Real Time with Bill Maher: Season 7
Season 7 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Real Time with Bill Maher Season 6.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 7 Progress Shield
February 20, 2009
Feb 20, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Financial Times editor Chrystia Freeland, journalist Tina Brown, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA); via satellite, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), journalist Brigitte Gabriel Topics: The ec
February 27, 2009
Feb 27, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actor Alan Cumming, political satirist and journalist P. J. O'Rourke, Mayor Gavin Newsom (D-San Francisco); via satellite, political correspondent George Stephanopoulos, au
March 06, 2009
Mar 6, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Businessman T. Boone Pickens; Mayor Cory Booker (D-Newark); news anchor Erin Burnett; author Peter Singer Topics: The economy, green energy, charity and philanthropy, soci
March 13, 2009
Mar 13, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Comedian Sarah Silverman, professor Michael Eric Dyson, author Andrew Breitbart, columnist Steven Pearlstein Topics: State of the Rep. party, racism in America, the Teache
March 20, 2009
Mar 20, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Fmr. Sec. of State Madeleine Albright, television host Keith Olbermann, actress Kerry Washington, senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin Topics: AIG
March 27, 2009
Mar 27, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Senator Bill Bradley, author Christopher Hitchens, rapper Mos Def, author Salman Rushdie Topics: Banking crisis, Legalization of marijuana, Nuclear proliferation
April 03, 2009
Apr 3, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Joe the Plumber, Journalist David Frum, comedian Carol Leifer, writer Reihan Salam, reporter Sam Donaldson Topics: 2009 G-20 London summit, tax cut, health care, Carbon ta
April 10, 2009
Apr 10, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Filmmaker Ron Howard and novelist Gore Vidal Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews
April 24, 2009
Apr 24, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Ex-gov. Howard Dean (D-VT), comedian Dana Gould, writer Randy Cohen, author Bethany McLean, ex-CIA agent Robert Baer Topics: Obama's first 100 days, torture memos, economy
May 01, 2009
May 1, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), journalist Fareed Zakaria, NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel, former FDA chief David Kessler Topics: 2009 swine flu outbreak, state of
May 08, 2009
May 8, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Democratic consultant James Carville, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, author Naomi Klein, journalist Matt Taibbi, author Reza Aslan Topics: Tax evasion by big companie
May 15, 2009
May 15, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Creator of The Wire David Simon, economist Elizabeth Warren, conservative commentator Amy Holmes, National Review's Richard Brookhiser, columnist Dan Savage Topics: Tortur
May 22, 2009
May 22, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus, Pulitzer Prize-winner and Newsweek editor Jon Meacham, M.I.T. economist Simon Johnson, and rapper M.I.A. Topics: Global economic crisis,
May 29, 2009
May 29, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actor Hill Harper, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, former House Representative Heather Wilson, documentarian Michael Pollan Topics: State of the Republican Party, tort
June 05, 2009
Jun 5, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actor and comedian D. L. Hughley, Council of Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, novelist Paula Froelich, journalist Jeremy Scahill, Fortune editor Matt Miller Topi
June 12, 2009
Jun 12, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: CNN host Larry King, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, former White House Homeland Security advisor Frances Townsend, NAACP President Ben Jealous, humorist P. J. O'Rourke Topics:
June 19, 2009
Jun 19, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Commentator Paul Begala, BBC reporter Katty Kay, blogger Meghan McCain, columnist Joel Stein, writer Hooman Maj Topics: Iranian presidential election, 2009, health care re
June 26, 2009
Jun 26, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actress Cameron Diaz, director Oliver Stone, actor Billy Bob Thornton Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews
July 17, 2009
Jul 17, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Joe Scarborough, actor Jason Alexander, actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), Markos Moulitsas. Topics: Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearin
July 24, 2009
Jul 24, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano (via satellite), Iraq War veteran and California congressional candidate Anthony Woods, Susan Eisenhower, journalist John Heile
July 31, 2009
Jul 31, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Journalist Jeff Sharlet, CNN foreign correspondent Michael Ware, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, economist Niall Ferguson, humorist Joe Queenan Topics: 2009 Henry Louis Gates, J
August 07, 2009
Aug 7, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, Georgia congressman Jack Kingston, California congressman Darrell Issa, Dr. David Scheiner, President Obama's doctor in Chicago
August 14, 2009
Aug 14, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actor Ashton Kutcher, fmr. Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command Gen. Anthony Zinni (ret.), journalist and blogger Ross Douthat, comedian Dana Gould (also reporter), a
August 21, 2009
Aug 21, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: TV host Jay Leno, journalist Chuck Todd, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), author Sam Harris, journalist Jeremy Scahill Topics: Health care reform, protesters bringing guns to t
August 28, 2009
Aug 28, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Rapper Jay-Z, journalist Bill Moyers Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews
September 11, 2009
Sep 11, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: New York representative Anthony Weiner, comedian Kathy Griffin, author and veterans advocate Paul Rieckhoff, journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, former counter-terrorism czar
September 18, 2009
Sep 18, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Actor and comedian David Cross, law professor Annette Gordon-Reed, journalist Jeffrey Toobin, journalist Matthew Continetti, fmr. health insurance executive Wendell Potter
September 25, 2009
Sep 25, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Filmmaker Michael Moore, fmr. New York governor Eliot Spitzer, economist Paul Krugman, director John Waters Topics: Capitalism, the economy, the housing market, gay marria
October 02, 2009
Oct 2, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Columnist Thomas Friedman, EPA Chief Lisa Jackson, actress Janeane Garofalo, Ohio congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, author Richard Dawkins Topics: Criticism of Barack Obama, hea
October 09, 2009
Oct 9, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Former senator Bill Frist, actor Richard Belzer, professor Cornel West, former senator Lincoln Chafee, comedian Sarah Silverman Topics: Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peac
October 16, 2009
Oct 16, 2009 · 60 min
Guests: Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) , Actor Alec Baldwin, comedian and actor Garry Shandling, Hardball host Chris Matthews, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley Topics: Balloon Boy inci