Booman Tribune ~ Must See TV

Must See TV

by Steven D
Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 09:55:18 AM EST

Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel’s 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days.
More important for her bosses at MSNBC is that “The Rachel Maddow Show,” her left-leaning news and commentary program, has averaged a higher rating among 25- to 54-year-olds than “Larry King Live” on CNN for 13 of the 25 nights she has been host. While the average total audience of her program remains slightly smaller than that of Mr. King’s, Ms. Maddow, 35, has made MSNBC competitive in that time slot for the first time in a decade. The channel at that hour has an average viewership of 1.7 million since she started on Sept. 8, compared with 800,000 before.

Who could have predicted that a real unabashed liberal could do well on a nightly news oriented program on television?

Must See TV | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

And while she definitely has an ideological bent, she doesn't come across like a pompous ass on my teevee. Which is a win - because on either side of the ideological divide (from Olberman to BillO to Hannity to...) there are enough pompous, egocentric asses for everyone.

by nonynony on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:11:50 AM EST

Re: Must See TV (4.00 / 2)

I like Keith in all his snarkiness. I do detect an ego, but he's more than willing to crack wise on himself and let others do so, e.g., Letterman saying he has a big head, pretty much to his face, and having it measured. I would never equate him with Hannity and O'Liely.

Can't hear ya, Peach!

by AP on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:15:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (4.00 / 2)

Oh I like Olberman well enough, but he's not the kind of left-leaning teevee personality that I could leave on in mixed company. The right-leaning folks would be as uncomfortable with him on the teevee as I am when they leave on O'Reilly. He's just got that personality that makes his head swell a bit and makes him hard to take if you don't agree with him. I will say, though, that unlike O'Reilly he takes criticism. I recall the little feud between he and Glennzilla earlier this summer over FISA where Olberman backed down and came as close to admitting that he was wrong and Glen was right as I'd expect..

Maddow, on the other hand, just has an attitude that even the right-leaning folks I know don't get peeved at. They may not like her facts, but they can see how she's popular. Her weird friendship with Pat Buchanan is another example of that - Buchanan actually seems to like her despite the fact that their politics are about 180 degrees from each other and that she's openly gay - she's everything he claims to hate and yet they apparently really do like each other. From what I can tell, she's just a nice person - and we don't get a lot of those on the teevee these days.

by nonynony on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:33:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

I'm pretty much in the same camp that you are. As somewhat of a political junkie, I like Olbermann okay. He tends to come across at times as a bit verbose and can drift into a bit of pomposity. My wife agrees with most of what he says but she said again last night, "Sometimes he just gets on my nerves". I was searching for a good way to express my overall feelings about him. But you nailed it exactly with your observation that he probably wasn't someone "that I could leave on in mixed company". Perfect descriptor, nony.

As for Rachel, I used to listen to her occasionally when we had a local Air America station a few years ago. I liked her fine. But I thought then that she tended to rely a little too heavily on the sarcasm angle when making observations. Nobody likes a good, pointed sarcastic observation better than I, but it just seemed to be her default fall-back mode of operation. Then when her new show came on MSNBC, I saw the same style that I remembered from the radio. I still watched her and enjoyed her, but wasn't entirely sold on her.

Then came the Frum interview. Watching her during that segment just won me over. The more times I watched that, the more I was impressed. She was perfect. Perfect in tone, perfect in her points. She just scorched him. Her intellect, level headed demeanor, discipline and stubbornness on sticking to the facts were impressive. I thought, "Finally, a smart, intellectual liberal who can hold her own in the lion's den."

Yep, the thing with Pat Buchanan (her "fake uncle Pat"), is a little odd. But it works. And it does look like he genuinely likes and respects her. I think she's a winner for our side.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

by MikeInOhio (miken45054@yahoo.com) on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 11:11:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 0)

I totally take your points.

It is weird to see their friendship, if you can truly call it that. :) What I am 100% sure about is that they respect each other. I think he's a racist hypocrite, but he's not stupid.

I think there's another thing: he respects her because she's smart and holds her ground. We liberals have a rep for being wishy-washy and being afraid to take a position and defend it. Not Rachel. She's respectful, but she isn't meek. She makes an argument and defends it. Mr. AP has seen the same thing. He's more left than I am, and conservatives friends and acquaintances who engage him really respect him because he doesn't back down. And hey, it's not like they're smarter or look better than he does...sorry, I digress! :)

But I think something similar is happening with Rachel: she's smart, does her homework and is a pleasant person. I think he respects that.

Can't hear ya, Peach!

by AP on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 04:32:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

I heart Rachel. Serious girl crush here--even though I didn't fancy her asking what the "cost" of Obama leaving the campaign trail to be with his grandmother who is ill. That struck me as odd. When you get "that call" you go because you don't know what might happen.

But I may be overly sensitive, since we've received that call before. It sucks.

Can't hear ya, Peach!

by AP on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:12:20 AM EST

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

She doesn't own a TV set. Thus her mind is clear s a bell.

There it is...

NEWSTRIKE!!!

Rachel knows.

I have only seen glimpses of her because I so rarely watch Olbermann, MSNBC or for that matter any TV so-called news. I was wondering what was different about her other than her obvious intelligence and good emotional balance.

That's it.

She is relatively if not entirely unhypnotized.

What a deep game she must be running!!!

NEWSTRIKE!!! from deep within the belly of the beast.

More power to her if she can get away with it.

Later...

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

by Arthur Gilroy (arthurgilroy<at>earthlink.net) on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:18:41 AM EST

"good emotional balance" (4.00 / 2)

Her encounter with Frum spoke volumes about her centeredness (not in the political sense of the word). One of the nice touches about that encounter was her adieu to Frum, and what seemed like her genuine statement of appreciation that he accepted the invitation to be on her show...despite his offensive behavior.

Also, when one thinks of her competitors and peers, they are overwhelmingly male. I'm curious whether there is a distinction in the the gender demographics of Maddow's viewing audience, especially vis a vis Larry King.

I don't propose that women would watch Maddow just because she is a woman, but because she is a smart woman who provides non-aggressive commentary. I'm not a woman so I can't easily qualify what the difference might be, but Maddow's delivery is very appealing and contrasts positively with Olbermann's sarcastic style. (Not to say that I don't enjoy well-targeted sarcasm...)

by Sawgrass on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:39:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

yeah, I thought of you when I read this article.

by BooMan on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:19:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Y'know what, Booman? (none / 0)

I thought of you, too.

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

by Arthur Gilroy (arthurgilroy<at>earthlink.net) on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 04:36:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

so since she is successful and left-leaning, and intelligent, and not pompous...
how long before they dump her?

The sleep of reason begets tyrants. -Goya

by joe in oklahoma on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:32:35 AM EST

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

I grew up without TV, never developed a habit, and when I've been recuperating from major surgery felt I had been sent to hell when the only company I had was a TV. But, we have started watching Rachel Maddow.

She is young and vibrant, smart as a whip, well educated and not part of the "in crowd." In a rather short time on the air, she has been able to snag some interesting guests. I expect that to grow.

Viva la diva!

by Heart of the Rockies on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:37:56 AM EST

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

"when I've been recuperating from major surgery felt I had been sent to hell when the only company I had was a TV."

Reminds me of the time I was in the hospital for the better part of a week and my parents went to the yarn shop down the street and got me a new knitting project to keep me from going insane watching Jenny Jones and the like all day...it WAS hell.

by CabinGirl on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:56:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

Even PBS is hell after awhile. I was laid up for 7 months post-surgery and couldn't even read, rest of the family was working, in school, etc. Misery. I finally turned off the TV and slipped into daydreams. They were much better!

by Heart of the Rockies on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 11:07:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]

"Even" PBS? (none / 0)

Almost all of PBS is hell.

A weakly liberal hell, I will admit...but hell nonethless.

AG

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

by Arthur Gilroy (arthurgilroy<at>earthlink.net) on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 04:37:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Must See TV (none / 1)

My parents watch her quite a bit. I, of course, love her to death. Her radio show is pure gold.

Recommended by Hideo Kojima

by robertdsc on Tue Oct 21st, 2008 at 07:02:24 PM EST

Must See TV | 16 comments (16 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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