OK, we all know why Olbermann reads Thurber on Fridays. We get it. Now, can he stop?

[bondwooley]

I have the utmost respect for anyone showing respect to a special person in their life who has passed. But is this Thurber thing turning into some one-way, endless therapy session on a national stage?

Yeah, I could turn it off, but it leads into Maddow.

[Avalux]

1. I kinda like it. A healthy dose of Thurber never hurt anyone. n/t

[bondwooley]

4. I dunno ...

When I want to read, I pick up a book. When I want to be read to, I pick up an audio book. When I want to watch news and commentary, I turn on a news network (and when I want to laugh I put on FOX). This "story time" has just started to irk me. In fact, I think it always did, but I wouldn't admit it because I respected where the motivation came from.

[femmocrat]

2. I must confess that I don't pay attention to it either.

I consider it a "break" between Countdown and Rachel. ;)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. Bathroom break?

[bondwooley]

5. I have to wonder what the producers of the show make of it ...

... they have to give marketing a reason to sell advertising time ...

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I like it

I might even go get the collected works myself.

[dkf]

7. You know I'm not so crazy about it either but if it gives him peace then let him.

Can you imagine what a bug you would feel like if you actually complained about it to him?

[bondwooley]

10. I hate to reduce a discussion to generalities, but...

... can you imagine if every broadcaster had 5 minutes a week to do something that only mattered to them?

I can see Cronkite spending 5 minutes a week showing pictures of yachts that he wants to buy (he was a boating fanatic), Sue Simmons in NYC talking about why she's never going back to a "bar of the week," etc.

But wait a minute ... I guess the trailblazer was Andy Rooney ...

... Hmm.

[dkf]

19. Well I wouldn't call Keith Olbermann a regular broadcaster.

He probably needs something to wind down. I hope he watches his blood pressure.

[REP]

8. Yeah, most of us have a dead relative or two but lack a TV show to ritualize our grief

Keith, my father's dead too. I get it. Enough.

[silverojo]

15. Even if I had a TV show, I wouldn't take my grief there

His eulogies to his parents were touching and very well done. Most of all, they were appropriate.

This Thurber nonsense isn't appropriate. If his father had liked "The Honeymooners", would that justify airing one of the episodes every Friday? Furthermore, Thurber's stories are long-winded, annoying, and mind-numbingly stupid.

What I find odd is that, if he's reading these stories at his father's request, why did he read just one story, and then not read any more stories until Thurber's family/agent heard about this, and encouraged it?

It leads me to believe that Keith just keeps doing it in order to brag about how Thurber's people enjoy it. And why not? Free weekly publicity for an author whose star had long since - and justifiably - fallen.

It's also worth noting that his fangirls like to pretend he's reading them bedtime stories. That's what they say on forums, anyway.

Whatever the case may be, Countdown is a news program. Even the fluffy entertainment pieces they do are news, to some degree. Reading Thurber isn't the least bit informative.

To put this in perspective: If Glenn Beck were doing this every Friday, we would be calling it yet another symptom of his insanity.

We don't need that kind of mindlessness coming from our side.

[REP]

22. Don't get me wrong; I like Thurber. It's Olbermann who is being a bit maudlin and vulgar

I know that being maudlin and vulgar are respected American values, but I expected better from Olbermann.

[grasswire]

9. I find it quite civilized and charming.

My family looks forward to it each Friday.

[bondwooley]

11. Thank you! nt

[bondwooley]

12. Woops. Meant to post that under REP's comment. My bad. nt

[WillyT]

16. Me/We Too !!!

:bounce:

Closest we've got to FDR's Fireside Chats in the age of instant electronic gratification.

I wonder if, as an old sports commentator, he'll do Thurber's 'You Could Look It Up' ?

I used to do this as a unit when I taught the 8th Grade.

Great stuff.

:hi:

[blaze]

13. I love it!!!

I don't know if it taps into some childhood memories or what....

But when the Thurber segment begins, I find myself turning away from the computer and curling up.... getting ready for my bedtime story!

I'm really sorry to hear I'm in the minority here.

[bondwooley]

14. Actually, by my count you seem to be in the majority ;) nt

[niyad]

17. sorry, but I like thurber, and I like KO's reading thereof. it is nice to have something that isn't

making us furious, enraged, depressed, or sick to our stomachs, even if just for a few minutes.

you could always go get a snack or something.

[handmade34]

18. I appreciate the time

KO puts into reading Thurbur. It feels like something I just vaguely remember, what was it called? ....ummm civility...?

[bondwooley]

20. You have a point, I must admit that much. Are we ready for more of that on TV? Would it work? nt

[me b zola]

21. I look forward to it and enjoy it every Friday

Its like a form of therapy for me. Just when I think that I can't bear to live another day in this asylum of republican lunacy and every other sign that the US is in decline, here comes Friday and KO's reading. It is calming, soothing, and entertaining. It reminds me that there is sanity left, even if it is only to be found in corners of our world.

[REP]

23. Thurber is still in print and available anytime; "My Life and Hard Times" is always a good read

I take your point, of course; but the joys of his writings don't have to wait! Plus you can see the drawings :-)

[me b zola]

28. I like Fridays with Thurber as a shared experience

It is the act of KO reading it to us that has the therapeutic effects, the reminder that we are not alone. But of course if you felt good speaking condescendingly to me then you can begin your week-end with a smile. Different things lift different people's spirits.

[REP]

30. I'm sorry you read it that way; it was a sincere recommendation

It's one of my favorites, and 'School Days' is better read than heard.

[me b zola]

32. Apologies if I misunderstood your post

Perhaps I do need the pictures :)

[Withywindle]

24. I enjoy them.

I know why he reads Thurber and why it's therapeutic for him. But really, that's not the issue. The issue is, are you capable of taking 10 minutes out once a week to listen to a guy we all respect sitting in a chair and reading REALLY AWESOME writing--with no flash-cut graphics? Are our attention spans so short that one reading of a short story once a week is that unbearable?

I love it, personally.

[Karenina]

35. Thank you!

:thumbsup:

[SeattleGirl]

25. I like it that he reads those stories.

I understand that not everyone does. Maybe just switch the tube off or change the channel for the last 10 minutes or so of Countdown on Friday would be the solution, if you really don't like that part of the show.

[AnArmyVeteran]

26. When I listen to him I can see why his father loved Keith to read to him.

That was very special of Keith to read to his father while he was terminally ill in the hospital. It must have brought his father a great deal of comfort. And Keith is a very special son to do that for his father while he was alive and after he passed. If I recall correctly, his father suggested the idea to Keith to read Thurber's stories on his show and it's a testament to Keith's love for his father to fulfill his father's wishes. I think it's a sweet gesture and perhaps we could all learn something from Thurber's stories. I would prefer Keith to read O'Henry's stories though because I really like his short stories, especially the 'Gift of the Magi' and 'The Last Leaf'.

[Frisbee]

31. And don't forget...

The Ransom Of Red Chief here in it's entirety for all to enjoy! (about a 10 minute read)

[handmade34]

37. when my husband was in the hospital in intensive care

I read Sherlock Holmes stories to him... :)

[janx]

27. I don't watch most cable news, but if Olbermann is reading Thurber,

that's wonderful!

It has less to do with therapy and more to do with literature.

[Parker CA]

29. I love it. Whether it is still cathartic for KO or not, I enjoy the few mins every Friday and

appreciate the break from the normal routine of MSNBC pm shows.

[B Calm]

33. I enjoy his reading, and look forward to them every Friday night!

[Vinca]

34. I've never enjoyed being read to - a quirk, I'm sure - and turn it off.

[xchrom]

36. shrug -- i love it. nt

[bigtree]

38. I like it

. . . but I could also sit for an hour or so while Sen. Byrd lectured and empty Senate chamber on Ancient Rome.

[laylah]

39. Don't like it?

Turn the channel. I respect he is honoring, and remembering for his own heart, his father.

Jenn

[lunatica]

40. I love that he reads Thurber

It's a great way to end the week. Just go get yourself a snack or something while you're waiting for Rachel.

[babsbunny]

41. I love it! I want Keith to come to Columbus Ohio

and do a show from The Thurber House! Please?

http://thurberhouse.org/

[GreenPartyVoter]

42. Actually my kids heard it for the first time last week and thought it was interesting. Maybe they

would grow tired of it if it went on too long, tho.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

43. I love Thurber and enjoy listening to Olbermann read the stories.

I don't much care why he reads them, either. It's nice to hear somebody read a little good (and funny) literature for a change, instead of tossing out stupid crap about celebrities and other trivia designed for people with the attention span of a gerbil. I get MSNBC on XM Radio in my car, and on several occasions I've just kept driving around the block so I could hear the entire Thurber story. I hope maybe these readings will introduce Thurber to a lot of people who might never have read him otherwise.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

44. Reading out loud to others is practically a lost art.

I love to read to my DH.

Been a big reader all my life. Since age three, back in the Eisenhower administration.

There are lots of great authors that are now practically forgotten, that should be read. Tolstoy, Maugham, Theodore Dreiser, Oscar Wilde.


In fact, yesterday I went to a funeral and got up and read the 2 following bits as my literary tribute to the man who was the guest of honor:


The last paragraph of The Bridge of San Luis Rey, (1927) novel by Thornton Wilder:


"Even now," she thought, "almost no one remembers Esteban and Pepita, but myself. Camila alone remembers her Uncle Pio and her son; this woman, her mother. But soon we shall die and all memory of those five will have left the earth, and we ourselves shall be loved for a while and forgotten.

"But the love will have been enough; all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."


I also read a bit of Shakespeare; upon the death of Hamlet:

"Good night, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!"


I do indeed hope it comforted the family.

Every time I visualize the "Flights of Angels" I imagine a cross between a rock concert and The Tallis Scholars, who sound heavenly.

I like it that Keith reads Thurber on Friday. And he's almost as nearsighted as I am!