Tucker Carlson The Man. The Pundit. The Weenie.

[kliljedahl]

In the omnipresent commercials for MSNBC's new talk show The Situation with Tucker Carlson (weeknights at 9 p.m. ET), we see Carlson seated on a stool in a studio as he listens to an announcer sing his praise in voiceover: "The man. The legend. The bow tie." "You think that's gonna make people want to watch the show?" Carlson twits the unseen narrator. "Why don't you just tell them what the show's about?"

Ignoring for a moment the unseemliness of this promo campaign (a new hire kicks off his tenure by biting the hand of his boss?), let me just venture an answer to Carlson's second question. I have no idea whether the bow-tie angle will draw in viewers or not (in fact, I'm neutral on the bow-tie issue, though according to my anonymous tipster on the finer points of male fashion, "A bow tie says, 'I have no penis.' It says, 'When I was in parochial school, the sisters thought I was fresh.' It says, 'I shower more than is really normal or healthy.' ") I do know, though, that it would be tough to "just tell" audiences what The Situation is about, because, based on the first week's worth of installments, it doesn't seem to be about much of anything at all.

Jon Stewart's Crossfire freakout last October was the symptom (and not, as some have asserted, the cause) of a widespread disgust with the high-octane screaming matches of cable news. The Situation, like MSNBC's Connected: Coast to Coast, solves the problem of the screaming match, not by upgrading the level of discourse, but by removing all content from the discussion. On the two daily installments of CC2C (I'm just going to keep using that acronym until it catches on), Monica Crowley and Ron Reagan smile stiffly as they end all interviews at the moment contention begins to emerge. On The Situation, Tucker and his regular panel (the conservative radio host Jay Severin and the Air America pundit Rachel Maddow) take the concept of nicey-nice news even further: They don't disagree at all!

Link: http://slate.msn.com/id/2121101/


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[GeekMonkey]

1. I really hate that bowtie

But man this web site is cool!

[kliljedahl]

4. This better?

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[GeekMonkey]

6. maybe not 'better', but more suited to the clown

[DemNoir]

2. Tucker Carlson Is a genius I say!

How else could such an obnoxious no talent that fails in every media venture he tries keep getting new TV shows?

He is brilliant!

[KG]

3. one of the signs of the decline of american society

failure no longer has adverse consequnces.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

5. F*cker and his miracle morphing, stage-managed bowtie!

It walks, it talks, it un-ties itself at the end of each show. Yuck. Haven't figured out what is the significance of having that limp noodle (the tie not Tucker) hang around his neck during the closing moments of each show but it looks stupid. F*cker is a prop "newsman" for MSNBC - just like the bowtie is a prop for Bowtie Boy. Somebody pull the plug even life support can't save this turkey.

[Eric J in MN]

16. I'm hoping that if Tucker Carlson's MSNBC show

gets cancelled for low ratings, then he won't get another show for a long time.

[Johonny]

7. Two words

Dennis Miller

[Matariki]

9. blowjobs? n/t

[obnoxiousdrunk]

8. I like those segments that

have Rachel Maddow on.

[kliljedahl]

14. She's a regular, every night

Go figure


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Rex]

10. Jon got it right, Tucker is an asshole.

nt

[nickgutierrez]

13. I believe the word Jon used was 'dick'.

:)

[AirAmFan]

11. 'Weenie' is SPOT-ON. TC shows absolutely NO sincerity or

consistency, and no emotion whatever except a sarcastic sense of superiority to his audience and to his co-hosts. He'll switch sides on an issue in an instant. I guess that's what happens when you're a Kennedy nephew, feel you're entitled to deference from ordinary mortals, but have no particular skill, intelligence, or rapport with others.

[kliljedahl]

12. & don't forget the Bowtie

Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Jacobin]

15. Technically, though, he's a Dweeb

[Eric J in MN]

17. well put (nt)

nt

[AndreaCG]

18. I won't watch it even for Rachel Maddow

[NeoTraitors]

19. Wussie

personified- Tucker Carlson