7.5/1028 votes#1 - February 20, 2009
Season 7 Episode 1 - Aired 2/20/2009
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 economy, President Obama's first month in office
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
6.7/1027 votes#2 - February 27, 2009
Season 7 Episode 2 - Aired 2/27/2009
Guests: Actor Alan Cumming, political satirist and journalist P. J. O'Rourke, Mayor Gavin Newsom (D-San Francisco); via satellite, political correspondent George Stephanopoulos, author Robin Wright Topics: Obama's speech, Bobby Jindal, marijuana, home ownership, Iraq, Afghanistan and troops, future of the Rep. party, Vatican and indulgences
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
6.9/1024 votes#3 - March 06, 2009
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 3/6/2009
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, socialism
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.3/1023 votes#4 - March 13, 2009
Season 7 Episode 4 - Aired 3/13/2009
Guests: Comedian Sarah Silverman, professor Michael Eric Dyson, author Andrew Breitbart, columnist Steven Pearlstein Topics: State of the Rep. party, racism in America, the Teachers' Union, stem cell research
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.1/1025 votes#5 - March 20, 2009
Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 3/20/2009
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 bonuses, the crisis, Teenage pregnancy in America, Glenn Beck, right-wing power
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.3/1026 votes#6 - March 27, 2009
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 3/27/2009
Guests: Senator Bill Bradley, author Christopher Hitchens, rapper Mos Def, author Salman Rushdie Topics: Banking crisis, Legalization of marijuana, Nuclear proliferation
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.0/1026 votes#7 - April 03, 2009
Season 7 Episode 7 - Aired 4/3/2009
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 tax, nuclear energy
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.4/1025 votes#8 - 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
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.2/1024 votes#9 - April 24, 2009
Season 7 Episode 9 - Aired 4/24/2009
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, gun control, environment and global warming, children's health
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
6.5/1021 votes#10 - May 01, 2009
Season 7 Episode 10 - Aired 5/1/2009
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 the Republican Party, terrorism, Souter's resignation, Arlen Specter's party switch, Israel
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.4/1026 votes#11 - May 08, 2009
Season 7 Episode 11 - Aired 5/8/2009
Guests: Democratic consultant James Carville, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, author Naomi Klein, journalist Matt Taibbi, author Reza Aslan Topics: Tax evasion by big companies, torture, Pakistan & Taliban, US military handing out bibles, gay marriage
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
5.9/1025 votes#12 - May 15, 2009
Season 7 Episode 12 - Aired 5/15/2009
Guests: Creator of The Wire David Simon, economist Elizabeth Warren, conservative commentator Amy Holmes, National Review's Richard Brookhiser, columnist Dan Savage Topics: Torture, climate change, gay marriage, War on Drugs
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
6.5/1021 votes#13 - May 22, 2009
Season 7 Episode 13 - Aired 5/22/2009
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, the progress of the Obama administration, Dick Cheney, religion in the United States
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
6.7/1026 votes#14 - May 29, 2009
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 5/29/2009
Guests: Actor Hill Harper, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, former House Representative Heather Wilson, documentarian Michael Pollan Topics: State of the Republican Party, torture and Guantanamo Bay, North Korea's nuclear weapons threat, nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, and California Supreme Court's decision regarding California's Proposition 8
Director: Hal Grant
Writer: N/A
7.5/1024 votes#15 - June 05, 2009
Season 7 Episode 15 - Aired 6/5/2009
Guests: Actor and comedian D. L. Hughley, Council of Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, novelist Paula Froelich, journalist Jeremy Scahill, Fortune editor Matt Miller Topics: Obama's visit to the Middle East, terrorism, abortion debate and the murder of Dr. George Tiller, gay marriage, health care reform in the United States
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1022 votes#16 - June 12, 2009
Season 7 Episode 16 - Aired 6/12/2009
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: 2009 digital television transition, Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting, racism, affirmative action, nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, terrorism, car culture in the United States, socialism
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1024 votes#17 - June 19, 2009
Season 7 Episode 17 - Aired 6/19/2009
Guests: Commentator Paul Begala, BBC reporter Katty Kay, blogger Meghan McCain, columnist Joel Stein, writer Hooman Maj Topics: Iranian presidential election, 2009, health care reform, David Letterman joke controversy, sexuality and infidelity in politics, 2009 imprisonment of US journalists by North Korea
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1023 votes#18 - June 26, 2009
Season 7 Episode 18 - Aired 6/26/2009
Guests: Actress Cameron Diaz, director Oliver Stone, actor Billy Bob Thornton Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.5/1022 votes#19 - July 17, 2009
Season 7 Episode 19 - Aired 7/17/2009
Guests: Joe Scarborough, actor Jason Alexander, actress/playwright Anna Deavere Smith, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), Markos Moulitsas. Topics: Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings, racism and the Republican Party, clean coal electricity debate, health care reform in the United States, recent sex scandals involving politicians, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, death of Michael Jackson, drug use in the United States, death of Walter Cronkite (news broke shortly before tonight's show began), 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon Landing
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.6/1023 votes#20 - July 24, 2009
Season 7 Episode 20 - Aired 7/24/2009
Guests: Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano (via satellite), Iraq War veteran and California congressional candidate Anthony Woods, Susan Eisenhower, journalist John Heilemann, writer Matt Taibbi Topics: 2009 Henry Louis Gates, Jr. arrest by Cambridge police, racism and the Republican Party, Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, health care reform, military-industrial complex
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.3/1021 votes#21 - 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
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.5/1022 votes#22 - August 07, 2009
Season 7 Episode 22 - Aired 8/7/2009
Guests: Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, Georgia congressman Jack Kingston, California congressman Darrell Issa, Dr. David Scheiner, President Obama's doctor in Chicago Topics: Health care, town hall mobs, Sarah Palin's 'death panel' comments, confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor, prescription drugs, children's health, bailouts, criticism of Bill Clinton's role in freeing American journalists.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1029 votes#23 - August 14, 2009
Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 8/14/2009
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), actor Brad Pitt Topics: 'Death panel' claims, healthcare, income inequality, the current state of the Republican party, John Brennan 'ending' the war on terror, town hall discussions, mobs comparing Obama with Hitler, climate change.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.2/1025 votes#24 - August 21, 2009
Season 7 Episode 24 - Aired 8/21/2009
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 town halls, lack of information and explanation of issues by the media, controversy over private military contractors like Blackwater, politicization of the terror alert level system in the 2004 presidential election, lack of employers offering vacation and sick leave pays in the United States
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
5.8/1012 votes#25 - August 28, 2009
Season 7 Episode 25 - Aired 8/28/2009
Guests: Rapper Jay-Z, journalist Bill Moyers Topics: Bill conducts one-on-one interviews
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher Season 7
Every episode of Real Time with Bill Maher Season 7 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher Season 7!
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...
Genres:ComedyTalk
Network:HBO
Season 7 Ratings Summary
"February 20, 2009" is the best rated episode of "Real Time with Bill Maher" season 7. It scored 7.5/10 based on 28 votes. Directed by Hal Grant and written by N/A, it aired on 2/20/2009. This episode is rated 0.8 points higher than the second-best, "February 27, 2009".