After accusing Jon Stewart of jumping the shark on Twitter over the weekend, Keith Olbermann last night gave in to the siren call of America’s self-professed sanity restorer and announced that he would be temporarily suspending his “Worst Person in the World” segment. Here is a taste of “Worst Person,” if you’ve never had the “pleasure.”
Olbermann explained the move on his program:
Its satire and whimsy have gradually gotten lost in some anger, so in the spirit of the thing, as of right now, I am unilaterally suspending that segment with an eye towards discontinuing it. We don’t know how that works long term. We might bring it back. We might bring back something similar to it, might kill it outright, and next week we will solicit your input.
The move got us thinking: What other segments, programs, or people would you like to see “suspended” from cable news?
Bill O’Reilly’s “Pinheads and Patriots”? Maddow’s “Moments of Geek?” Wolf Blitzer?
Sharpen your axe and let us know below.
Glenn Beck's chalkboard.
#1 Posted by Plethora Thurgood, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 12:56 PM
It's not cable exactly, but "The Funnies" on ABC's This Week feel a bit 80s. If pushed for an answer on cable, those pesky segments in which O'Reilly's team chases innocent fellas like our own Mike Hoyt with a camera.
#2 Posted by Joel Meares, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 01:36 PM
He's not on cable, but Andy Rooney needs to bid farewell to television and go annoy people down at some bus stop somewhere.
#3 Posted by Justin Peters, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 02:10 PM
Bill O'Reilley's lame "ambushes" (of which our editor, Mike Hoyt, was once a victim: http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/my_oreilly_ambush.php )
#4 Posted by Curtis Brainard, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 02:40 PM
I think it's already been axed, but just in case: CNN's "Just Sayin' " segment. Remember that? http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/please_be_kidding_this_time_da.php
Also, I could do without cable segments like "Geraldo's vacation beard shaved off live" http://video.foxnews.com/v/3965207/geraldos-beard-shaved-off-live or the broadcast network version, "Kathie Lee and Hoda take off their makeup." http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/losing_face_todays_fourth_hour.php
#5 Posted by Liz Cox Barrett, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 02:41 PM
I think that even a diverse and multi-partisan media universe could do without the chirpy oversimplifications of "Fox & Friends."
#6 Posted by Lauren Kirchner, CJR on Tue 2 Nov 2010 at 02:48 PM
Who watches Olbermann anyway? He's such a fraud. So is O'reilly. So are Cooper, Maddow, The Ed Show, et al. They all perpetuate the same fraudulent idea that there is meaningful difference between dems and reps, libs and cons, and so forth. Either way, they are easily dealt with by using the POWER ON/OFF and CHANNEL UP/DOWN buttons on your remote.
#7 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Thu 4 Nov 2010 at 05:00 PM
I could do without the overt support for Democrats (MSNBC) or Republicans (FOX) on cable news. Instead of watching Walter Cronkite deliver the news with hard-hitting analysis, I'm forced to watch Glenn Beck calling Barack Obama a "nazi" and Keith Olbermann attacking Scott Brown. I couldn't imagine Cronkite or Ed Murrow doing those things.
#8 Posted by Chris Ricciardi, CJR on Fri 5 Nov 2010 at 02:19 PM