TV Talk Discussion Group

Topic: The Chris Matthews/Keith Olberman brouhaha

I'm just catching up to this story about MSNBC "firing" these guys from hosting major political events, but at least from what MSNBC is officially saying it isn't as big a deal as people (esp. right-wingers) are saying.

It looks like both of them still have their shows, and they'll also be there to comment at events, just won't be hosting them (David Gregory now takes that over).

I did think it was interesting that Keith made a statement to separate himself from commentary after the GOP convention showed that 9/11 tape - wow, that was startling!  Which may have been what caused this shake-up.  Keith is way left of many, for sure.  (I've come to see him as the "anti-Bill O'Reilly," who he attacks just about every day on his show.)  Chris, I think, stays a little more middle-of-the-road, but it seems pretty clear whose side he's on in the race (he's mesmerized by Obama).

I'll tell ya, if Chris Matthews ever went off the air, I'd be crushed!  I think he's great.

What do you think?

As far as I'm concerned, EVERYONE at MSNBC is an idiot and not worthy of the public airwaves.

I hadn't heard that Matthews, Abrams and Olberman had all been reassigned or canned until this thread.

Well, that's what happens when your ratings suck.  You get the boot or the demotion. MSNBC has very poor ratings, which is hardly surprising what with the blathering, unintelligible diatribes that typify that particular Not-Ready-For-Daytime-Yet-Alone-Primetime sandlot news station.

From what I understand, the network is going to headline them in what they do best: provide commentary.  They were supposed to report the political news and we all know they were not doing that - they were providing their commentary.  MSNBC can't call something a news show if it's not news, so I figure they had a couple of choices.  Fire them altogether for not doing what they were hired to do, or hire someone else to provide the news, and keep them on for their commentary.

Bill O'Reilly's show IS commentary and Fox never says otherwise. That's why he gets away with what he says.  His show is like any editorial page. It's opinion. I know that whatever I read on the editorial page in the paper is not necessarily truth - but it's someone's opinion.  Similarly,  if I watch Bill O'Reilly, I know his show is all about his opinions (fair and balanced, or not!)

And Obama, I'm voting for you, but if you think the American people are smarter than that, then you will lose. Bush was re-elected after all. And now everyone is distracting with the shiny new toy called Sarah Palin, and unless you start bringing her down, you will lose. NBC reported last night that white women have swung their votes to McCain by about 26%! That's unreal to me simply based on the fact that she is a "hockey mom." When you look at what the American voices are saying "go hockey mom, way to go Sarah, we love you and your daughters, way to wear lipstick"...it is clear that they don't care one iota that this country is in a big mess and it is gonna take a lot more than lipstick and hockey pucks to get it out of this mess. I shudder. Sorry, I am ranting now.

I am sad that Dan Abrams is gone. Though I know "The Best F*#King News Team" is The Daily Show's team. I will never forget Rob Riggle picking Anderson Cooper up and spinning him around claiming "This is an AC 360."

Rachel Maddow is the one I'm really intrigued by on MSNBC. I think she's really going to break through with her new show.

Chris gets a bit tiresome to me sometimes ... but I do enjoy him too.

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I love Dan Abrams, so I was sad when she replaced him, but I did watch and I liked her. eom Mimi

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Posted by: Thalia
Date posted: Mon Sep 8 21:04:17 2008
Message:
Hi Spell. You are absolutely right about it not being a big deal.   I have been and still am an MSNBC junkie, but even I tuned over to CNN and EVEN, Heaven forbid, to Fox at times to watch the coverage during the Dem convention because they had Chris and Keith out in the crowd, and it was very hard to keep track of who was on first or to even hear them.  I only watched the Palin speech for the Republican convention so missed most of what apparently caused all the consternation at NBC news which led to taking Chris and Keith out of the co-anchor chairs for the election coverage.   Frankly if I were those two I would be dancing for joy.  I am not sure why they ever had to perform those duties because it put THEM in the awkward position of being commentators here and co-anchors there.  It just blurred things.  I never really thought they were comfortable with each other either so if the fangs came out it did not surprise me.  Very different styles.  I like them both... but love Chris's Sunday morning show which I have on DVD, but it has not recorded anything for the last 2 Sundays.  Was it not on, do you know? 

I like Keith too, very much, but the person I am really looking forward to is Rachel Maddow who may outshine all the guys. 

One of the things I am noticing at MSNBC, especially on Morning Joe, it is like watching a private conversation with everybody interrupting everybody to the point you can hardly hear them.  (By the way when Joe is there I never watch because I cannot stand to be around bickering couples let alone bickering co-anchors, LOL).  I think part of all loosening of control and floundering is in part due to Tim Russert's absence.  He really was a leader and adviser to the MSNBC news brand.  Just a thought,  but several people at MSNBC have been mentioning Tim's absence, very wistfully and pensively, and I think there might be a feeling of rudderlessness or a vacuum that many are feeling and maybe going a little over the top without a strong leader. 

I still miss the Imus show... no not the bad old boy crap, but he was such an excellent interviewer (letting the guests have their say) and instead of just the chatter of the insiders he had real guests who were relevant and real gets.  Not so much anymore at MSNBC.  I am not saying I want Imus back, but I hope that getting Keith and Chris back to their shows and having them be able to comment on events rather than not quite knowing what their role was half the time, means that somebody is starting to provide a firm hand at MSNBC. 

Also love David Gregory... poor guy... he is so talented there are going to have him doing everything.... wonder if they will keep him on Race for the Whitehouse?  

Replies: (list all replies)

Hi Thalia! Imus is on the radio on WABC! He is still great. I usually tape him on the RFD channel though and skim him at night. You probably could listen to the show on the internet. I still like Chris Matthews, but I am afraid I don't care for Keith at all. One of these days I will try and catch Rachel. I saw her on Chris' show on the panel many times. I thought Keith was very rude to Chris and stepped on his lines when I tried to watch their coverage of the convention. I ended up with CSpan's coverage. No commentary at all! I turned my dad onto that channel as well. Take care - ElaineJ/eom

Hi Elaine. I will have to see what I can do to listen to IMUS. He has an ear for BS and a way of putting it out of mind with his zingers that just deflate nonsense. Much needed these days. Chris and Keith never got each other and why they kept putting them together for as long as they did trying to pretend they were neutral reporters is beyond me. So I am glad the powers that be at MSNBC have sorted this out and put everybody where they belong. Now if they would only give Joe S some sensitivity training classes or therapy for his narcissism. Watched a bit today and the good old boy's club basically drowned out and shushed Andrea Mitchell who looked not at all pleased. Talk about sexism! And it is there every morning front and center. The reason why I took it off my DVD but always check to see if perhaps Joe is not there so somebody can talk. Politics is turning ugly again this year, and I feel like I need a Zen cleansing after watching any political show these days. I have a hunch part of the strategy might be to turn voters off, suppress the turnout of a certain party... but gonna stick in there and root for the home team! Thalia

Imus has been pretty measured and has great guests. One of my favorites is Frank Rich. It IS getting awfully ugly out there and it is starting to remind me of the 1988 election. I do think, and this is just my opinion of course, that Obama should have chosen Hillary - or at least considered her - for his ticket. 18 million votes plus 18 million votes equals 36 million votes. To me it was a no-brainer. If she would have accepted I don't know. I question his judgement on this one. One of my favorite writers is Camille Paglia, though she hates Hillary and has been a big supporter of Obama. That woman makes a lot of sense. Obama needs to get back on message. And whether one likes Sarah Palin or not, McCain's move was genius for its audacity and boldness. I still scratch my head that he did that! It will either go down as the stupidest move in political history (right now that honor is a tie between Eagleton and Quayle) or the most game-changing one. I still say - Hillary in 2012, lol. This election sure is fascinating! Always wonderful to read your views, Thalia, as you express yourself so well and I miss you when we don't chat. Have a nice day! ElaineJ/eom

I did not realize that she had a column! And my what a column it is and what a writer she is. Vampire... exactly what I was seeing but did not find the right word.... but that is the one. It really is great to keep in touch. You have a way with words too. I was very ambivalent about HIlary because of Bill, and frankly if I had to make a choice I would not take Bill because I am not totally convinced he can behave himself which is sad, but as much as I was totally for him and think he did a great job as President, I would not bet my chances to govern on him. And I actually have not lost faith in Obama's ability to win without her. This is a very smart campaign for one thing and who knows what they will come up with? Then there is the economy and all those other inconvenient issues the repubs are trying to avoid. Time will tell, but this is really one for the books and actually getting a lot of people involved in and interested in politics. Not a bad thing. Thanks for the heads up on Camile P. Looking forward to seeing what else she has to say. You made my day. Thalia

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