TVSquad

If you're a political junkie -- guilty -- you're likely looking forward to the upcoming conventions. Just the prospect of an election with no incumbent running sets 2008 up as an exciting election, and with only 24% of the country believing that America is going in the right direction, this is definitely a time for change.

NBC News is opting to insert an element of change in its convention coverage. The network announced today that the late Tim Russert's son, Luke, has been hired by NBC News and will be put on his father's beat, politics.

Luke Russert's first assignment is Decision 2008, where he will be correspondent-at-large at both the Democratic and Republican conventions. While this hiring smacks of nepotism -- or allegiance to the memory of Tim -- Luke is not without some journalistic skills. He's a Boston College graduate, majoring in History and Communications, and has been co-hosting a sports talk show on XM Satellite Radio. He shares the microphone for that program, 60/20 Sports, with political analyst James Carville.

The unexpected death of Tim Russert two weeks ago prompted numerous tributes and memorials from NBC and MSNBC, but because Russert was a news personality, they really couldn't re-air Meet the Press episodes or the night of the 2000 election to really show Tim Russert's substantive work.

The death of comedian George Carlin on Sunday was just as shocking -- and also attributed to a heart ailment -- but for Mr. Carlin there are many hours of his work available and relevant to rebroadcast. It'll give audiences a chance to re-appreciate his unique brand of comedy. In his long tenure with HBO, George starred in 14 comedy specials. Now, you'll be able to see a few of them one more time.

HBO is presenting a series of encore presentations, including his last concert, George Carlin: It's Bad for You, on Friday, June 27, at 9 o'clock (ET) on HBO (the main channel). The show debuted in March. But that's not all.

I'd like to begin this week's offering by adding my thoughts on the untimely death of Tim Russert. I didn't know him personally, so anything I could say about the man would pale in comparison to all the nice things his friends and co-workers have already said.

What I will say is that the irony of Russert dying on Father's Day weekend so soon after writing his book, Big Russ and Me (which chronicled his life with his father as well as his son Luke), is so thick that twenty years from now, it will be hard to believe that it happened the way that it did.

As a guy who rarely watches the news and gets most of my information from The Daily Show, I appreciated Russert's informative and entertaining style of reporting.

There's been speculation about who will replace Tim Russert on NBC's Meet the Press. David Gregory, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Katie Couric were a few of the rumored possibilities. Jovie Baclayon of E! Online reports that Tom Brokaw will be temporarily replacing the tragically-lost news anchor. NBC announced today that the former Nightly News anchor and South Dakota native would take over moderating responsibilities on Sunday mornings. He will guide discussions through the November presidential elections.

Steve Capus, NBC News President, made this statement about Brokaw's decision to step in: "To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers."

After 21 years helming the program, Tom Brokaw retired from NBC Nightly News in 2004.

Tim Russert died of a heart attack last week on June 13th. He was 58.

[via Yahoo TV]

"Baracknophobia": The mainstream media likes to blame the blogosphere and Grandma's e-mail forwards for spreading ridiculous rumors about Barack Obama. I guess they've forgotten all that "Barack Obama is a secret Muslim" stuff that they've been spitting for the past year or so. And no, Obama wasn't sworn in with a Qur'an. Michelle Obama has been getting noise from the media for sounding mean too. I'll admit, it was kind of a sick burn when she made Stephen Colbert sing to her only to tell him that Obama's voice is better. I thought that clip of Fox News accusing Obama of plagiarizing Mario Cuomo was too ridiculous to be true, so I decided to dig up some footage that hadn't been cut up by TDS. Nope, still ridiculous.

I'm sure a lot of you were scratching your heads over the weekend, wondering how Tim Russert's passing merited the all-encompassing, presidential-like coverage it got, especially on his home network of NBC. He's only a reporter, right? Why the wall-to-wall coverage? Well, first of all, it seems that by all accounts, Russert was one of the most well-liked people in the news business, so the outpouring might have been a function of people mourning a friend who was taken from them too soon. But, I have another, more off-beat theory as to why NBC did a broadcast version of sitting shiva for Russert: it was because they have no idea how to replace him.

Think about it: he wasn't only the longtime moderator of Meet The Press, where he took the venerable show and rejiggered its format, making him the face of the show. He was also NBC News' Washington bureau chief and the main political voice for the network. "It's going to take four or five people to replace Tim," CBS' Bob Schieffer told The New York Times.

For now, though, the immediate question is who will replace him on Meet The Press. Speculation is already underway.

It wasn't April 1st so it couldn't be April Fool's Day. It was March 1st. Still, there she was, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton saying those famous words, "Live from New York, It's Saturday Night Live."

In an unannounced and potentially savvy political move, Senator Hillary Clinton, appeared on the NBC late night comedy and showed that she can laugh at herself. This surprise appearance, coupled with her agreeing to be on Monday's Daily Show with Jon Stewart, can only help her in Tuesday's primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. It's pretty much desperation time for the Clinton candidacy and if Hillary wants to make it to the Denver convention with a chance to beat Barack Obama, she must win Texas and Ohio -- the big states -- decisively.