I don’t know if it will work, but MSNBC replaced The Ed Show, a firebrand with a working-man agenda, with quite possibly the most cerebral show on weeknight TV. I hope it work, because I love it, but is there space for what is essentially a Sunday morning political talk show, five nights a week in prime time. Can having a panel of intelligent people on both sides of an issue discuss it without yelling at yeah other (so far)?
Finally caught some tonight! Loved what I saw.
Man, I sure loved Ed. I know he’s not exactly high brow but I don’t care. He was a guilty pleasure of mine.
I begrudgingly watched Chris’ show last Wednesday, I was pleasantly surprised. I like how he was able to break stuff down into easily digestible pieces. I intend to keep watching when I can.
Chris is great; I hope he can keep this show rolling.
Ed moved to weekends. Last I heard, between his radio show and the weeknight TV show he was away from home so much, and then his wife had a health (cancer?) scare, and he started rethinking his priorities. So I don’t blame his decision.
I keep forgetting that it’s on, though to be fair I haven’t made MSNBC at 8 PM appointment viewing since Keith left. I did watch Up quite a bit, so I’m wondering if the format works better in a 1 hr show. Up started out great but it seems like in the last few months there were a lot more commercial breaks than there were in, say, 2011.
Note, typo in the title - it’s Hayes.
I’m a big fan of Chris Hayes. Got to meet him last summer and he was incredibly nice. He’s also a regular listener of a particular podcast that I’m a fan of that has a very strong fan-community and he’s definitely “one of us.” When he inscribed my book for me, he included some in-joke references after I told him I was a fellow Ten*
*What fans of the podcast call ourselves. Any Tens here?
I couldn’t stand Ed. I agreed with everything he said, but I didn’t need it over and over agan, repeated endlessly. I love Chris Hayes–smart, thorough, open-minded, nuanced, everything in short that Ed was not. And five nights a week, too.
Asked the Mods to change it. Thanks.
Chris Hayes followed by Rachel Maddow is two hours of very smart, very nice people five nights a week. I enjoy Lawrence O’Donnell, but he’s more in the Ed mold.
ETA: Fixed. Thanks Mods.
I don’t have time to watch both Chris Hayes AND Rachel Maddow on a given night, but for the life of me I can’t choose which to watch now. Maybe I’ll have to alternate.
Chris’ panels are really interesting, unlike most of Rachel’s interviews, which are usually a bit dull and one-sided (not to mention the endless politicians she has on the show, who never add anything of substance on top of their talking points). On the other hand, Rachel is the better storyteller, and her solo reporting is excellent. What to do, what to do…
Rachel’s first segment (or “A Block”) is usually the most interesting. She rarely has a guest in that segment, and it’s just a eight to ten minute block of her wonderful writing and insight.
So yeah. Rachel? Better host. Chris? Better guests.
I agree with you about Rachel. Her sense of humor though is really bad. Almost every time she tries to be funny, I almost always have to do a face palm.
Wha?? He took over from Sorkin on TWW after running the sadly short-lived and little-remembered* Mr. Sterling*; and he knows the arcane intricacies of the U.S. Senate like few humans alive. I consider him every bit as intellectual as the other two.
I liked Ed well enough, would love to share a beer with him and just talk, but he comes across as almost condescending to his viewers, and the loaded questions do not help at all. “We asked you earlier, do you think Republicans eat babies. 98% of you said yes, 2% of you said no.”
Really like Chris Hayes, and LOVE LOVE LOVE Rachel Maddow.
Lawrence O’Donnell is hit or miss, but his interview with Asa Hutchinson was a pleasant surprise. Asa’s shitty little smirk when he refused to answer the questions that were very fair (even if somewhat baiting) made me want to smack the tv though.
She makes better drinks too.
I’m watching right now. I’ve been a fan of Up for a while.
I heard an interview with him on NPR the other day, talking about his interview style. Good stuff - how he tries to keep things flowing, how he tells his guests to talk to each other so it doesn’t all run through him, etc.
Just a shame he didn’t bring the pastry plate with him.
That reminds me. I would watch Up for the political discussion and my fiancee would watch it to see if anyone actually ever ate any of those pastries. So, did anyone ever eat any of those pastries?
I remember a few weeks ago, someone actually ate one of the pastries.
I didn’t mean to be too harsh on Lawrence. On Senate matters, nobody can touch him. But he lacks Rachel and Chris’ gift for interviewing.
+1 on this. MSNBC has a very solid ‘primetime’ lineup now with Hayes, Maddow and O’Donnell. I find all three of them quite intelligent, each with their own individual ‘specialties’. I actually find Lawrence O’Donnell to be the funniest of them all, in a very dry, cerebral sort of way. Chris Hayes, with the quality and diversity of his guests, is able to un-pack and examine specific issues/stories with a depth unmatched anywhere else on cable news. And Rachel, Rachel is just awesome. Period.
Okay, fair enough, gaffa. 
The AV Club says Hayes is too nice for the job and the result is too much incomprehensible crosstalk. Also that they need to be less of an echo chamber when booking the panel guests.
So far it looks like he will usually lead with a story that is lucky to be thrown in at the end of all the other primetime shows or even buried all together. If this show is succesful that could be extremely helpful.