So far tonight, MSNBC seems slow, lethargic and boring

[aaaaaa5a]

Cenk was a train wreck at 6pm. He appeared nervous and unprepared. Having Big Ed there to essential "co-open" his new show was awkward at best. Cenk was tripping over the teleprompter like what you would see in small market TV newscast. Not a big time Cable news show.

These positions are highly coveted. Is this the best MSNBC can do? You are telling me there was no other progressive host that would have given us a stronger opening show?

I fear tonight will be the largest audience Cenk will ever have. Its all down hill from here.


At 7pm Mathews was Mathews. Although he is often ripped on this board, I usually like his show. At least he has energy. At least he has passion. At least he acts like he wants to be there.


I personally think Lawrence O'Donnell is great. I like his politics. But his show really lacks pace. It seems to move too slow. There is no fire. No energy. I wish he would bring the same passion to his show that he brings to other shows when he is a guest analyst. Someone please pass him a cup of coffee.


As I watch MSNBC I keep asking myself, if a person tuned into MSNBC for the first time tonight (maybe because of the media coverage regarding Keith), what would he think? Personally, I think he would be bored.

This new lineup is terrible. And so far they definitely have not been as entertaining or passionate as FOX news is for the far right.

MSNBC can't get through one night without KO being dearly missed.

Thankfully Maddow will follow at 9pm. Hopefully we can finally get a little energy and some smart, intelligent commentary on the screen.


At the rate we are going, I fear what's left of MSNBC's audience might be asleep by the time we get to Big Ed at 10.


MSNBC was really making inroads and gaining on FOX. As someone who would love to see legit balance and fairness in how politics is reported, it's sad to see such momentum come to a complete halt. Thus far, tonight has been a very big disappointment for me.

[hlthe2b]

1. I think they (and all the program staff) are still in shock...

I'd tend to give them a week or two to see if things won't settle down a bit. Of course the momentum is gone. They are all stunned and probably waiting for another shoe to drop. That is a hard way to work.

[liskddksil]

2. Lawrence was heated about the high-capacity magazine issue just now

It was good.

[aaaaaa5a]

5. Agreed. Finally!

Its the first decent commentary MSNBC has had tonight. They must be reading this thread! LOL!

[peacebird]

3. With KO gone I will not be watching M$NBC. I loved Keith, Liked Rachel and disliked O'Donnell.

Ed was okay, and I abhor tweety.... he swings whichever way the wind blows.

I will not watch the station anymore.

[Top Cat]

37. This is day 3 of my MSNBC boycott...

I love Keith because he keeps it real and Rachel is good. After what they did to KO MSNBC is off my radar. I really dislike CNN but for now it is the station I will watch and Cspan.

[mzmolly]

4. They're adjusting. Cenk will come into his own. That said, giving a lefty anti-Obama

critic a new show is ... interesting. Seems a way to undermine the President, and appease the left.

That said, I really like Cenk. I think he'll come around at election time.

[aaaaaa5a]

9. I hope he can turn it around.

I was shocked at how bad he and his show were tonight. He was too nervous. Hopefully he will get his legs under him real soon.


Given his performance, I wouldn't rule out Cenk being a temporary replacement for the position.



As bad as he was tonight… why not give Tamara Hall a try?

[mzmolly]

10. Tamron Hall? She may prefer to keep her daytime slot?

I really do think Cenk will do well once he gets into a groove. It takes a while.

[aaaaaa5a]

16. I doubt it.

There is no way a career person would opt for a relatively meaningless afternoon slot when she could have her chance to "play with the big boys" by taking a time slot that wields some power.


I love TV. And I follow TV ratings very closely. Yet I have never even seen TV rating hourly breakdowns for the afternoon cable news time slots. Thats how little they really matter.

[mzmolly]

17. I wouldn't attempt to speak for her. She may prefer to have a news

job vs. a job involving political commentary.

[tavalon]

23. I've seen him on there before and he was fine

Actually, more polished than he is on his webcast. I was impressed before but I just assumed he would have an off day today. I expect the whole line up to be bad tonight and probably into next week. MSNBC fucked up badly and the hosts are reeling.

[tavalon]

21. Don't we all?

That's what the Democrats and specifically the DLC rely on.

[whathehell]

6. Rachel is great, the rest are okay, but none, IMO, have Keith's humor...

and I think that will be greatly missed.:shrug:

[tavalon]

22. Missed by MSNBC,

but we'll get Keith back in some capacity. The only loser here is MSNBC.

[whathehell]

34. I think so too...n/t

[DJ13]

7. They should have moved Dylan up to 6PM & put Cenk on at 4PM

Dylan Ratigan has a lot more experience in front of cameras on national TV.

Cenk should have taken Dylan's old time where the audience is smaller to get his feet wet before moving into the night time block.

[aaaaaa5a]

11. I think you are right about giving Cenk a chance to get his feet wet.

But I would have liked to see a progressive at 6pm. Putting Cenk in that time slot before he was clearly ready didn't do anyone any good.

[onehandle]

8. I think Chris Hayes should have gotten 6 p.m.

He has been doing great when he fills in for Keith and Rachel.

I think it's inevitable that he gets a show.

[aaaaaa5a]

12. Can we start a petition to get him on?

I'm serious. Really. Tonight hurt.

[tavalon]

24. I won't sign

Not after one night.

[Very_Boring_Name]

13. I really can't stand Cenk hosting on MSNBC

I like Cenk, I like TYT, but he's absolutely god awful when he hosts MSNBC.

[aaaaaa5a]

15. He clearly was not ready.

The idea that someone that GREEN would be given a position like that amazes me. There have been various threads on this board talking about the lack of diversity in primetime cable news. And when you see someone that amazingly unprepared and unqualified land such a highly coveted role, you really have to pause and admit…. they have a point.

The learning curve for a job like this, isn't suppose to be quite that big.

[Fearless]

14. Should've just left it the way it was IMHO. There is no method to this madness. n/t

[Thrill]

18. Cenk is not ready for big time TV

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. I didn't even watch it, and I knew that would be the case. (nt)

[tavalon]

20. Cenk is good in front of the camera and specifically has been on MSNBC

He had an off day. The rest of the situation is that everyone is stunned. Give them a few days and we'll see if they get their groove back. You think we were going Wha Fa?, so were/are all the hosts in the evening lineup. No one got any notice.

The company screwed up badly with their handling of Keith O., but I don't think you can judge this first night of the lineup after the fuck up as indicative of how it will be. They scrambled quickly, and things that are thrown together like this rarely work right out of the shoot. What I find interesting is that they had to scramble. That means, in some way, this was a surprise to all involved. I wonder why? If Keith quit, he sure didn't give any notice and if they fired him, they sure did it with an ineptitude inappropriate for a big name station. I mean, really, this was handled like a first grade schoolyard dust up.

[TuxedoKat]

25. Yes

I think Cenk has been pretty good when he hosted before. It's an entirely different thing to carry your own show and I think Friday caught everyone off guard, especially Cenk. I think he will be fine after awhile. It's unfair to him to suddenly thrust him into that spot with no time to develop his own show (except for this past weekend) and then expect him to be perfect.

[tavalon]

26. Exactly!

[TuxedoKat]

28. Hey!

You know what they say about great minds! Just added you to my buddy list! :)

[tavalon]

29. Oh, dear!

Now I have to be witty and smart and perfect, like always!!! I cannot do this with such short notice! ;)

[TuxedoKat]

31. LOL

I have faith in you. ;)

[Pisces]

27. I didn't watch MSNBC today. I will probably tune in to see Rachel, but today

I boycotted.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Give them a week, for crying out loud!

Not just Cenk, who just started and what a lovely time to start, I must say. Also the line up as a whole, the night lost the tent pole, the tone, that which gave it a dynamic as a slate of programming.It is not just KO they lost, but Countdown itself. They will need a moment to find a new rhythm to the evening.Or so it would seem. Friday their entire house got rearranged. And not to be disrespectful, but other than Chris, none of them have been on tv all that long, this is not a deep bench of old veterans. So geez, people. They will rise to the occasion, I'm sure.

[Diamonique]

32. I thik they're doing well tonight.

Except for Cenk, who I've never liked on TV anyway. Maybe he'll get better doing it on a daily basis.

[MahatmaOlbermann]

33. Agreed n/t

[quiller4]

35. I really like the pace of O'Donnell's show. Super high energy

is the last thing I want at that time of the evening. For the first time in a long time I stayed with MSNBC all evening instead of switching over to watch local news.

[quiller4]

36. I like the pace and content of O'Donnell's show. For the first time

in a very long time I stayed with MSNBC all evening instead of switching to local news.

[Honeycombe8]

38. No Keith. :( He always livened things up. nt