What is the Difference Between “Fills the Bill” and “Fits the Bill” and What Does the Phrase Mean?

If something “fills” or “fits the bill,” it’s satisfying, whether it’s a good meal or a job well done.

The expressions come from the days when theatrical advertising was done through handbills or posters.

“Filling the bill” meant adding acts to pad a weak program.

But if a single star could pull in an audience through his or her individual fame and talent, their name was all that was needed so it was enlarged to fit the bill.