Olberman Not as Funny As He Once Was.

Oh let's face it, he's losing his funny in a big way. I don't watch Keith any more, and it's not just because I don't have cable and barely ever watch any TV. Though come to think of it, those are fine reasons.

Here's what happened to KO. He had a light news show, mostly wry and often hilarious commentary about the dominant overlords of the times, Republicans. And it was great because no one else was doing that and Olberman maintained a perfect sarcastic tone all the way through. Then one night, he got sincere.

I don't remember what it was about, but he read his first "special commentary" and it was also great, because no one in the media was that angry about George Bush, even though an awful lot of people outside the media were. It was six solid minutes of righteous anger, and it was invigorating. Had Keith stopped there, I'd still be downloading the shows on Hulu.

But instead, the attention and ratings boost that came from that commentary practically forced another one, and then another. And gradually Keith Olberman has become Glenn Beck, a crazy foam-flecked emotional basked case. And self-important to boot, which is the kiss of death as far as comedy is concerned. Nobody goes to the Marx Brothers movies to see Margaret Dumont.

So I don't watch Olberman any more. I would enjoy Rachel Maddow if I had cable I guess, or the Daily Show. Come to think of it I might enjoy Glenn Beck, because that kind of thing IS great to watch if you can get a little schaudenfreude out of it. But Keith Olberman is dead to me.

Except once in a while when he's still kinda funny.

Fox News, But Without The Enthusiasm

During the conventions, MSNBC's coverage was anchored by Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews. The network has announced that from here on in, David Gregory will chair the debates and the election night coverage, with Olberman and Matthews relegated to commentator positions.

This is interesting. At first I thought that it was a bid by MSNBC to avoid alienating the conservative half of its audience. Olberman is one of about 4 cable news hosts who is explicitly liberal; and Matthews, as I've noted before, is in some kind of weird distorted area where no matter what side you're on, he's against you. So I'll call him neutral. Therefore the coverage for MSNBC skewed left.

However, Glenn Greenwald points out in Salon today that Olberman is by far MSNBC's greatest ratings-grabber. MSNBC is the sad-sack of Cable News Organizations. Olberman is the only guy anyone watches there. In fact, they have just signed liberal lesbian Rachael Maddow to occupy the hour between Olberman's high-rated 7:00pm show and its 9:00pm rerun.

So MSNBC had no audience to lose by keeping Olberman as election maven; in fact, there is an obvious model for making money out of biased coverage. No one watches Fox News because they believe its fair and balanced. Even when it is the reason people tune in is because they already agree with the right-wing positions it usually takes. It's classic narrowcasting strategy, and in a landscape where there are 6 or 7 all-news channels it works just fine.

So why the switch? Because MSNBC responds to complaints by right-wing organizations. If they don't, the organizations tar NBC with the same brush. And these organizations have been screaming for years that the whole network is far-left-liberal because they carry Olberman. It doesn't matter to them that 3 hours a day goes to Joe Scarborough (former Republican congressman, current Republican), or that Chris Matthews has espoused positions like this:

I like [George Bush]. Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left . . . We're proud of our president. Americans love having a guy as president, a guy who has a little swagger, who's physical, who's not a complicated guy like Clinton or even like Dukakis or Mondale, all those guys, McGovern. They want a guy who's president. Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. . . . Why don't the damn Democrats give the president his day? He won today. He did well today. . . .

Hat tip to Greenwald for that.

MSNBC people, here's my advice - they keep calling you the liberal network. Go for it. Keep adding liberals until the ratings level off. You got nothing to lose. If NBC complains, do something else they always say - sell out to George Soros. Believe me, GE would jump at the cash, and probably sell out cheap. You're never going to make any scratch by being fair and balanced in this market.

Per Aspera, Ad Hominum Attack

Keith Olberman, the guy who is on a news network and yet still says things critical of the Bush administration, is getting a bit of bad publicity. The ultra-respectable New York Post reports that an anonymous woman blogged her one-night stand with KO, found him lacking and ultimately had to fake her orgasm. The blog itself is password protected, so unless you know KarmaBites personally you may have to wait for her book, or subscribe to the Post.
The Post also published a story about Olberman's encounter with an anthrax-hoax letter, framing it as a "he stood on a chair and shreiked" tale. Keith Olberman is a sissy! And a dud with the chicks!
My goodness, is that Karl Rove skulking over there in the corner?
Seriously this is Klassic Karl. Every criticism must be addressed, and every valid criticism must be deflected. Effectively win a debate in the primary? Then a rumor must be spread that you have a black love child. Disagree with the conclusion that Iraq is swimming with WMDs? Leak a story that ... well, you know that one, and it's too complicated for me to go into.
This is amateur hour. This is on the level of "those pages SEDUCED Mark Foley!" and "the 9/11 commission had it in for Bush!" It's ridiculous. I'll go further. Even if it is true, so what? I don't know anyone who will be in a situation where they will get to fuck Keith Olberman, so the story means nothing to me. Let's try real debate next time, people.