I'd just like to say that there are a lot of TV sites on the web, but TV Squad is "The Best TV Site That Has Ever Existed Or Will Ever Exist On This Planet Or Any Other." And that's official, by the way.
Now that I've announced that, there seems to be a little battle going on with the cable news channels and even the regular networks when it comes to coverage of this year's Presidential election. CNN reminds us every three and a half minutes that they are "The Best Political Team On Television," almost as much as they remind us that "we're in The Situation Room"), and now CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric has jokingly named her team of Jeff Greenfield and Bob Schieffer "The Best Political Team In The Galaxy." They liked that, especially Greenfield, who used to be the political expert over on CNN.
I don't know if CNN's is the best (I find myself watching MSNBC more, even though I'd like to duct tape Chris Matthews' mouth). They're certainly the largest. They have two different panels of pundits and experts for every time that the network covers a primary or a debate. They're at two different tables, one behind the other. I think they should just put them together on a platform like Match Game had, one panel on top and one panel below. And Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper should use those giant hand held mics that Gene Rayburn used.
If I'm not mistaken, Fox News has also used a variation on the "Best Political Team..." line.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-22-2008 @ 2:15PM
EbonyDad said...
I think the only reason that CNN can pull that term off is that they have some of the most inside insiders you could have in politics. They have Donna Brazille and Paul Begala (both pundits who have been regulars in the Democratic party for the last 15+ years). They also have Gollum... sorry, James Carville also regularly sitting in.
I end up watching CNN because it seems like they have every political aspect covered. They only thing they are missing is a pundit for blond, blind libertarians.
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2-22-2008 @ 2:23PM
mike m said...
This goes without saying...I love BBC America's Coverage. It's the most fair.
BUT, that said...let's take a look at Fox, because they are a close second, and BBC America doesn't talk about being the best, though they are.
Fox has Michael Barone...and he is, bar none, the best poll's analyst on tv. They also have the editors of Roll Call and the Weekly Standard, as well as Krauthammer, Juan Williams, and Mara Liasson.
All of this in addition to Bill Kristol, who, though obviously conservative, is one of the best analysts around.
So I give the edge to fox over CNN and MSNBC on that front. They also give fair coverage to Obama AND Hilary, unlike CNN and MSNBC who focus on Obama a lot.
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2-22-2008 @ 3:25PM
Joey Geraci said...
mike, you are embarrassing yourself, again. Krauthammer is a joke, and Kristol has to be the dumbest and most hateful "analyst" to ever grace the airwaves. Juan is fine, and he occasionally does attempt to counter the ridiculous arguments of the rest of the panel on whatever show they are on, but he gets steamrolled repeatedly and unrepentedly, and you can tell he has a defeatist whenever Kristol looks at him with that dumb grin and says some absolutely insane thing that the rest of the panel agrees on, because its FOX. (My personal belief is that Juan Williams has a victim's complex. He gets some kiind of visceral thrill out of being shouted down and humiliated by absolute idiots). Mara is a joke, and she regularly just tows the FOX party line.
So, in summary, the most ardent hard-righter would watch CNN, MSNBC, PBS, or even the Daily Show if he wanted to be informed about politics, before he would watch FOX. If he wants to be entertained, on the other hand, FOX is always available.
2-22-2008 @ 4:18PM
mike m said...
Shocking you disagree. ;-)
Again, however, you miss the point. The analysts fox have, no matter if you think they are skewed, are diverse, more intelligent, and have more thoughtful analysis.
Juan Williams is awesome, Fred Barnes and Mort Kondrake are fantastic and don't always agree...in fact usually don't, and Bill Kristol, as mentioned, though conservative, has an understanding about the scene that few except for Rove, Carvill, and Morris have.
Michael Barone is masterful. Period. And just having him gives them an edge.
Do you know anything about Charles Krauthammer? You have to be kidding me! This guy is a Pulitzer's prize winning journalist, a psychiatrist who discovered a specific type of Bi-Polar disorder, doesn't tow any party line, though librals like to think of him as a neo-con even though he doesn't fit into that category at all(can you say pro-choice?), and is probably the sharpest tool in the shed after Kristol and Williams.
And that's not talking about visuals, just people. On visuals, CNN's visuals are horrid, and MSNBC's are slightly easier to read sometimes.
Again, I say BBC America. if you aren't watching it, it's a shame.
But for a second place, Fox's political analysts are more diverse, and aren't all conservative.
Then compare Matthews to Hume, who, though a conservative, is far better at overseeing than both Blitzer and Matthews.
On interviews, and commentary, we also get Chris Wallace. You can't say anything bad about this guy. he asks the tough questions, and is one of the best journalists in the country.
And then lets not forget Jim Angle, who is viewed as one of the most fair journalists on network news, and again, is a great co-anchor.
So we have fair, exceptional, journalists, anchors that aren't on crack or make you think you are with their pie-charts(I'm talking to you WOLF), and overall analysis from insiders who know the scene. Sounds good to me .
If you disagree. That's fine. I don't really care. I'll be watching BBC America anyway. ;-)
2-22-2008 @ 6:30PM
Franklin said...
Mike you shouldn't waste so much energy on little Joey. He's the most irrelevant, biased and substance-free poster on this site. He's only here to beat his dead horse of political socialism over and over and over again. His opinions are both vacuous and prejudiced to the point of being laughable if he weren't taking himself seriously.
One would expect the management of this site to ask him to curb his pathetic and vile one-note bleat since it's usually off topic and divisive, but they support his position and less-than-secretly prefer nothing but unwashed socialists here. Oh, don't expect them to come out and say it because they're "caring and open-minded" which is commie speak for "we care only if you share our views".
Hell, Bobbo here is actually proud of the fact that he supports big government programs, otherwise known as socialism. You remember socialism, don't you? It's something we used to fight overseas, now our Dumocrat friends have brought it to our shores in the guise of "compassion", when it's really just a way to foster reliance on the government and lose any shred of personal responsibility. Why get up in the morning and take a chance on being a real, live grown-up when you can just have the government give you what you want? Oh no, I can't bother to pay my own medical bills AND stay home to watch Streisand on The View! I need the government to help me, it's not my fault!
Sick, sick, sick. Lazy, irresponsible, entitlement-crazy and smug about it. America is being corrupted from within and it's California liberals like little Joey who just won't shut up because he just *KNOWS* he's smarter than the founding fathers who designed this nation to run on self-reliance and small government. They were a bunch of idiots after all, weren't they? What a loudmouthed fool.
2-25-2008 @ 11:03AM
Oscar said...
Uh Fox does try to claim they are the best, Brit Hume uses the "The Best Political Team Ever" line. They covered this on the Daily Show a couple of weeks ago.
2-22-2008 @ 2:55PM
socrates said...
I generally loath the Newsie Talking Heads for all of their self-interest and their always needing to exasperate every single moment of the human experience. That being said I am holding my breath for the Best Political, News, Sports, etc... in the UNIVERSE! I am pretty sure I won't pass out.
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2-22-2008 @ 3:07PM
Ryan S. said...
i personally watch CNN, and I think its funny how none of the commetators or Anderson cooper can say "The Best Political Team On TV" or "go to CNN politics . com" or how they endlessly plugged last nights debate with a straight face, they all have a smile on their face, so at least at CNN, I think, they know its all a big joke.
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2-22-2008 @ 4:01PM
JGMC said...
Come on Bob, Chris Matthews asked the question of the week in the after primary coverage of "name one legislative accomplishment of Barack Obama" to a Texas Democratic Congressman sent on the program supporting the senator.
He sputtered and gave up. Finally, he admitted he wasn't prepared for that kind of question when asked about the interview the next day.
If you don't know even some of the accomplishments, there should be better vetting of surrogates.
I am sure there were a lot of reporters saying to themselves "why didn't I ask that question."
Chris can really be over the top, but he was spot on with this question.
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2-22-2008 @ 3:58PM
sitruc said...
I skimmed the article waiting to see the Daily Show...
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2-22-2008 @ 4:12PM
ProgGrrl said...
I suspect Couric is just an avid Jon Stewart fan and saw him and Larry King joking about CNN's tagline over and over during his one hour on Larry's show on Wednesday night...which btw can be viewed on youtube starting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfhKveUXd04
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2-22-2008 @ 4:27PM
This Is True said...
Political news coverage should be cancelled due to poor ratings. If people wanted to see news about people arguing, there would be news crews in every house with adulterous wives. Political news is just a sophisticated version of Jerry Springer.
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2-22-2008 @ 6:07PM
Jake said...
MSNBC all they way. Russert, Williams, Brokaw anchor the NBC portion and the MSNBC portion is covered by Matthews, Olbermann and a wide range of pundits from the left to the right. They talk about the actual issues and don't get too into all the technology like flying pie charts, ginormous screens and crap like real time response to debate points. Matthews does get carried away with his sometimes out there analogies, but they seem alot more grounded and knowledgeable without trying to be hip and cool.
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2-22-2008 @ 6:16PM
mike m said...
NBC, in particular Russert, I adore, but MSNBC, not so much. lol
2-22-2008 @ 10:34PM
Chris Bragg said...
It is, always has been, and will always be, ABC. It's a shame they don't have a 24 hour, because their coverage has always been the classiest.
And I'd prefer someone to just be the best political team on television instead of feeling the need to waste time telling us they are every five minutes.
I agree that CNN has the problem of having too many people on the air making it a near guarantee they'll have someone saying something stupid.
I do think that Cooper, David Gergin, and many of the others on the network are quality, but there are way too many "experts" (Soledad O'Brien? Please.)
The other night Lou Dobbs tried to make the point that Obama shouldn't be saying anything is "just words", which was the exact opposite of the point of what Obama was saying. This showed a fundamental lack of understanding of what was going on...and that's their #1 nighttime guy. Very strange.
Elsewhere...
Katie Couric stinks.
MSNBC puts on too many idiots to shout at each other. (Pat Buchanan is still WRONG!) Matthews favors people saying something crazy to actually covering an issue.
And, of course, Fox News is a joke.
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2-23-2008 @ 10:12AM
bsgfan2003 said...
I guess it would depend on what your criteria for "best"
is.
I try to switch around to hear what they all are saying.
I've even tried watching Bill Maher until he said Mother Theresa lost her faith - which is a lie from the pit of hell by the way (And shame on Costas for not slapping him). Her entire life was a testament to her faith.
For me, I like the unbiased approach to political news. That's not easy to find of late.
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