He Who Laughs Last?

Comment by Μαχομαι

	From: maxomai	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:06 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

Either he's a thorn in the side of management .. in which case his next gig will be short .. or Comcast is intent on dismantling MSNBC's liberal line up .. in which case we'll see the rest of them go away over the rest of this year.

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	From: acelightning	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:17 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

I haven't watched television since early 2005. But I don't think Olbermann is going to be out of the public eye for very long, and I think he's going to be okay. For one thing, I suspect he was smart enough to put money away while he could. For another, there's probably a book deal in the works - isn't there always? And other media must be tripping over each other trying to get dibs on Keith Fucking Olbermann. (Shitfire, he might even wind up in some form of media that I follow.)

Meanwhile, I hope he's down at the local unemployment office bright and early Monday morning, signing up for the payments that are his by right.

Edited at 2011-01-22 06:21 pm (UTC)

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	From: serai1	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:55 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

For one thing, I suspect he was smart enough to put money away while he could.

Considering that his last contract with MSNBC brought him $30M, I'd say he'll be fine.

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	From: jblaque	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:00 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

I was just about to mention the $30M. Good for him! :)

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	From: maxomai	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:00 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

I'd be stunned if this exit wasn't carefully negotiated, with Keith getting the rest of the $28M he was owed on his contract. But, that same contract almost assuredly means that we'll never know the details.

Word is that he'll have an online presence soon.

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	From: tantra_cat	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:19 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

It sucks...and I am outraged. We need him now more than ever. But I see the right continuing to take over news outlets to push their corportist agenda. Keith was the highest rated show on MSNBC, which made it the most profitable for them...and they killed it to appease their corporate overlords.

It does not bode well for us...

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	From: sandman008	Date: January 24th, 2011 12:15 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

Business as usual. Just ask Phil Donahue.

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	From: kierthos	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:25 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

And of course, ol' rubber hammer is crowing about it.

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	From: jblaque	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:13 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)
	See The Title Of This Post

*chuckle*

I don't imagine that the crowing is going to last very long, i.e. I'd be surprised if Keith doesn't land a pretty high profile gig within the next 30 days... possibly bigger than MSNBC, too. Then it'll be Mallet and his ilk eating crow instead of squawking like one. :)

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	From: glenmarshall	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:25 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

While we don't know the particulars, I suspect we may find a boogieman somewhere.

I certainly hope Keith shows-up elsewhere in a spot where he can give the right wingnuts hemorrhoids.

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	From: serai1	Date: January 22nd, 2011 06:56 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

He'd be perfect for an HBO show.

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	From: languagevirus	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:00 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

Maybe he'll be Regis' replacement?!

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	From: jblaque	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:14 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

... if not Larry King's. :)

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	From: vp19	Date: January 22nd, 2011 07:26 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

Wouldn't mind that -- "LIVE! with Keith and Kelly" does have a nice ring to it -- but I sense ABC (which owns part of the series, I think) might believe he's perceived as too much of an ideological firebrand to work on a genial morning show, even though his puckish sense of humor isn't that much different from Regis Philbin's.

Hope to see him in something soon. My mom, who's 90, is a big fan of his and is ticked off.

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	From: sabrarosa	Date: January 22nd, 2011 08:17 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

I'm holding a big grudge against him for a couple of things so I'm not exactly crying about his leaving. I'm sure he'll be just fine. Maybe now we can get some women of color up in MSNBC's hallowed "liberal" line up.

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	From: dwer	Date: January 22nd, 2011 08:45 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

he'll be back, somewhere, and better than ever. He was struggling with a lot of things, not the least of which was the death of his father.

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	From: nova_42	Date: January 22nd, 2011 10:08 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

His own political talk show

this!!

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	From: prader	Date: January 23rd, 2011 12:11 am (UTC)		(Permalink)

My reaction? Don't particularly care.

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	From: navytron89	Date: January 23rd, 2011 01:25 am (UTC)		(Permalink)
	Olbermann's departure

I was expecting it due to the assholes of Comcast who've ties to that shite stain Rupert Murdoch(and Fox Propaganda Network). They were looking for an excuse to can him. So he quit before he could be fired and get railroaded out of his career. This way he leaves on a high note of surprise and professionalism, before Comcast can move his slot to some ungodly hour and get his rating dropped.

I'm expecting Rachel Maddow may abandon ship as well. She'd got her "lesbian" factor going to keep her career solid. If they fire her without just cause it's an EEO incident and would put millions in her pocket with the court case. Plus, it would be the whole Margret Cho "GAY" Army deciding to shun Comcast or cause them unending grief as she leaves.

I expect Olbermann to be back quickly, as soon as his contract stipulations are met. He's going to probably do a duck and cover for a while. If the White House was smart they'd hire him right now to be the Head of the Media Operations. It would be one hell of a surprise and give both Comcast and MSNBC a major black eye. Plus, it would give Rachel Maddow, even better access to the White House and force NBC to admit they shouldn't have put him out by joining with Comcast.

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	From: def_fr0g_42	Date: January 23rd, 2011 03:04 am (UTC)		(Permalink)

I can't speculate on why his contract wasn't renewed, but I do know from my former life in broadcasting that you'd need a REALLY good reason to not keep the guy delivering yr highest ratings. And for all we know, it may have been KO's decision to leave MSNBC.

Personally I don't like him – he comes across to me as a self-important stuffed shirt trying to posture as the modern Ed Murrow when I suspect Murrow himself wouldn't approve of KO's schtick.

Also, while I'll give him credit for pushing MSNBC in a direction to serve as an antithesis to Fox, I'm not convinced that fighting obvious conservative bias with obvious liberal bias was a good thing overall.

Either way, he'll most certainly be back, and I think yr right, it'll likely be as a political talk show host. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up.

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	From: guinnevere_b	Date: January 23rd, 2011 04:07 am (UTC)		(Permalink)

Ever since that whole idiocy wherein "MSNBC is shocked...shocked! that Keith Olberman donated money privately to a political election fund! He's fired!...Well, okay, he's not fired, please would his fans stop harassing us." I've sort of expected the network (fat)heads would wait until the heat wore off and then "encourage" him to leave quietly.

I don't watch any TV shows on a regular basis, and Keith (I love how tough his initials "KO" make him sound) is sometimes a little too vehement for me, but I love the way he tells off the iniquitous in stern yet civil fashion. I'll miss getting the occasional link to an especially juicy scold he has given, but I agree with the majority of commentators here: he's had a very tough year, that included the painful death of his beloved father, but I think he will be back, and stronger than ever!

I hope he sees fit to invite Helen Thomas to be a guest on any show he might host, because she's being persecuted unjustly by the Israeli Lobby thugs, and the MSM are bullying a little old lady they now perceive as "weak" (the cowards). It would be great to see both KO and Helen turn the tables on all the lousy bullies.

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	From: m_fallenangel	Date: January 23rd, 2011 04:37 pm (UTC)		(Permalink)

I loathe him for the same reason I loathe Beck: They're dogmatic idiots and liars who weaken the quality of public debate. They excoriate their opponents while downplaying or outright ignoring the exact same transgressions and policy failures on their own side.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

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