you are younger than 16), but back in the day, the mid-90s
I think, the best show on television wasn't Friends or Seinfeld,
but the 11 PM edition of ESPN's Sportcenter with Keith Olbermann
and Dan Patrick. They were utterly hilarious and had terrific
chemistry. Lets say their chemistry was better than that of
Joe Theismann and Tony Kornheiser by a factor of about three
hundred million. So it was a tragic, tragic day when Olbermann
left ESPN for his own show on MSNBC.
For a few years, when I would happen to catch Olbermann's show,
the material would be something trivial a la the newscasts on
the Simpsons or Anchorman, "And today's #3 story on our countdown,
the bear who was not happy with his color prints!!!" And this was
just salt in the wound. Why, Keith, why did you leave ESPN?
I looked up to you Keith. Why??
I dunno what the turning point was, or what snapped, or what
progressive masterfully pulled off a little Manchurian Candidate
magic with Keith, but today he's become the most pointed and
unapologetic critic on TV of the disastrous policies of the Bush
administration. So y'know what, Keith? I'm happy for
you. I'm OK. I forgive you. I think you're doing great work.
I know you still have, like, 1/5th the audience of that pompous
conservative windbaw O'Reilly (who does takes a good stance on
civil liberties in about 1 show out of 10; more than I can say
for Limbaugh, et. al.), but don't let that get you down. As
William Lloyd Garrison once said, "The success of any great moral
enterprise does not depend upon numbers." Keep it up.
If you're out of the loop on this turn of events, check out
Olbermann's 10 minute commentary on the Fox interview of Bill
Clinton. Its really fantastic stuff-- and the most well
constructed, intelligent, cogent, and needed political
critique on television since Murrow. {aside.. so, if the
medium of TV delivers on this every 50 years or so, is it really
worth it? I think I just answered my own question, but Olbermann's
commentaries are still better than anything I've heard on
Air America thus far}.
Olbermann Responds to the Clinton Fox Interview
If you missed it, I am sad for you. Hopefully they'll come out
with a 'greatest hits' DVD one day.
