Guests: Filmmaker Ron Howard and novelist Gore Vidal.

On Directing

I've always tried to find subjects that, thematically, meant something to me, that I thought could also then mean something to an audience.  Ron Howard

I was determined to prove to myself and to everybody else that I could work in a lot of different styles and genres and tell all kinds of stories, because I love all kinds of movies.  Ron Howard

On Jumping the Shark

Even that episode [of Happy Days], as we were doing it, we were kind of going around and going, 'He's jumping the shark?'  Ron Howard

Some people would say this country has 'jumped the shark.'
 Bill Maher

At a certain point, I don't think we will be so consumed with being the preeminent superpower.  Ron Howard

I have thought for some time that we were going to find our natural place. Between Argentina and Brazil...but we'd end up with a great soccer team.  Gore Vidal

On The Andy Griffith Show

Why is it that every man in Mayberry was single?  Bill Maher

On Rance Howard

[My father] wrote for 'The Flintstones.' I was incredibly proud of that.  Ron Howard

On the American Empire

The Romans were getting territory. They were getting money. They were getting raw materials. They had a purpose. We didn't have any.  Gore Vidal

On Conservatism

I think of myself as a conservative. Admittedly, I can read the New York Times without moving my lips, which is a sign of communism. I have to live with that.
 Gore Vidal

[The Republicans] are not even a party. They're a mindset. They don't like this group and they don't like that group. And it could be sex; it could be race; it could be religion. They're just filled with dislike and discomfort.
 Gore Vidal

On Being Shocked

What shocked me was, one by one, our Bill of Rights was taken away from us. And we all knew it.  Gore Vidal

On Small Towns

There are some towns where it's kind of a contest between the most churches or the most titty bars.  Bill Maher