MSNBC Announces Major Lineup Changes

MSNBC announced Wednesday that it is making a major change to its lineup. Starting Monday, "The Ed Show" will be moved to the prime 8 PM slot. Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word" will be moved to 10 PM, where it began before it was shifted to 8 PM following Keith Olbermann's departure from the network. Rachel Maddow, the network's highest-rated host, will stay where she is at 9 PM. In a statement, MSNBC president Phil Griffin said that the moves were intended to "strengthen the flow of our programming throughout the evening. As the name implies, 'The Last Word' belongs at the conclusion of our programming day, thoughtfully wrapping-up the day’s political dialogue. Ed’s passionate voice is a perfect kick off to primetime at 8 PM." The move represents a definite promotion for Schultz, who will now go head-to-head with Bill O'Reilly and Anderson Cooper in the marquee cable news hour. It is the second time that Schultz has moved up the totem pole on MSNBC's lineup. He originally held the 6 PM hour currently hosted by Al Sharpton. O'Donnell has recently had to endure a bout of unfavorable news coverage about his ratings. His return to 10 PM also means that he loses a full day of programming, since MSNBC does not air news programming at 10 on Fridays. The move now means that the 8 PM hour has undergone three major changes in less than a year. O'Donnell's ascension to the slot was followed by Cooper's identical move from 10 to 8 in August. Now, Schultz will take on the challenge of the toughest slot in the business. It is a challenge that has felled many.

http%3A//www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/msnbc-lineup-changes-ed-show-last-word_n_1020130.html



• I'm one of the few here who loves Ed, but I don't know if this is a good idea.

• I guess I've missed Ed being discussed here so I haven't heard everyone's arguments but I agree with whatever the majority opinion is according to r1 - Ed has very fine intentions and I certainly agree with where he stands politically, but he comes off as an unwatchable buffoon. His hosting skills (lack there of) make me cringe.

• Lawrence will now go head-to-head with Joy Behar on HLN. That sucks as I like both shows (but will probably stick with Joy).

• Ed is against gay marriage.

• My partner will not like this. He loves Lawrence O'Donnell and has to get up very early in the morning. He's asleep by 10:15

• Your partner needs to get a life.

• I can't stand Schultz. He's a complete phony.

• Counter-programming. Current is providing a much stronger lead-in to Olbermann with The Young Turks soon, and Al Gore says the network will mutate into a progressive talk-fest in the short term. Ratings haven't been great so far... but Olbermann's have probably been at the expense of O'Donnell. At least Current knows what to do to improve their ratings.

• I'll just repeat things I've already said: I appreciate Ed and that MSNBC has a voice for blue-collar America as well, but if I had to chose between the two, Lawrence is by far the more compelling one to watch.

  The Voice of the Night

• Phil Griffin was inspired by Captain Edward Smith's insistence that his crew rearrange the deck chairs as RMS Titanic sank.

• [quote]The move now means that the 8 PM hour has undergone three major changes in less than a year A bit like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic If you move programming around and no one is watching, does it make a sound?

• I'm pretty sure that Lawrence gets higher ratings than Ed. O' Donnell must have pissed off someone to lose his time slot.

• Instead of Ed Schultz, perhaps MSNBC should put Chris Matthews' "Hardball" opposite Bill O'Reilley and Anderson Cooper. I think that's a better match-up.

• That would be something, r13.

• I hate Ed Shultz. God is he an annoying blowhard. I agree with him on most issues but I just can't stand watching him. How could he possibly get better ratings than Lawrence O'Donnell at 8? I wish they would have given Chris Hayes the 6 pm slot instead of Sharpton, who can barely read a teleprompter. I really like his weekend show but it's on so damn early.

• I thought O'Donnell was the rising star on MSNBC, but he's already getting demoted.

• Get your cell phones out, people! The question of the day is, "Are the Republicans really interested in helping hardworking Americans? Or Hurting them? Text "1" for "yes" and text "2" for "no", we'll have the results later on in the show.

  Pander Express

• Lawrence O'Donnell is my favorite MSNBC nighttime host; Ed Schultz my least favorite. R15. I, too, like Chris Hayes' new weekend show, "UP;" however here on the West Coast it comes on at 4 a.m. on Saturday and 5 a.m. on Sunday. Jesus...that's ridiculously early for us to see. Al Sharpton should not have a show. He's terrible.

• Sharpton's doing well against John King's CNN program in the ratings. He beat him yesterday. Neither CNN or MSNBC beats Fox. The debate on CNN last night was an exception.

  http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/the-scoreboard-tuesday-october-18_b93575%23more-93575

• I've heard (fairly reliably but this is gossip) that O'Donnell has been unhappy for a long time. He thinks of himself primarily as a writer not as a "TV personality", and finds doing it draining and often boring. He hates the way MSNBC slots everything to the second, so he feels his show is too segmented and superficial. He went through a period of trying to negotiate a way he could call the shots during a telecast -- prolonging a segment that he thought was interesting, shortening one he thought was boring. MSNBC wouldn't hear of it. He wanted to bring in more off beat, less familiar commentators but MSNBC has its own deals with pundits and assigned O'Donnell some people he either doesn't like, or feels are over exposed from other shows. He also wanted to cover more pop culture, about which he knows a lot, and MSNBC put a lid on that. Their main concession to him was letting him work from LA where he lives, rather than making him move to NY (as they have done Maddow and Hayes) I don't know when his contract is up but this looks like MSNBC is looking around for someone else, though he might hang on as a commentator. It's definitely a victory for Ed, who some people though MSNBC was going to ax -- he gets prime time and five as opposed to four shows.

• Thanks for the interesting post R20. I never knew he was unhappy and that there was drama going on with his show.

• Thanks for the post, R20! It really rings true...and could explain why Lawrence frequently has guest hosts. Hell, I'm on Twitter and it seems like Jonathan Capehart is preparing to appear on an MSNBC show every five seconds. That's why I believe they put their paid pundits on heavy rotation, squeezing out more interesting guests. Although, MSNBC's use of the same people is how Rachel, Lawrence, and Al got their shows...

• Not surprising. Our country is taking a surprisingly populist left turn and ED is their resident populist. Makes perfect sense.

• I can't stand Chris Hayes. He comes off a greasy and smarmy. I'm shocked that Rachel considers him a friend.

• [quote]I'm shocked that Rachel considers him a friend. I'm not. They look/act like sisters. Or brothers. Twins.

• [italic]Our country is taking a surprisingly populist left [/italic] Which country would that be, because in America, Americans have swung all the way towards the Right. Congress will be fully red come 2013, and the Presidency is now in question.

• Keep dreaming, r26. Turn on a tv.

• r23 is fucking delusional.

• I'm another one who can't stand Ed Schultz because he's a buffoon and blowhard. And a bully. I like Lawrence O'Donnell and appreciate R20's information. If LO'D is unhappy in the job, he obviously has enough money to leave if he wants. Too bad for us who already agree with him, but I doubt he can bring in viewers who might listen and change their mind, because he has such an unhappy demeanor that anyone who doesn't already agree with him isn't likely to watch long enough to hear what he says. BTW, I love Al Sharpton and appreciate his vocal support for gay people. And for all the people who complain about his dialect, I don't find it any more off-putting and or offensive than Ariana Huffington's accent or Richard Wolfe's or Christiane Amanpour's. The notion that some accents indicate intelligence and some indicate lack of intelligence is pure bigotry, in my opinion. I listen to what the person has to say, rather than what their accent says about their ethnic background or country of origin.

• I agree about Chris Hayes' show being on too early. I like him and would watch his show, but I'm rarely up that early on weekends, or if I am, I'm taking the dogs out, making coffee, brushing my teeth, etc., so that by the time I can sit down and watch, it's over.

• The only ones who refuse to admit that our country is turning left are rightwing shitstain trolls. Ignore them.

• Then, r23, why isn't MSNBC #1 in the ratings? Fox cleans their clock and CNN is threatening to overcome them and grab 2nd place back. They have been losing viewers not gaining them!

• [quote]The only ones who refuse to admit that our country is turning left are rightwing shitstain trolls. Ignore them Yet the Gallup Poll on August 1, 2011 said [quote]Americans' political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41% self-identifying as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal You clearly are not constrained by the facts Let me guess, you must watch msnbc

  http://www.gallup.com/poll/148745/political-ideology-stable-conservatives-leading.aspx

  Miss%20Cleo

• R23 is in for a rude awakening. Repubs easily keep the house and take the Senate---too many of our seats are up. The only hope is the WH. I think/pray we keep that.

• Polls are meant to control public opinion - not to gauge it.

• R23 has escaped from Fantasy Island.

• [quote]I can't stand Schultz. He's a complete phony. Yes. It's been discussed here numerous times. He's a fraud who started out as a Rush wannabe and flipped sides only when he figured he could make more money that way. He also hates gays and women.

• I don't pretend to be psychic, and I absolutely wouldn't suggest the Occupy movement is a given for Democrats, but as it grows, it will be interesting to see what it does to poll numbers and the control of Congress. Considering the small number of people in the tea party and the power they have wielded, Occupy has potential, at least, to assert much more power than bring about more change than the tea party ever imagined. The ironic thing is that if the tea partiers had enough brains to know what they're doing, they'd join Occupy and start protesting their Republican masters.

• Gee, r35, that's what you said about the Wisconsin recall and NY9 polls.

• [quote]He's a fraud who started out as a Rush wannabe and flipped sides only when he figured he could make more money that way. Arianna Huffington started out as a conservative commentator, as did David Brock (Media Matters for America). I find it hard to believe that anyone goes from conservative to liberal politics for the money, even if it sometimes works out that way.

• Schultz comes off as a true believer. I don't think he's a conman

• I love Ed Schultz and am glad he is on in the 8 o'clock time slot. I always thought once Olberman was out, the logical thing would have been to put Schultz on in that slot instead of Larry O'Donnell. Now he will be on 5 days a week again instead of 4 when you get that 10 pm time slot. O'Donnell just does not emit "on-air energy", Larry, eventhough I do like him, is better slotted for 10 pm or 11 pm, not 8 pm. As to polling of Americans, people often do not self-identify as "liberal" but hold what the corporate media and beltway types would claim are "liberal" views. Example #1: Polling data would be released stating that 60% of Americans believe that our American soldiers should leave Iraq. Yet routinely on the Sunday morning news shows and cable news programs, the anchors and pundits would act as if that was purely only something wanted by the "anti-war" activists on the far left. Example #2: Polling data has recently been released from the majority of well known polling companies stating that the "Majority of Americans believe that Socical Security and Medicare programs should NOT be cut by the US Congress." Yet routinely the beltway media would act as if that was a sentiment only advocated by liberals. Hell there were polls done by party break-down and even the majority of the GOP respondents in the poll favored NOT cutting Social Security or Medicare. Example #3: Polling data showed more than 60% of Americans support collective bargaining rights for public workers (teachers, police, cops, etc.), Yet when the corporate media finally got around to covering the debate in Wisconsin, they acted as if only "the left" or "liberals" supports those rights for public workers. Polling results are like this on economic issue after issue in America. 60% or more of Americans agree with where Democrats claim to stand on economic issues, yet the majority of Americans do not self-identify as "being "liberal". America is not a "center-right" nation, contrary to what the GOP and corporate media memes continue to echo.

• If this is true about O' Donnell, I'll bet that he's gone when his contract is up. I think he was MSNBC's best hope to replace Olbermann, and it looks like that didn't work. If he leaves, look for lisping Melissa Harris Perry to take his spot!

• Melissa Harris Perry has been on Chris Hayes' show a few times and my god is she smug. The way she has to rebut and correct other guests on the panel like she's lecturing in class is beyond annoying. I can't stand anything about her.

• I heart R42.

• I love Melissa Harris Perry and usually agree with everything she has to say. I wish they'd give her a show.

• [quote]He's a fraud who started out as a Rush wannabe and flipped sides only when he figured he could make more money that way. Considering that conservative TV and radio personalities tend to earn a lot more money than their liberal counterparts, this really doesn't make much sense.

• Lawrence O'Donnell is married to the excellent actress Kathryn Harold.

• But it does, R47. Ed realized there were no blousy blowhards on the left, and it was going to be easier for him to be a blowhard on the left than to try to compete with Rush, et al. Prior to his mystical conversion, he spouted right-wing bullshit that would uncurl your pubes. The guy is an awful person and he hates gays and hates women.

• Here's an interesting article from Salon on "The forgotten right-wing past of Ed Schultz."

  http://www.salon.com/2011/04/14/ed_schultz_right_wing_past/

• Melissa Harris Perry still has a daytime job that it would be hard for her to be committed to a nighttime show on MSNBC. Shucks, they should give Lynn Berry the nighttime spot. Then again, she only does the morning stuff like Early Today on NBC and First Look on MSNBC.

• One of MSNBC's political analysts is getting her own show.

  http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc-adding-noon-show-hosted-by-alex-wagner_b93836

• Thanks for the info, r52.

• I'm a gay man, but I still think Alex Wagner is fucking hot. I spent one segment trying to find one thing about her that's not perfect...couldn't do it.

• R51, I like MLP a lot, and I know she gets much of her cred from being a university professor, but it seems unlikely to me her teaching gig pays enough for her to turn down an offer to host an MSNBC show, which would likely pay much more. Particularly when it would be quite possible for her to take a sabbatical to see if she's well enough received to make the change permanent. And having hosted a political program would only increase her value to Tulane.

• You're welcome R53.

  R52

• [quote] I've heard (fairly reliably but this is gossip) that O'Donnell has been unhappy for a long time. He thinks of himself primarily as a writer not as a "TV personality", and finds doing it draining and often boring. He hates the way MSNBC slots everything to the second, so he feels his show is too segmented and superficial. He went through a period of trying to negotiate a way he could call the shots during a telecast -- prolonging a segment that he thought was interesting, shortening one he thought was boring. MSNBC wouldn't hear of it. Pssst...Lawrence? Call me.

  Al%20Gore

• What about Chuck Todd?

• Chuck Todd wants to be Brian Williams someday. Or Tim Russert. But the network news shows become less relevant every year. He's likable enough and works hard, but there's an extremely smug straight-man arrogance barely under the surface there. It pops out every now and then when he makes a disparaging remark the White House soup of the day. He hates miso, vegetables, and anything with tomatoes in it, making a big deal of being a hard-core meat-eater. And he looks like he could balloon up 20 pounds over a weekend, so maybe he'll be more like Tim Russert than he hopes.

• Ed Schultz used to be Rush Lite when it made him money: [quote]The right-wing version of Schultz opposed abortion in all circumstances, mocked homeless people by sneering, “How about getting a job?” and proclaimed that “I’d like to see the president get all the illegals out of the country, so we can start all over again.” And in an homage to Limbaugh, Schultz would tell listeners that he was broadcasting from “high atop” the studios of his Fargo radio station. Ryan Bakken, a columnist at North Dakota’s Grand Forks Herald and a longtime Schultz skeptic, tells me Ed’s ideological shift was drastic. “Ed was about as conservative as you could come. He may not have switched 180 degrees, but he switched 179,” Bakken says. Around 2007, when he was on Air America in my town, I would listen to him sometimes while driving. He played song parodies occasionally, and one day there was some right-wing gay guy who got caught Larry Craig-style. Schultz played a song that didn't make fun of his hypocrisy, but was just a big lisping parody of a gay man. I called and talked to his producer - "Homey" or "Holmey," who said he thought it was fine because they SUPPORTED gay people. I told him that their "support" didn't include playing Rush Limbaugh-style crap and then trying to pass it off as being "on your side." He apologized and said he saw the point and they wouldn't play it again. It was a cordial call and I appreciated him spending about five minutes to talk about it. It was on the show again the next day.

• Chuck Todd is dreadfully lightweight and he has no chin.

• My sister lived in Fargo during Ed's right-wing days. (She still lives there now.) He had a terrible reputation in town and used his radio show to take personal pot shots and anyone he deemed his enemy. He was so nasty to his first wife (who is an anchor on one of the TV stations there) she wouldn't talk about him in public.

• U'm sorry to read this. O'Donnell is my favourite host. I hope that by moving him, MSNBC might be willing to now let him break away from their tightly controlled format. MSNBC shoul let O 'Donnell become their Charlie Rose (with fewer interruptions). I've been confused by why Hayes has so many panelists who never get a chance to speak. It makes them seem a bit lie famewhores who just want to be on TV, but now I understand why.

• Chuck Todd lightweight, R61? That's a laugh. Chuck Todd is one of the most knowledgeable, well-informed, intelligent, well-educated on politics and government in the whole world of TV analysts. He is very astute, insightful, and offers a world of knowledge to viewers. So strange you would pick one of the outstanding journalists to label 'lightweight'. Just shows how your perceptions are very inaccurate and baseless.

• R59, Chuck Todd 'pops up now and then'? Chuck Todd has had his own MSNBC show for several years at around 9:00 am eastern. And Chuck Todd is the major analyst for MSNBC and NBC during any congressional or presidential election periods including the long run-up to each election and during the election. He is also a major political analyst for NBC, not just for MSNBC, and appears on the NBC Nightly News broadcasts.

• I like Chuck Todd too. He should have been given Meet the Press and not that stupid hack, David Gregory.

• What about Tamron Hall?

• I love Chuck's 9am show. I watch it almost every morning, and it's really good. Melissa was filling in for Rachel, last night. I only half watched the show. I still think that if Lawrence quits, they will replace him with her, or Ezra Klein.

• Reading comprehension problems, R65? I said it was his straight-man arrogance that pops up now and then.

  R59

• Tamron Hall is great, but like Thomas Roberts and Alex Witt, she's really just a newsreader. It takes a bigger personality to sustain a show like LO'D's or RM's.

• I agree, r70.

• Ed's first wife is Maureen Zimmerman. The rumors were he beat her. Don't know if it's true, but whatever the case, it was a messy divorce. Anyone who worked with Ed from his Fargo days knows what a slimeball that guy is.

• What about Chris Matthews?

• R73, I generally agree with Chris Matthews, but what an arrogant prick. I wish someone with some authority at the network would tell him to stop fucking interrupting his guests up to four or five times after he asks them a question. They get out one word and he interrupts to ask the same question in different words. Then they get out two words and he does it again. And again and again and again. You can tell by looking at them they all hate him for it, but it's a well-paying gig, so they have to put up with it. The other thing I hate about him is that he always uses that smug ignorant asshole Ron Christie. I know to some degree MSNBC hires their guests and the hosts all have to use the same people in rotation, as someone above mentioned, but I don't think I've ever seen Ron Christie on Lawrence O'Donnell or Rachel Maddow. One last thing about Chris Matthews: in that stupid "American exceptionalism" commercial of his about Obama, there used to be a statement where he would say, "You can't go to China and become Chinese. And look where he is." It made it sound as though he was agreeing with the birthers that Obama "came to the US and became American." What a maroon. Apparently someone at the network finally noticed, because after several weeks of running that ad, they edited out the "go to China and become Chinese" part of the comment.

• What about Andrea Mitchell?

• I love Tamron Hall R67.

• I get incredibly bored with MSNBC's hosts using the same tired guests hour after hour to cover the same topics. Matthews is annoying but knows Washington. Rachel is annoying but smart and has some manners and superior interview skills. Ed Schultz is a fat, thick-necked idiot who just sits there and delivers clumsy rants. Shifty, tense Lawrence O'Donnell you can tell has an enormous ego -- like Olbermann, he's always patting himself on the back for getting a rise out of someone like Bill O'Reilly. The idea of MSNBC was a good one but they don't spend the money or have the smarts that Fox does to make it really work.

• Those were some great words, r77. I haven't thought about that.

• Me too with the Tamron love. Anyone have gossip?

• Tamron's great (and gorgeous...hard to believe she's in her 40s), but her private life is kind of scary. Her sister was murdered and she's had to deal with a couple of stalkers.

• I believe that, r80. I knew that Contessa Brewer left MSNBC sometime ago after having a miscarriage a while back. Was she dissatisfied with her job at MSNBC?

• She said she will continue to host Caught on Camera on the weekends, but after her miscarriage, she re-evaluated her priorities and gave up her 12PM slot.

  The Voice of the Night

• I agree, TVOTN.

• Well folks. Ed Schultz will be on at 8 p.m. while Rachel Maddow is still at the 9 p.m. slot. Lawrence O'Donnell is on tonight at 10 p.m. Does anyone think on here if it will be a win win situation for MSNBC?

• I don't know how it will affect other viewers, R84, but the new line up is likely to make me watch less, not more. Rachel is the only reason I watch in the evening, and as I hate Ed Schultz, I won't turn on the TV early, as I usually do with Lawrence, so I'll probably miss the first part of RM. Since I'm not much of a clock watcher, whether I miss the first five minutes or half an hour will depend on what else I'm doing and whether I notice the time.

• I'll be watching Ed. I'm sick of Keith and most of his show being about Occupy Wall Street.

• 8:00 is cursed. First Olbermann, now Schultz. If this plan fails Comcast can sell MSNBC.

• I love Rachel Maddow as well. I am glad that they didn't move her show.

• Nancy Grace beat Ed in the ratings. But Ed and the rest of the MSNBC crew are still beating CNN. At least for now...

  http://www.mediaite.com/tv/monday-ratings-nancy-grace-dances-her-way-to-second-place-at-8-p-m/

• Bump.

• Morning Joe?

• Where is everybody?

• I hate the move. L. O'D. is so solid, authentic, and RIGHT ON about Christian values and what religious (Jesus) people should REALLY be promoting... I think Ed is green and not very good..

  Anna%20Marie

• Thanks for the info, Anna Marie.

• I also think it's political that MSNBC to move Lawrence O'Donnell to a different time slot. What does anyone think on here?

• WTF are you talking about, R95? Do you mean because Ed is a big loud mouth, and O' Donnell isn't?

• It just might be political on their part, r96. Don't be such a whiny ass.

• Bump this muthafuckin' thread.

• Dan Abrams?

• I think Lawrence's show is much better than Ed,Ed is a tv character,I like his views though..Chris Hayes is better ,than Al Sharpton.I don't think so.Chris Hayes is boring ,Al has a spark,and attitude.He's a 101 so what he can't read the telepromter.I love Lawrence...I can't stand MSNBC!!!!!

  Lisa McClendon

• I love Lawrence's show as well, Lisa.

• What does everybody on here think of Alex Wagner? She has a show on MSNBC now.

• I like Alex, r102. She's got some teleprompter reading problems, but nothing like Rev Al.

• Can MSNBC do anything about Chris Matthews' endless plugging of his Jack Kennedy book? On Nov. 22, he even suggested making JFK's bithday a national holiday. I do not think he was totally serious, but it was a tasteless suggestion on the date Kennedy was killed in Dallas 48 years ago.

• "Can MSNBC do anything about Chris Matthews' endless plugging of his Jack Kennedy book? On Nov. 22, he even suggested making JFK's bithday a national holiday. I do not think he was totally serious, but it was a tasteless suggestion on the date Kennedy was killed in Dallas 48 years ago." I wish I knew the answer, r104.

• Larry's problem, gossip not withstanding, is that he thinks he knows more about television programming than the people doing it and doing it well. He doesn't know to shut up and be thankful he has a show and just DO it.

• [quote]He doesn't know to shut up and be thankful he has a show and just DO it. I don't think he's at all thankful, r106. In fact, I get the impression he doesn't give a damn if they fire him or not. I like his show, but don't think it's long for this world.

• Rev. Al Sharpton is boring at the 6 p.m. time slot. I wish that Cenk had never lost his job. I could tolerate him.

• It's called e.g.o. Once these two bit readers get some fan letters, they begin to think they are the end all and be all of commerical programming and get pissy then the ego isn't stroked. No, the show won't last and he won't land elsewhere. He's starting to piss off the crew.

• I think O' Donnell will be gone when his contract expires. Rev Al is FUCKING AWFUL. I turn the channel to CNN or FOX. Anything but Sharpton.

• Sharpton's doing really well in the ratings. I like him, he doesn't let the right wingers off the hook.

• Al is bad, but nothing is worth putting on FOX. I'd sooner watch the 24-hour Nails-on-a-blackboard network, than watch FOX.

• People laugh at Revrum Al. He's a joke, but he's in on it because he's just there for the fast cash.

• What is O' Donnell doing to his hair? It looks fucking awful.

• Alex Wagner is gorgeous. What's her story?

• Thank goodness that we have Lynn Berry doing Early Today on NBC and First Look on MSNBC. I love her because she's tolerable.

  http://twitter.com/LynnBerry

• Now I'm almost sure that Lawrence O' Donnell will be leaving. He did a ten minute segment on how people can donate desks to kids in Africa.

• I wish they would hire Eliot Spitzer. He'd be great and fit in more with MSNBC than CNN.

• he does a big push on the desk project each christmas.... a great charity. i gave desks as gifts to friends last year. KIND - kids in need of desks. check it out.

  raised%20almost%20%243M%20so%20far

• I don't think MSNBC would take a chance on Eliot Spitzer right now.

• Bump.

• Whatever happened to Kent Jones who used to appear on the Rachel Maddow Show?

• R122, his unfunny ass got fired. Thank the Lord, hallelujah!

• Couldn't stand Kent. A-W-F-U-L.

• [quote] I don't think MSNBC would take a chance on Eliot Spitzer right now. If they can take a chance on Sharpton then I see no reason why they wouldn't hire Spitzer. Spitzer is a smart, and -- GASP! -- proud progressive who has a commanding presence on camera. I can see him appealing to the same people who watch Chris Hayes show. I just hope they don't give Melissa Harris-Perry-Lacewell-whatever her own show. I can't stand her.

• Thank you for the info, r123.

  R122

• R125 Do you really think MSNBC will give Melissa Harris-Perry a show? She has a profession that keeps her busy.

• What does anyone think of Chris Jansing on here?

• [quote][R122], his unfunny ass got fired. Thank the Lord, hallelujah! Nope, Jones is still around as a writer. He contributes to the Maddow Blog. Here's his latest from Dec. 21. Jones won't be fired. He and Maddow go back to Air America and as long as she's around, he stays. I don't dislike the guy, just never found him funny.

  http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9596906-road-worriers%20%20

• Chuck Todd

• I like Chris Matthews because he goes after people pretty harde on his show.

• Dylan Ratigan is a riot on his show.

• Anyone home?

• Martin Bashir

• Does it matter to their two viewers? Just keep quoting the NBC/Marxist poll....lol

• I'm sure when Rachel Maddow is away from her show that she is grateful for the people who are susbstituting like Melissa Harris-Perry and Chris Hayes.

• I cant take a news station that goes on hiatus every weekend and Friday night seriously.

• I wish that MSNBC would have had other anchors who could do some news programming on the weekends after 12 p.m. instead of showing boring old Lockup episodes. That gets old after a while.

• [quote] Do you really think MSNBC will give Melissa Harris-Perry a show? She has a profession that keeps her busy. As you were saying, R127? (Hint: check link for details.)

  http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/melissa-harris-perry-gets-her-own-show-on-msnbc

• Bump.

• Melissa and Chris have wonderful weekend shows. Chris truly, truly needs to get his speech remedied. It is a serious distraction.

• [quote]Chris truly, truly needs to get his speech remedied. It is a serious distraction. Don't you mean Melitha Harrith-Perry?

• How is Al Sharpton still on? He is, isn't he? Melissa Harris-Perry has a screw loose, and also needs to go. Ed Shultz is annoying. I know they'll never get rid of Chris Matthews. Maddows is wonderful. I like Chris Hayes. Lawrence O'Donnell is great!

• I record both Chris and Melissa and although they cover the same topics in many circumstances the tone of each show is a bit different. I like Chris alot but he sometimes seems like the kid in grade school who had to demonstrate his intelligence at all costs. Melissa's show is more laid back and more conversational almost. Chris is Meth/Melissa is Xanax.

• I find Melissa and her show a complete bore. I stopped watching her. Chris handles almost the same topics so much better and I prefer his guests.

• That guy "Dyson" was a great fill-in for Ed. I don't know his whole name. I'm tired of Mellitha Harrith Perry.

• I'm starting to get bored with Ed, too. I'm still watching Chris Matthews, Rachel, and Lawrence. Really like Michael Eric Dyson, who was the one filling in for Ed. They should give him a show, and kick Sharpton to the curb!

• Sharpton is unwatchable. Big ass Martian head. Ezra Klein subbed for Chris Hayes a month or so ago and was pretty great.

• Chris is fine other than when he gets jacked up and his speaking is zapped to the maxed and undecipherable. He gets to the point where he says words and phrases twice as if seemingly unable to get entire thoughts articulated.

• Melissa describes herself as a nerd. She calls one of her segments "nerdland."

• [quote]That guy "Dyson" was a great fill-in for Ed. Michael Eric Dyson was really good, I was surprised because I've only seen him as a guest on the various MSNBC shows and occasionally on CNN, I didn't know he started to sub - he's a natural and he's smart.

• Everyone should tune into Ed's show on the night of the WI recall election. If the early polls hold, Walker is gonna keep his job, and Ed will have a shit fit!

• Early polls aren't definitive. If my former home state doesn't kick Walker to the curb, all the workers should just leave and let Walker clean up his own shit for a change.

• I really like Rev Al. I don't know why. It is sort of like watching my mom do a TV show. I find it strangely soothing to listen to him hunt for words and then finally find at least one that sort of works in the context of his sentence. I am definitely hooked on his show. Ed is not my favorite but I love to watch just for the polls. The questions are always so loaded and I keep waiting for one to actually hit 100% YES (GWB was an a-hole) or 100% NO (Mitt Romney cares for the very poor). Both Ed and Rev. Al appeal to demographics that have to excite MSNBC. And I like them enough.

• I like Al too.

  The Voice of the Night

• Another vote for Al and he's one religious dude who has always spoken up for gay rights and anti-discrimination. Why can't Wisconsin get rid of Walker? After all the effort and enthusiasm and passion to remove him and he still might stay? It must be the Koch Brothers and Rove controlling things there.

• That Melissa chick is so professorial and dull.

• I wish they would get rid of Chris Matthews! Ugly gasbag!

• I like Chris when he goes after idiotic right wingers and calls them out to their faces and makes them look stupid and foolish.

• Me too 159.

• What does anyone think of Alex Twitt?

• I was watching the Lawrence O'Donnell show which I usually leave on after watching Rachel and again for the second night in a row I have to change the channel. I find him unwatchable. No wonder he was pushed to 10pm. I know MSNBC has a liberal slant, and I'm more liberal than most around here but I find him way too bias and always has a shit eating grin when there is a republican flub. Is this guy for real? Who thinks he is a reporter or a journalist? If you do tell me why. I googled lawrence o'donnell is unwatchable and saw this datalouge thread in the results. There was also a link to him being the worst reporter and dumbest person on air. So I guess I'm not alone here. I chose to express myself on datalounge cuz I know someone who likes him will tell me what's good about him and shed some light on whatever I'm missing.

• What about Willie Geist? His show comes on after First Look on MSNBC.

• Bump.

• Thomas Roberts?

• Why would anyone watch television? It's disgusting.

• R162 - I'll bite. O'Donnell is the only avowed Socialist who will gleefully bring Republican apologists on his show; and verbally tear them to fucking shreds when they start spouting Tea Party talking points. Unlike any other talking head - O'Donnell actually WORKED in Congress. He's a Harvard graduate as well. He knows more about policy and backroom bullshit than most. As much as I adore Maddow - she is so gracious when she does get the occasional Republican guest that it can be painful to watch. We all know she has an intellect that runs circles around any guest she has - but she chooses to be super polite and let them speak. O'Donnell uses his intellect to dissect them. He doesn't pretend to be friendly and likeable; and more often than not - he comes off as an arrogant and intimidating teacher. That he was Jed Bartlet's abusive father on The West Wing was great casting. O'Donnell wrote 16 episodes of The West Wing, and was a producer for the majority of its run. You don't have to like him. He's prickly on a good day. But calling him dumb? It's obvious that you do not watch his show.

  Magdalene

• Love Al Sharpton to death as an activist and personality but his show is unwatchable.

• Agreed, r168. My tv is off of MSNBC at 6pm. If they have to have a black host, why don't they hire Michael Eric Dyson? He's great!

• I still think that Rachel Maddow is doing a great job with her show.

• Any news network that takes weekends off for prison shows lacks credibility.

• Good point r171.

• Anybody home?

• r167, If you had better reading comprehension you would have noted that I didn't call him dumb, I said he is unwatchable. I googled Lawrence O'Donnell is unwatchable and some other links appeared calling him dumb. Try it. I have watched him more than enough times and have decided I can no longer. Just 5 minutes in and I can't stand it. His smugness is unappealing. But knowing he is an actor and not a real journalist makes sense.

• He isn't an actor, though he has appeared in acting roles from time to time. He is primarily a writer and producer, but he was also a staff-member of Hillary Clinton's predecessor in the Senate, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

  The Voice of the Night

• "where she is at?"

• O'Donnell is what he is--a very smart, very liberal guy who paid his dues in DC and then cashed in with "West Wing," and now tries the case fairly effectively on his show, four nights a week. I'm more interested in Dylan Ratigan's resignation, and who might be in line for the 4 pm weekday slot. If I had to guess, Martin Bashir will move to 4 pm live (maybe even engage with Matthews at the turn of the 5 pm hour; fun) and the 3 pm show will either go to Chris Hayes or someone new. (I'm guessing Professor MH Perry is tenured and won't give that up for an iffy daily TV gig). If cute smart Hayes goes daily, then his weekend shift could go to someone like Toure [insert accent mark], who is clearly being groomed and probably told he's the next big thing.

• For right now, Martin Bashir is being extended to two hours.

  The Voice of the Night

• Ugh, I HATE Toure.

  Won%27t%20be%20watching....

• Where has Ed Schultz been all week? Michael Eric Dyson has been substituting for him. Where has Rachel Maddow been all week?

• Bump.

• A lot of the folks seem to have taken time off this week. Joe Scarborough was gone Monday and Tuesday, Mika was going Wednesday and Thursday, Chris Matthews was gone today.

  The Voice of the Night

• I actually Like Rev. Al Sharpton's show, but I noticed this week that he is the only show host who's daily evening show doesn't re-air at night. I wonder why is that? At least MSNBC is working towards diversity in prime time, Maddow and Sharpton. Sadly, CNN can't say the same, and the ratings speak for themselves.

• Michael Eric Dyson filled in for Ed Shultz all this week. He did very well, and I hope he gets some kind of show BEFORE that idiot Toure.

• Although Dyson was enjoyable, he and his wife are Professors at Georgetown. I don't think he would give up his spot at the University for MSNBC.

• I know Dylan Ratigan was kind of a drunken, disheveled, crazy mess with all his ranting but I liked his show. I had a crush on him when he hosted Fast Money on MSNBC but came to enjoy his rants against the banks and money in politics when he got his own show. He had a definite point of view but it wasn't reading any party's talking points, which was pretty refreshing in cable news. So sad he's out.

• Toure will never get a show of his own on MSNBC because he's an idiot.

• Alex Witt is probably happy that she only works on the weekends. She used to work on MSNBC during the week as well.

• As someone with no inside knowledge, I would just say my post at r177 over a week ago turned out to be pretty damn close in predicting what would happen in the wake of Dylan Ratigan's exit. I'm not sure how the gang-hosting thing will go at 3, but moving Bashir to 4 is a good lead into the reformed Chris Matthews, and I hope they get to interact at the turn of the hour when both are live.

• Lynn Berry leaves NBC/MSNBC!!!

  http://insidecablenews.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/lynn-berry-leaves-nbcmsnbc/

• Bump.

• Anybody home?

• MSNBC has moved Ed Schultz to the weekends. Steve Kornacki will be the host of Up! beginning on the 13th of April. Chris Hayes begins his late night show on Monday.