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Bob Schieffer's Take on Stewart and Colbert

Bob SchiefferIt has often been reported via numerous polls that people in their 20s get most of their news from 'The Daily Show.' I've always been suspicious of this statistic, because you have to know the news to get most of the jokes on Jon Stewart's show, but there's probably at least a little truth to it. Now Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' 'Face the Nation,' is weighing in on the topic of whether you can get your news from that show or 'The Colbert Report.'

In short, Schieffer calls both Stewart and Colbert "editorial page cartoonists," in an interview at Broadcasting & Cable. He doesn't mean it in a derogatory way, he just means that they serve a certain function when it comes to the news. They're not journalists, they're making commentary on the journalist (and politics and current events and pop culture). He thinks "if all you watched is Stewart and Colbert, I'm not sure you could call yourself well-informed."

I would agree with that, and I bet Stewart and Colbert would too.

Keith Olbermann Denies that 'Countdown' is Going Down

Fox and MSNBC have been attacking each other with more frequency (but probably less violently) than the Black Spy and the White Spy, and one of their main forms of ammunition have been their respective ratings.

So naturally 'Countdown', hosted by the rather large (both in stature and physical size) talking head Keith Olbermann, had to respond to a report that appeared in the New York Post's "Page Six" column claiming that his show is one baboon hair away from cancellation hell.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bill O'Reilly Tones Down the Funny in Final Part of His Jon Stewart Interview

Bill O'Reilly wrapped up the final portion of his interview with Jon Stewart on last night's 'O'Reilly Factor' and if you tuned in hoping for a night of hilariousness, well...you still got it. But this time, you got it from the right person.

Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show', kept his trademark charm and wit at high volume during the third and final portion of their edited interview, even though the tone and substance of their discussion got a lot more serious.

And thankfully, O'Reilly put down his red nose and took off his clown make-up for this portion of the interview. As Joel mentioned yesterday, O'Reilly is painful to watch when he tries to be funny. Screw waterboarding; the NSA should have hired him as the emcee for their interrogations.

Continue reading Bill O'Reilly Tones Down the Funny in Final Part of His Jon Stewart Interview

ABC News Content Now Available on Hulu

Do you live outside of the United States? Are you tired of not being able to access the never-ending pit of television goodies that is Hulu? If so, get ready to continue hating them just a little bit longer.

ABC News has announced they are streaming all of their news programs from 'Good Morning America' to 'World News with Diane Sawyer' on the popular free TV and movie site.

This means you can instantly access the latest news and views on everything around you and the world as long as you live in the US. Sorry rest of the world and known universe. Guess you can't enjoy this sit down with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen like the rest of us red blooded Americans!

Why Does Bill O'Reilly Keep Trying to Out-Funny Jon Stewart?

Bill O'Reilly has been on top of the cable news heap for fourteen years now, and for a good reason: whether you agree or not with his politics or his interview style, the man does a great job of putting his interview subjects on the spot and making them squirm. And, let's face it: squirmy interviews make for compelling TV.

One thing O'Reilly doesn't have is a sense of humor. At all. He's just too intense of a personality who takes himself too seriously to be funny. But, for some reason, whenever he gets in Jon Stewart's presence either on 'The Daily Show' or his own 'The O'Reilly Factor,' he spends half the interview belittling 'TDS' and its audience and trying to keep up with Stewart joke-for-joke instead of interviewing him on substance. And it never, ever works.

Here's the first half of the first part of his interview with Stewart, which aired on the 'Factor' last night. The second half is after the jump.

Continue reading Why Does Bill O'Reilly Keep Trying to Out-Funny Jon Stewart?

Katie Couric, CBS Get in a Contract Catfight

Katie Couric may smile 24 hours a day, but her latest contract negotiations with CBS have given her a reason to cut that back to around 23 hours and 50 minutes a day.

The network wants to cut back the 'CBS Evening News' anchor's tremendous $15 million salary, a move that makes a lot of sense since they recently laid off around 150 people and her broadcast has been placing a disappointing third since she took the job.

And while it seems unlikely that Couric will bolt, it isn't completely out of the realm of possibility since neither she nor the network have completely dismissed the idea.

[via Mediabistro]

CBS Sports Expects 100 Million Super Bowl Viewers

Peyton Manning will lead the Indianapolis Colts into Superbowl 44.CBS expects Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV to be the most watched television program in history. And the network is looking to make a mint on the big game after managing to sell every available ad slot for the broadcast.

The problem is a couple of those ads were sold to odd buyers when you consider that this is supposed to be a massive entertainment event. People are supposed to have fun watching the game they've waited all season to see. It's a reach to ask them to think about heavy socio-political issues.

The network estimates more than 100 million viewers will tune in this weekend when Peyton Manning (right) and the Indianapolis Colts take on Drew Brees and the upset-minded New Orleans Saints. The Saints look to be the sentimental favorite as the city struggles to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina.

Meanwhile, the Colts are playing in their second Super Bowl in the last three years -- having beaten the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

Continue reading CBS Sports Expects 100 Million Super Bowl Viewers

Meet Ernie Anastos, the "Keep @*$&ing That Chicken" Anchor

Way back when, a news anchor in New York said something rather unfortunate on the air. Well, unfortunate to him, but hilarious to anyone else with a working central nervous system.

Ernie Anastos, the Fox news anchor in New York, accidentally uttered the now-immortal phrase "keep $&%^ing that chicken" during a throwback on an evening news cast. Anastos told The New York Times in a recent profile that he didn't realize he had said anything bad until after that night's broadcast and insists he was trying to say "plucking."

Despite the reputation of the infamous moment, Anastos said he's done denying that the infamous word fell from his mouth because "If you keep saying, 'I didn't really say that,' it doesn't sound right. This is New York. That particular word is practically 'hello,' the way it is used."

CNN consults programming advice from ... ESPN?!?

Once again people, I'm forced to ask the question: what the hell is going on here? Is up now down? Has black become white? Did Keith Olbermann just spend an inordinate amount of time and energy in his last "Special Comment" to discussing why Glenn Beck is TV's most "huggable" pundit?

CNN has been looking for ways to prop up their sagging ratings in the never-ending cable news wars by becoming a network that actually just delivers news as opposed to "from-the-hip," unsubstantiated opinions, as long as you don't count their constant monitoring of their viewers' Twitter feeds. Apparently they are so desperate for a format change that they have consulted a former ESPN producer to suggest ways to revamp their style.

Continue reading CNN consults programming advice from ... ESPN?!?

Chris Matthews: still on MSNBC, still won't shut up

Last night during MSNBC's coverage of the State of the Union Address, Chris Matthews said about President Obama, "I forgot that he was black tonight, for an hour." Now, even if you give him the benefit of the doubt about this statement (a dumb statement for many reasons - what, he does remember that he's black all the other times of the day? What exactly does it mean?), it's still an odd statement to say out loud. He "clarified" the statement on Rachel Maddow's show.

Don't think what he said was odd? Imagine if someone on FOX News had said it.

Here's a first: Nancy Grace doesn't want to be on television

Don't get excited. Nancy Grace still wants to be all over television, just not the parts that make her look like a mean, accusatory harpy with a God complex. That still applies to her talk show, but nevertheless...

Her attorneys are trying to get a federal judge to keep cameras from recording her deposition in a wrongful death suit filed against her, or at least keep the videotape from leaving the courthouse and ending up on television. She is being sued by the family of Melinda Duckett, a mother who appeared on her CNN Headline News show in 2006 and got grilled by the host following the disappearance of her 2-year-old son Trenton. Duckett killed herself on the day the interview was scheduled to air.

Attorneys said they want to protect Grace from any undue embarrassment. I'd say they're already too late.

Olbermann reacts to Jon Stewart's impersonation on Countdown

Remember last week when Jon Stewart turned his eye on pundit mimicry against MSNBC's rather large talking head Keith Olbermann?

It seems that Mr. Olbermann saw Stewart's glasses-removing "special comment" on The Daily Show, so Olbermann dedicated the end of Monday's show to a little "special comment" of his own. Get ready to hear something you may never hear again on a cable news pundit show for a rambling, incoherent and baseless attack on a public figure on either side of the political aisle: an apology!

Someone want to turn to The Weather Channel and check on Hell's wind chill? Because it may have just dropped to -2 Celsius.

Barbara Walters to host This Week on Sunday

Barbara WaltersGeorge Stephanopulous had planned to continue hosting This Week when he took over for Diane Sawyer on Good Morning, America (still haven't gotten used to him there), but he gave up the position a couple of weeks ago. So who is going to replace him on the Sunday morning new show? No one knows yet, though reporter Jake Tapper's name has often been mentioned. In the meantime, they're getting people to fill in for him, and this Sunday it will be Barbara Walters.

As a lot of you know, Walters was actually a newswoman before she started refereeing fights between Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View, so it will be good to see her in that role again (no, her celebrity interview specials don't count and she's not on 20/20 much anymore). Her guests will be FOX News head Roger Ailes and Arianna Huffington, former Republican and head of The Huffington Post.

Donations open early for Clooney's Hope for Haiti

The public can begin donating to Hope for Haiti Friday morning.You can start donating money to George Clooney'a "Hope for Haiti" telethon hours before it goes live.

The global benefit show airs live tonight at 8 p.m. ET from Los Angeles, New York and London. But, the charity will begin accepting donations today at noon ET, 9:00 a.m. PT. You can send your donation via phone at 1-877-99-HAITI or by texting "GIVE" to 50555. And, you can mail donations to Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017.

Meanwhile, they've updated the guest list for the big show. As of this hour, it includes Wyclef Jean, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, and Sting in New York City; Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift and a group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock, and Sheryl Crow in Los Angeles; and Coldplay, a group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna in London.

Continue reading Donations open early for Clooney's Hope for Haiti

Craig Ferguson has the outtakes from Morgan Freeman and The CBS Evening News

If you haven't heard (a lot of people don't watch the network newscasts, after all), Morgan Freeman has replaced Walter Cronkite as the voice of The CBS Evening News. Last night, Craig Ferguson played the outtakes from Freeman's intro to the show. It could be an impersonator, but it sounds like Freeman.

[via TV Newser]

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