Countdown with Keith Olbermann Returns Monday

Image from source, NY Times

I didn't miss Keith Olbermann nearly as much as I thought I would. As the article excerpted below states, he sort of paved the way for his own departure by cultivating talent--Lawrence O'Donnell and Rachel Maddow--that softened the blow so well, we hardly noticed. After a couple of weeks, I got used to "the new guy," and Olbermann became a memory. And while he's coming back on Monday (Countdown with Keith Olbermann returns Monday, June 20 at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific), I won't get to see it happen. Cox Cable in Las Vegas does not carry the Al Gore/Joel Hyatt liberal experiment, Current TV on its roster. I've been pestering them to carry it, to no avail.

So, I'll have to wait for online video excerpts and second-hand reviews. It will be interesting to see a less-fettered Olbermann, freed from the constraints of corporate media. It could be a train wreck, a total id-fest, the anti-Glenn Beck. That would be interesting. But Olbermann also has a stake in the success of the revamped Current, and thus needs some tremendous buzz. Negative buzz would still be buzz, but I'm betting that's not what he wants. Oh sure, if right-wing world has a snit-fit about the show and channel, that would make him very happy. But he's also going to need the left entirely or mostly on his side. Time will tell. I'll be watching as best I can.

[Excerpt]

America’s Favorite Talking Hothead

Keith Olbermann likes looking into a camera. The return of its gaze animates him and reminds him that he has a million friends on the other side of it. But he doesn’t picture those people. He talks directly to the camera. “I’ve never been convinced the cameras are plugged into anything,” he said. . .

Read more at: New York Times