Spago, Kato -- and the mansion

The Emmy-nominated HBO series “Real Time With Bill Maher” wraps its second season Friday at 8 p.m., and though the show’s producers won’t confirm it, we have it on good authority that the election might be a topic of discussion.

Maher’s erudite and biting political observations have built him a career in writing, stand-up comedy, TV and movies, affording the famously single 48-year-old a Beverly Hills compound that he describes as more resort than residence. Although some would think he spends weekends at the Playboy Mansion, Maher tells us otherwise.

Late-night bites

We tape late on Fridays at CBS, adjacent to The Grove, so afterward we’ll have a little wrap party at the Wood Ranch there and then maybe move to the Whisper Lounge for dinner.

Lola’s on Fairfax is also open late, and Cafe Maurice too. Unlike so many in this business who always talk about how New York is superior to L.A., for the climate alone I’d rather live here than in the most expensive high-rise in Manhattan. But my one problem with L.A. is that there aren’t enough places to eat late at night.

After dinner, I’d probably go to one of the clubs run by my friends. There are so few real men left, and many are the guys running these clubs and bars. Like Art Davis, who has the Lounge and AD, or Chris Breed’s White Lotus.

Solar powered

I’ll get up around 1 on Saturday, and the first thing I’ll do is grab some sun. It’s gotten a bad reputation, but what people are forgetting is that we are solar creatures. We need the sun to live. Then I’ll start reading the newspapers. I’ll grab something to eat and then go shopping at Abbott Kinney [Boulevard in Venice]. It’s the closest thing we have to Greenwich Village. There are some funky art stores there.

Later, I might have friends like [Christopher] “Kid” Reid from Kid & Play and Kato Kaelin over for some basketball. I bought the place next door to me, where the house had burned down some years before, and I put in a court, batting cages and a trampoline. I also have a gym in my basement, and there’s a hill behind my house where I run, so I don’t have to go anywhere to get exercise.

Saturday night is date night, so it’s time to take your best girl out to dinner. I like Spago and Ago, and Mr. Chow has the most mouth-watering stuff. I don’t even know what it is. I just walk in, ask the waiter what’s good, and food starts to appear. Sometimes I’m in the mood for old school, that Sinatra vibe, so I’ll go to Maestro’s in Beverly Hills. But the best late-night secret is the Rainbow Bar and Grill. It’s got all these very cool nooks.

Playmates aside

On Sunday, I’ll sleep late and go to Jerry’s Deli. That’s my church on Sundays. Maybe I’ll get a big Spanish omelet and encourage whomever I’m with to order pancakes so I can have one. Or if I’m feeling more continental, I’ll go to the Bel-Air Hotel for brunch. It’s hard to find, like the Buffalo Club. I’ve been there 30 times, and I can’t find it every time. They should put a buffalo out front.

The Playboy Mansion? I might go four or five times a year, but not for what most people think. I go because I like [Hugh Heffner], and it’s just got a nice vibe. No press is going to be bursting in. If there are orgies, no one has told me about them.