filibustering, Dan Duncan and inheritance tax, "running government like a business", Nikki Haley, Military budget of the United States, Helen Thomas' Israel comments

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July 31, 2009
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27 votes

#5 - July 31, 2009

Season 7 - Episode 21 - Aired 7/31/2009

Guests: Journalist Jeff Sharlet, CNN foreign correspondent Michael Ware, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, economist Niall Ferguson, humorist Joe Queenan Topics: 2009 Henry Louis Gates, Jr. arrest by Cambridge police, health care reform, current economic crisis, resignation of Sarah Palin as Governor of Alaska

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April 10, 2009
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27 votes

#6 - April 10, 2009

Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/10/2009

Guests: Filmmaker Ron Howard and novelist Gore Vidal Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews

Directors: Hal Grant
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April 27, 2007
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10.00
2 votes

#7 - April 27, 2007

Season 5 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/27/2007

Guests: Actor Richard Belzer, NPR correspondent Jamie Tarabay, commentator Lisa Schiffren, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, fmr US Attorney David Iglesias Topics: Pat Tillman controversy, U.S. attorney firings, privacy in America, Alec Baldwin, future of Iraq

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October 24, 2008
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27 votes

#8 - October 24, 2008

Season 6 - Episode 24 - Aired 10/24/2008

Guests: Actor Tim Robbins, comedian Carol Leifer, political consultant Matt Dowd, economist Arthur Laffer; via satellite, ex-GOP operative Allen Raymond Topics: Electoral fraud, voting, the election, Joe the Plumber, economy, Barack Obama, future of the Republican Party

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October 06, 2006
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1 votes

#9 - October 06, 2006

Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 10/6/2006

Guests: From Washington, D.C.: Sens. John Kerry and Lincoln Chafee; Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke, comedian/actor Robin Williams, journalist Chris Matthews Topics: Mark Foley scandal, 2004 and 2006 elections, Iraq War, international relations

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September 09, 2005
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1 votes

#10 - September 09, 2005

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 9/9/2005

Guests: Walter Maestri, Joe Scarborough, comedian George Carlin, Cynthia Tucker, conservative editorialist James K. Glassman, writer Kurt Vonnegut Topics: Michael D. Brown, US political system, on race, on the Administration

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October 22, 2004
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1 votes

#11 - October 22, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 10/22/2004

Guests: Former CIA director James Woolsey, former Asst. Sec. of State James Rubin, actor Bradley Whitford, environmentalist Robert Kennedy, Jr. and White House advisor Dr. Bernadine Healy Topics: Iraq, flu vaccinations, Bill O'Reilly lawsuit

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October 15, 2004
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1 votes

#12 - October 15, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 10/15/2004

Guests: Singer Alanis Morissette, former Rep. Jim Rogan, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Dr. Howard Dean, radio show host Garrison Keillor Topics: Election debates, media in politics, Iraq

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October 01, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#13 - October 01, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 10/1/2004

Guests: Comedian George Carlin, correspondent Katty Kay, economist Stephen Moore, The Dixie Chicks, talk show host Tucker Carlson Topics: Presidential election debates, religion

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September 17, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#14 - September 17, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 9/17/2004

Guests: Author P.J. O'Rourke, philosopher Cornel West, actress Julie Delpy, journalist Kitty Kelley, correspondent Christiane Amanpour Topics: Bush family, assault weapons ban lifted, antidepressant drugs

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August 27, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#15 - August 27, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/27/2004

Guests: Author Michael Eric Dyson, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, reporter Ashleigh Banfield, author and Vietnam veteran John E. O'Neill, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, talk show host Chris Matthews Topics: McCain–Feingold Act, Iraq, environment

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September 03, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#16 - September 03, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 9/3/2004

Guests: Actor Jason Alexander, Andrew Sullivan, Arianna Huffington, Howard Dean and Pat Buchanan Topics: Republican National Convention, Iraq

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August 15, 2003
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10.00
1 votes

#17 - August 15, 2003

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 8/15/2003

Guests: Author Ann Coulter, Arianna Huffington, Dana Rohrabacher, Orlando Jones, Jesse Ventura Topics: California recall election, airline security, George Bush action figure

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September 26, 2003
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10.00
1 votes

#18 - September 26, 2003

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 9/26/2003

Guests: Darrell Issa, filmmaker Michael Moore, basketball player Charles Barkley, Sen. John Edwards, Aaron McGruder, John Mellencamp, John Hansen (II) Topics: Terrorism, agricultural subsidies, R. Kelly

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January 16, 2004
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2 votes

#19 - January 16, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/16/2004

Guests: Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, musician Moby, Rev. Al Sharpton, actor Ron Silver, congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) Topics: American values, Iraq, MoveOn.org, environment

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March 04, 2005
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10.00
1 votes

#20 - March 04, 2005

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/4/2005

Guests: Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, former NIH administrator Bernadine Healy, actor Dave Foley, Ward Churchill and Michael Faughnan, and comic Whoopi Goldberg via satellite. Topics: BTK killer, on the Ten Commandments, torture, on raising children

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August 22, 2003
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1 votes

#21 - August 22, 2003

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 8/22/2003

Guests: Comedian Margaret Cho, Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr., Willie Brown, Bob Barr, James Woolsey Topics: Ten Commandments issue, religion, gay rights, California recall

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February 06, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#22 - February 06, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/6/2004

Guests: Author Andrew Sullivan, journalist Ron Suskind, actor Rob Schneider, politician Carol Moseley Braun, politician Jennifer Granholm Topics: Janet Jackson's Super Bowl stunt, Martha Stewart, special interests' power over politicians

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January 30, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#23 - January 30, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/30/2004

Guests: Actor Larry Miller, actor Sean Astin, former Bush-Cheney 2000 press secretary Mindy Tucker-Fletcher; on satellite Max Cleland and Michael Moore Topics: Democratic presidential candidates, gay marriage, Israel

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August 13, 2004
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10.00
1 votes

#24 - August 13, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 8/13/2004

Guests: Comedian D. L. Hughley, former Sen. Gary Hart, writer Michelle Malkin, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, and columnist Maureen Dowd Topics: Muhammad Khan, president Bush, racial profiling, Jim McGreevey

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August 06, 2004
star
10.00
1 votes

#25 - August 06, 2004

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 8/6/2004

Guests: Comedian Steve Harvey, Rep. Kay Granger, former Rep. Bob Barr, and reporter Cokie Roberts Topics: Terrorism, Kerry's war record, corn farming, Ricky Williams, gay marriage

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