TVSquad

Interesting (and very long) article in The New Yorker about Keith Olbermann. Mostly it's about Olbermann's career, his take on the news, his battles against various politicians, his special comments, and what others at MSNBC think of him (they even interviewed Tim Russert for the story), but there's a very intriguing morsel halfway through the piece that got my attention.

Olbermann was interviewed twice to take over for Dan Rather on The CBS Evening News.

We've heard the audio of Bill O'Reilly's comments about how he was surprised at how a Syliva's, a restaurant in Harlem, was run and how the customers acted (and if you don't think there's something a little off-kilter about his words, then you're not listening close enough), and now O'Reilly is making a promise: if you say anything against him, he's coming after you.

Keith Olbermann was rushed into surgery Friday night to remove his appendix.

Olbermann missed his appearance on NBC's Football Night in America (not sure if the other hosts mentioned it or not because I'd rather watch Britney at the VMAs over and over again than watch a football game pre-show) and will also miss at least the first two nights of MSNBC's Countdown, tonight and tomorrow. His seat will be filled by Alison Stewart, though it's unclear right now if she'll continue the rest of the week if Olbermann needs more time to rest.

A spokesman for MSNBC says that Olbermann is "doing fine."

[via TV Newser]

Should MSNBC keep Joe Scarborough in primetime instead of giving him the morning slot?

MSNBC is showing remarkable growth in primetime for the third straight quarter. Scarborough Country was up 36% in the 9pm slot. Hardball with Chris Matthews was up 9% at 7pm, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann was up 54%. The network is up 49% in the 25-54 demographic overall in primetime, and 34% for the day total.

I'm not exactly sure what they mean by "powerful" whenever these lists come out. Does it mean influence? Does it mean the most-watched? Probably a mish-mash of both, since the list includes anchors and network executives. Here's the list, according to TV Week. Last year's rank is in parentheses.

1. Roger Ailes - Chairman and CEO of FOX News (1)

Those phrases were used to describe MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in a New York magazine profile of the cable talker who first earned fame as the wise cracking sports guy on ESPN's SportsCenter, which later inspired Aaron Sorkin's SportsNight.

The article -- which describes Olbermann as a "world class agitator" and "sworn enemy" of Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly -- says Olbermann appeals to liberals like radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh appeals to conservatives.

Tonight marks the "fall finale" of Jericho. It's a term we've been hearing a lot this season (Lost has used it in their advertising too), and it looks like the web and web surfers are the reason shows are taking a break.

CBS' David Poltrack says the reason why Jericho can afford to take a break for two months right in the middle of the season is because they're able to put up enough original content online to satisfy fans and keep things going. Besides being able to watch episodes of the show online, fans can also see interviews with the cast and crew, as well as a special video series titled "Countdown," which gives viewers info about what would happen if a real attack occurred.

What do you think of the break that shows like Jericho and Lost are taking? Do you think it's a good idea? Is it a good idea only because these are serial shows and the break might be a good thing? Would you accept a break like this if it was The Office or CSI? I think we'll see more of this because of the web. I even wonder that someday, the networks might put an episode of a series exclusively online, right in the middle of the season, so they can run a special or something in the show's time slot. That might be an interesting experiment too.

See? See? I do report on FOX News things!

The cable network not only has nine of the top ten news shows, it also celebrated it's 250th week as being #1. Yay! Balloons and candy for everyone! (Though the network is down 17% in the daytime numbers from last year, and down 25% in primetime).

Over on MSNBC, the news is good too. The network's ratings are up, which kind of depresses me because they're up since started that damn "doc block" and heading towards more taped feature programming. But Countdown with Keith Olbermann is up 67%, and that's a very telling number.

In other cable news news, remember when Anderson Cooper was brought in to co-host Aaron Brown's show, and then Brown was shown the door? Look who's co-hosting Paula Zahn's show over on CNN. Hmmm...

Okay, the title of this post is meant as a joke; you don't really have to choose between Keith Olbermann or Bill O'Reilly. Frequent visitors to TV Squad have probably noticed, however, that the mere mention of either of those names always results in a lot of spirited debate among readers. How is it these two men wield such power over us lowly terrestrial beings? I don't know, but I offer this question to our loyal and always opinionated readers: which of these men do you prefer to watch, and why? Or, is there someone else you like to watch besides these two men?