Monday, February 16, 2009

Is Keith On A Slow Boat To Burnout City?

I watched one Countdown show last week so I had to travel the internet to see what's been going on. Apparently, Keith had to make some concessions about a misquote and then he gets a demand from a Lt. Gov. to have a debate with him on his show for making her the WPiTW. His response to her was lame at best and rather cowardly.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ Olbermann responds to TVNewser about McCaughey's challenge: "Like any other paid spokesperson trying to shill a product, she's welcome to buy commercial time on MSNBC (and I'll even make a call to the guys in advertising to see if they can find her a spot during a break in Countdown)."

If this woman is willing to go on Countdown and discuss/debate the issue then why is it so difficult for Keith to do what's right? Is he afraid of being wrong? Or is he just afraid a woman might outdo him?
Whatever his reasoning is behind this lame response he clearly has no intentions of making this issue one that can be discussed in an adult unbiased environment.

But regardless of Keith's shortcomings, and the fact that some of his diehard fans are getting tired of the same old crap he does every single night, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making mistakes.
Countdown isn't the only program on 24/7 cable "news" that makes mistakes. MSNBC isn't the only cable channel that screws up. They all do. But since Keith has such a big mouth and an ego to go with it he is more apt to be put under a microscope than anybody else.
I don't feel sorry for him because this is what he's always wanted. However, he's obviously not man enough to approach some situations with regard to making a wrong a right. Or letting someone he's bashed defend themselves in his oh so wonderful presence.

Keith is a drive by shooter. A coward. And it seems to be getting worse. He's gotten fatter and lazier and doesn't seem to care whether he's right or wrong. So I ask, is he getting burned out? If so, then he needs to change his format and stop talking politics and FOX all the damn time.
It doesn't hurt to have a break from the same old shit.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

His ratings are in free-fall. He better figure out a way fast to get those viewers back or else he may know exactly what it feels like to be Chris Matthews after Matthews lost power to KO.

flowergirl said...

That's unfortunate. Countdown is a good show but it won't last much longer if he continues to beat a dead horse.
I like the approach to the possibility of criminal justice but I'm losing hope on that one. Obviously Keith decided that bashing FOX and any Republican is more important than say....a tornado that wipes out a community.

I can't figure this one out. If Keith is so concerned about the plight of the American people then why isn't he talking about the things that happen to Americans?

Anonymous said...

That's too bad about his ratings. I used to watch Countdown all the time, and I loved it!!! I hope the show doesn't go in the same that The Big Show did.

I think there are two reasons why he's not covering the plight of the American people. One is that he is so removed from the concerns of regular folks that he can't really speak well on that subject and so he avoids it. Maybe it's because when you try to stick up against the big guy for the little guy, you have to become a big guy yourself. I hope I made sense.

The other thing is that I think his current concern might really be lip service. If he really cared but felt uncomfortable about talking about it, he could just get some experts on to do all that dirty work for him.

Anonymous said...

Simple. Because he's not concerned with the plight of Americans or the "common man/woman". He's primarly concerned about one person and one person only: Keith Olbermann.

He insists that his own personal vendettas be our personal vendettas, whether it's Rupert Murdoch, Bill O'Reilly, Fox News, or the NY Post. Doesn't anyone ever question why he's such a huge fan of the Simpsons & Family Guy when they are on (wait for it) Fox? Aren't those also Murdoch owned programs? Isn't their a dichotomy going on there?

He made the decision to court a wider audience and the audience he chose to court was the liberal left. Fine, great, wonderful. But now he's backed himself into a corner he can't get out of. His liberal audience is rapidly dwindling and since he decided to make such a dramatic turn to the very far left people in the middle (yes they do exist) or (God forbid) conservatives. He can't suddenly switch over to being a "straight" newsguy anymore, that ship has sailed and he missed the boat because he was so utterly desperate to court viewers that he was willing to prostitute himself, and his chance at being considered a mainstream anchor (which he was very, very good at) for a few viewers who aren't watching him now. The gamble worked for awhile but now it looks like a very bad bet indeed. He's not even coming in 2nd anymore, he's a distant third with Campbell Brown gaining on him. So was it worth it?

If he were to suddenly call BS on anything a liberal did, his existing viewers would utterly disown him. So there is no going back.

Bold prediction: I give him less than 2 more years at MSNBC before he burns up and out.

flowergirl said...

I agree with all of you. He has made his personal vendetta OURS. And that he IS so removed from the common folk that the only person he can truly relate to is himself, but I'm not so sure he relates to himself all that well either.
It's sad to think that he's backed himself into a corner that he can't get out of but, as he would say, this country is forgiving and I think if he slowly manuevered his way out then it may just work for him.
One can only hope that he would wake up from his self induced coma of anger and hatred towards FOX and Republicans and learn that there is more to life than how he feels.

Anonymous said...

He's going to need help from someone to cure his sliding ratings problem. A slow move back to news, and a change in format, adding new things and removing old ones. That's the ticket to saving his show, if he wants to at all.

It was inevitable after Obama's election that his ratings would drop. Murdock, O'Reilly and all things FOX cannot replace Bush & Cheney. Now that the liberals have gotten what they wanted, he needs to find a new niche.

Looks like Rachel is soon to be the new rock star at MSNBC.

flowergirl said...

Unfortunately I don't think Rachel's ratings are any better than Keith's. However, her politics is. In fact, I think her whole show is better than Countdown.
She's not afraid to have opposing points of view on her show and she's much funnier than Keith.
Countdown is good but as you said, Rachel may soon be the new rock star on MSNBC. If she isn't already.

Anonymous said...

Keith may be burning out but Katy parties on: http://www.the33tv.com/pages/content_landing_page/?-New-Band-Honor-Society-Rocks-Out-in-the=1&blockID=214404&feedID=13

flowergirl said...

You'll have to guide me. I can't find what you want us to see, but I'll keep looking.

Anonymous said...

Go to Google. Click on News. Google "katy Tur". First article that pops up shows Katy covering a rock show. I guess she's getting paid to hang out with rock bands. Isn't that called being a groupie?

flowergirl said...

Thank you.

I think she found her place. Entertainment news is more her speed than hardhitting news. She doesn't have the face for important stuff.
She has this smirk about her that you can't take seriously when she's talking serious, so if she sticks with entertainment she should go far.
In more ways than one.

Anonymous said...

I guess she's getting paid to hang out with rock bands. Isn't that called being a groupie?

You are confusing groupies with hookers. The diff is that groupies do it for free. I don't know why exactly but I very seriously doubt that Katy has ever given anything away for free.