Once again I'm forced to ask the question, what the hell is going on here? Have we entered the bizarro world? Is up now down? Has black become white? Did police arrest PGA golfer John Daly for shooting himself in the leg with an unlicensed handgun in a crowded hip-hop club, and the NRA award Plaxico Burres their Humanitarian of the Year award? Fox News has announced their replacement for the outgoing Alan Colmes, the liberal ying to Sean Hannity's conservative yang on their self-titled debate show: it's Sean Hannity.
He's doing the show all by himself, so finally he has someone worthy of debating him. Stephen Colbert's "Formidable Opponent" will never be funny again.
The new show will feature just Hannity talking about the day's issues following The O'Reilly Factor. It will also be renamed to Hannity (you the know the guys who came up with the title for The Half Hour News Hour weren't consulted on that title brainstorm session).
Why fly solo? They couldn't find someone who was up to the task. FNC's Senior VP of Programming Bill Shine told The Hollywood Reporter, "In the end, we couldn't replace Alan and the chemistry those two had." In other words, they couldn't find a left-wing commentator who was willing to get paid to sit quietly for an hour while the people at the big table talked.
But just because there is only one name in the show's title doesn't mean the other side won't get their say/chance to have their microphone turned off. The show will also feature "the Great American Panel" that will have a conservative, a liberal and an "X-factor guest" such as a comedian, a commentator or "someone like 'Joe the Plumber'" such as Bob the Builder, Jake the Creepy Carnival Ride Operator or Rod the Pipe Fitter.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-15-2008 @ 11:31AM
Scott said...
Very funny! I really enjoy your writing style, Danny.
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12-15-2008 @ 12:01PM
DavidM said...
More liberal whining. Grow up man. Sean and Alan had a great dynamic and it would be hard to replicate it or better it, so why try. Sean is a great host on his radio show and he should be able to carry the new program.
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12-15-2008 @ 12:14PM
willy the impeached said...
If a douchebag like Olbermann can spout off nightly plus on Sundays Football recap, I'm sure Hannity is more than up to the task. With half his brain tied behind his back.
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12-15-2008 @ 2:03PM
Paul said...
It's "yin" and "yang", not "ying".
Hannity is worse than Olbermann and O'Reilly combined, IMO, so I can't imagine anyone wanting to share a show with him anyway.
It's too bad intelligence doesn't bring ratings -- the thoughtful moderates have no chance of hosting a high-profile show (and moderate viewers have nothing to watch).
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12-15-2008 @ 2:24PM
Malren said...
"WHAAAAAHHHH! A VERY POPULAR AND RATINGS-GETTING OPINION "JOURNALIST" IS DOING HIS JOB AND I DON'T LIKE IT! WHAAAAHHHH!"
GOD-DAMMIT I am sick to death of whiny politics posts. Save your hipster doofus political rants against the "wingnuts" or "rethuglicans" (or whatever cutesy idiot label you kept in your head while writing this) for the comments at HuffPo or your unread Kos diary, Gallagher.
Pathetic.
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12-17-2008 @ 8:26AM
Doctor Professor said...
"WHAAAAAHHHH! SOMEBODY POSTED SOMETHING ON THE INTERNET I DISLIKE! WHAAAAHHHH!!!!"
12-15-2008 @ 4:35PM
segsig said...
You've ruined "formidable opponent" for me now!
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12-15-2008 @ 4:07PM
Ian said...
F*CK IT! WE'LL DO IT SOLO!
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12-16-2008 @ 1:20AM
Craig said...
They have given up on pretending to be fair and balanced. Bout time.
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12-16-2008 @ 9:02AM
Mikee said...
I am a conservative who is often annoyed by how frequently Sean steps on people trying to talk and how he asks really overly simple yes/no questions all the time to remove any nuance from every issue.
Alan was a reasonably effective counterpunch to him and honestly I cannot imagine watching the show just to hear Sean talk for an hour anymore than I could stand watching a doofus like Olbermann for more than 5 minutes (God knows I've tried so I could get both stories, but Keith makes Sean look impartial and humble).
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12-17-2008 @ 1:33AM
StillBash said...
I don't really like either of them.
I mean it's no wonder who really does like bile spitting pundits?
Olberman is funny when he's on Letterman or anywhere where he's not the one running the show. Otherwise it's simply better not to listen to the guy for too long, it makes your head spin.
Problem is that at the other end of the spectrum, the pundits are blatantly lying to their audiences and misinterpret things to an extend that you have to be insane to even come those conclusions. Terrorist fist-bump is the best example. How screwed up do you have to be to come up with something like that?
12-19-2008 @ 9:33PM
Leonor Morales said...
Why not Sean Hannity and Michael Savage show?
Reply