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August 26, 2007

Update: Olbermann does 'Countdown' on NBC

11:12 p.m.
Not one of Keith's better Countdowns. There is no real news on Sundays, which removes the impact of the top stories. The Oddball stuff was a montage of reruns of YouTube-y funny moments from past shows. And the snarky similarity of satirist Mo Rocca and Joel McHale of E! Online's Talk Soup, each given a segment, was fluff overkill. The other guest was perennial Newsweek buddy Howard Fineman.

Doesn't Keith know any smart women willing to pull a Sunday shift?

Somehow, the show got stupider when it went to the network. It made me wish he'd pull feisty veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas out of the hat for some plain speaking and badly needed gravitas.

I was recording the game, and people dropped in, and somehow the recording stopped, so I missed Keith's commentary on Michael Vick and caught only the end of the half-time patter. It's preseason for me, too...

Later: KO on NBC: Let's play softball.

9:31 a.m.

NYT
Keith Olbermann, host of MSNBC's Countdown, in his office.

NBC calling up "Countdown" for Sunday. Reuters. Keith Olbermann will do a special edition of Countdown, his MSNBC mix of news, humor and political commentary, at 7 p.m. tonight on NBC before Sunday Night Football.

He will have a key role with Costas and Collinsworth, Tiki Barber and Jerome Bettis on this season's "SNF" pregame show. Sunday's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't have too much of a pregame, but Olbermann will deliver a commentary during halftime. The topic? Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who this week said he will plead guilty to dogfighting and gambling charges.

Olbermann offered this commentary teaser: "Essentially, if you dislike or hate Michael Vick or what he's done, your hope should be that the National Football League punishment is minimal. It's kind of a counterintuitive position."

Olbermann will be part of several segments on the regular-season pregame show, including doing with Costas what he said was a highlights rundown like those he used to do on ESPN's "SportsCenter" in the 1990s. He'll also have a "Countdown"-like segment at show's end and, borrowing another feature from his MSNBC program, he'll nominate a "Worst Person in the NFL."

The lead of this story, which I skipped, was all about Keith trying to play down what looks like a tryout against 60 Minutes. Countdown is an edgy TV newsblog that combines the day's top stories, YouTube videos and Edward R. Murrow-style commentaries. His beat is those who would thwart democracy in America, especially President Bush and Fox News, whose bias he sees embodied in his timeslot rival Bill O'Reilly.

Some say it's folly to have the Progressive blogger lead into the famously conservative NFL production, but football fans come from all sides. Olbermann's "smart news" should get viewers fired up, one way or the other, for the big game that follows -- especially since former sportscaster Olbermann will do highlights on that show, too.

olbermann.org -- Archives his clips and other output.

Keith Olbermann Org (KO.O.) -- Forums.

Olbermann Watch -- Conservative lividity

Posted by Sheila Lennon  at 11:12 PM | Permalink