Who Is on Real Time with Bill Maher Tonight? This Week's Guests and Air Time

Karoline Leavitt, Steve Hilton and Gov. Andy Beshear are the guests on Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, Oct. 23, at 10 p.m. ET, per HBO's lineup. Leavitt, a former White House press secretary, is the one-on-one interview; Hilton and Beshear are on the panel. There was no episode on Friday, Oct. 16: HBO's schedule skipped that night. The latest lineup, for Friday, Oct. 9, was Michael Douglas, Sen. Thom Tillis and Sara Eisen.

We checked all of this early on Friday, Oct. 23. HBO's lineup release for Oct. 23 went out on Thursday, Oct. 22, the day before air, the same timing as the Oct. 9 release.

Who is on Real Time with Bill Maher on Oct. 23?

HBO's lineup release has three guests. Karoline Leavitt is the one-on-one interview, described there as a former spokesperson and White House press secretary in the second Trump administration. The panel is Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor of California in 2026, and Gov. Andy Beshear, the Democratic governor of Kentucky. Icon Vs. Icon's Oct. 22 lineup post gives the same three names and roles, and the TVmaze episode list carries them too.

Who was on Real Time with Bill Maher on Oct. 9?

HBO's lineup for the Oct. 9 hour had three guests. Michael Douglas, the actor and producer, was the one-on-one interview. The panel was Sen. Thom Tillis, a U.S. senator from North Carolina, and Sara Eisen, a CNBC anchor. Those names and descriptions come from HBO's own show page and its lineup release, and the HBO listings carried by The Futon Critic show the same three.

The Friday before, Oct. 2, the listed guests were Malcolm Gladwell, Fareed Zakaria and Anand Giridharadas. Seat42F's lineup post for that date puts Gladwell in the one-on-one chair and the other two on the panel.

The Oct. 23 and Oct. 30 rows have an episode number in the listings. The rows after those are placeholders without one, so read them as HBO's plan and not as confirmed episodes. The same listings stop at Friday, Nov. 20, which is only the last date we can see.

Why was there no Real Time with Bill Maher on Oct. 16?

The listings jump from Oct. 9 to Oct. 23 with nothing in between, and Maher's official site still showed the Oct. 9 lineup as its latest when we looked. We searched for an HBO statement about Oct. 16 as of Oct. 19 and didn't find one, so the table says "No episode listed" and we don't offer a reason.

What time is Real Time with Bill Maher on?

Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO, and HBO's lineup release lists it from 10 to 11 p.m. ET. The start can shift by a couple of minutes. The Oct. 9 listing read 10:02 p.m. The same release says episodes are available to stream on HBO Max. It doesn't give a time for that, so we don't either.

Short answers

Is Real Time with Bill Maher new this Friday, Oct. 23? Yes, it is listed as new at 10 p.m. ET, with HBO's lineup out. HBO's schedule had nothing for Oct. 16.

When is the next new Real Time? Friday, Oct. 23, at 10 p.m. ET; Friday, Oct. 30 is the next date after it with a numbered episode in the listings.

Who is on Real Time on Oct. 23? Karoline Leavitt, Steve Hilton and Gov. Andy Beshear, per HBO's lineup release of Thursday, Oct. 22.

How often Real Time skips a Friday is on our Real Time new-or-off page. HBO's Sunday show has had a gap of its own this month, and our Last Week Tonight new-or-off page tracks it. The other weekend shows sit on one page. For Saturday, see who is hosting SNL and whether SNL is new. A name goes into our tables as fact only when the network's lineup and a second source agree, as laid out on our how we make this page. Corrections go to the address on the about page.

Sources · The Futon Critic — HBO listings for Real Time with Bill Maher · HBO — Real Time with Bill Maher · HBO release via WebWire — Oct. 23 episode lineup · Icon Vs. Icon — Oct. 23 guests · HBO release via WebWire — Oct. 9 episode lineup · Seat42F — Oct. 9 guests · Seat42F — Oct. 2 guests · LateNighter — Late Night This Week (Oct. 5) · Warner Bros. Discovery press release — Season 24 debut · Listings data via TVmaze (Real Time with Bill Maher)

By the Saturday Night On Air desk · Updated Oct. 23, 1:48 a.m. ET