TVSquad

I haven't watched MSNBC since my cable company took it off the basic digital package I have, and between the bizarre Keith Olbermann/Chris Matthews feuds and stuff like the video below, I might have to upgrade. It's from yesterday, when David Shuster and Tamron Hall were interviewed by a New York reporter about a story she wrote. It gets very odd. If she couldn't hear them, how did she answer so quickly? And if she was reading the screen and answering some questions, why not answer the others?

[via TV Newser]

What was the top TV story of the year? The choice was obvious to all of us, and probably all of you, too: The election. The 2008 race for the White House was not only historic, it was dramatic and played out more on TV with recognizable star personas than any election in recent memory.

And like a great TV show, it was a season-long run of highs and lows, tension and release, defeat and victory. Along the way, Americans made a choice about who will run the country for the next four years, but they were also entertained by a near constant barrage of media coverage in the form of maximum cable news, thousands of commercials, daily political commentary both serious and comic, a plethora of debates, and -- naturally -- Saturday Night Live's take on it all.

It all started about a year ago in the cold of Iowa and New Hampshire...

As this election season turns into the home stretch, whether you're for McCain or Obama, this is a very exciting time in politics -- and I find myself really missing Tim Russert quite a lot. This point was really driven home for me when I watched Tim Russert's show Meet the Press last week. Tom Brokaw has been a really good anchorman and reporter, but -- I'm sorry -- he's not a good moderator. He's just not. He doesn't get involved in the questioning enough. He doesn't ask the penetrating questions. He doesn't do his homework like Russert did to be right on top of the facts and catch politicians spinning rather than speaking the truth.

Like I said, Brokaw is not in his element with Meet the Press. Fortunately, he's only doing MTP until after the election. I give him credit for stepping in when Russert died unexpectedly and there was a network crisis. However, looking to the future, NBC needs to find the right person to take the big chair. NBC News chief Steve Capus is reportedly thinking about a rotation of hosts, including Chuck Todd (NBC's political director) and David Gregory (host of Road to the White House, MSNBC).

This is no laughing matter. John Gilmore, executive director of Autism United, said today that CBS must apologize for an insensitive remark made on the Julie Chen-hosted reality show Big Brother during last week's episode. One of the contestants, a man named Adam, said that if he was the show's big winner, he would use the money to start a hair salon for people with developmental disabilities. Adam went on to say he wanted a beauty shop "so retards can get it together and get their hair done." When Sheila, another contestant, protested, "Don't call them that," Adam declared that, "Disabled kids. I can call them whatever I want. I work with them all day, okay?"

According to CBS's Big Brother web site, Adam is a public relations manager for an unnamed foundation. The 29-year-old is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, but is now living in Delray Beach, Florida.

We told you about David Shuster being suspended from MSNBC (he returns next week) for saying that it seems like Chelsea Clinton is being "pimped out" because she's making phone calls and appearances on her mother's behalf. Now the network's rivals are saying they're on Shuster's side.

I have to say I agree that Shuster's suspension was silly. The guy apologized (twice, at least, and so did the execs at MSNBC) so it should have stayed at that. Was the remark inappropriate? Probably, but not because it's "offensive." It was inappropriate because it didn't make any sense. Maybe if Chelsea Clinton was still 11 years old there could be a case made that she was being used by a campaign, but she's a grown woman who was just working as any grown woman works in the campaign. Would Shuster have said this about another woman in Hillary's camp? I doubt it. Check out what CNN has to say here, and what Fox News has to say after the jump.

MSNBC correspondent and anchor David Shuster finds himself in not one but two controversies today.

First, while filling in for Tucker Carlson yesterday, Shuster made the comment "Doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" referring to Chelsea Clinton's campaigning for her mother Hillary and making phone calls to superdelegates and The View. Well, Democratic officials (and MSNBC execs) aren't happy with the remark, and have threatened to pull out of the February 26 MSNBC debate. Shuster apologized this morning and also plans to go back on Carlson's show today to apologize again. (Update: Shuster has been suspended for his comment!)

But that's not the only controversy Shuster is in the middle of this week...