It appears the primetime lineup is due for a shakeup.
Thus I decided to send them some advice for their lineup. You may wish to do the same. After all, we're in the majority now and maybe they need some help attracting us.
Date: Monday, June 26, 2006 12:39 PM
To: viewerservices@msnbc.com
Subject: MSNBC primetime should include Dr. Maddow
Dear MSNBC,
I recall your ads for Tucker Calson's show, The Situation, which featured the
quote, "a show that really does deserve to be watched". (
http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/tv/reviews/12171/ )
However, we both know the praise was not intended for Mr. Carlson at all. It was
solely for Dr. Rachel Maddow. The review follows:
"Not, certainly, for Carlson, who less than two weeks into his run had already
asserted, “What bothers me is that . . . the civil-rights movement never ended .
. . White racism, while it still exists, is not the force it once was,” and
managed to sound sad and wistful about this state of affairs. No, the reason to
watch this Situation is the program’s decision to have Air America radio host
Rachel Maddow represent the left. Maddow, unlike Crossfire’s toothless hacks
Paul Begala and James Carville, actually articulates leftist, progressive,
sometimes even radical ideas. This immediately distinguishes her from everyone
else on television since Abbie Hoffman circa The Dick Cavett Show. In her
initial appearances, Maddow has made quick, cogent cases against John Bolton’s
U.N. nomination and the No Child Left Behind initiative; when Carlson suggested
that Guantánamo Bay detainees had it pretty cushy because there was now a
dentist on the premises, she scoffed fiercely, “Well, when you hold people in
captivity for life, you occasionally have to extract their teeth.”"
As it appears that MSNBC's primetime schedule is in a state of flux, I'd like to
commend you for featuring Mr. Keith Olbermann, unquestionably the best news
anchor in America today, and I expect his primetime slot to be secure. But I'd
like to respectly request that some consideration be given to featuring the
talented Dr. Maddow in primetime. Dr. Maddow's impressive but irregularly
scheduled appearances on The Situation were never featured and could not be
counted on to make it "must see TV" when people had to suffer through Mr.
Carlson just in case Dr. Maddow would be on. Plus, the only show Dr. Maddow
would be shown was aired opposite to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The
Colbert Report, both garnering the core audiences that would also appeal to Dr.
Maddow.
The audience flow from Countdown to Scarborough Country has to be one of the
worst in the history of television. Completely different audiences in the
political spectrum. I would strongly recommend that a flow from Countdown to a
show featuring Dr. Maddow would be much stronger.
Thank you for your consideration