MSNBC Shuffles Lineup

Big Ed Schultz. Yeah, I'm not a fan.

I can't remember exactly when I started watching MSNBC. It was some time in George W. Bush's second term, maybe a little earlier, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann was just about the only show on television challenging the official word from the White House. The Karl Rove Alternate Reality Machine was in full swing, and the frustration from people like me was indescribable. Olbermann spoke to us, when nobody else--outside of comedy shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Real Time with Bill Maher and Saturday Night Live--would do it. So, I became a regular watcher.

By the time Countdown spawned The Rachel Maddow Show, I was really hooked, since was already a long-time fan of hers. But the problem was, this put a two-hour daily hole in my life, something that occasionally irks The Other Half. We thought we had the answer when Olbermann left MSNBC. But I quickly got hooked on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. I like O'Donnell quite a bit. But he's only appointment viewing by firtue of his time slot.

My regular routine was to set the DVR for both shows, exercise after I got home from work, and then catch up with both, sans commercials. On most days, I still finished at about 7pm. But we're getting toward the early evenings now, and I'll have to switch to the gym, rather than walking outside. I'll be home later. I was already wondering if I needed to adjust my viewing habits. And then I found out that MSNBC made the decision for me. They're switching The Last Word and The Ed Show in the lineup. I'm not a fan of Ed's. And Lawrence is now on at 8:00pm, prime time. So, except for the odd exception, I'll be down to 1 hour of cable news again. That's probably a good thing, for me (and The Other Half). I'm not sure what MSNBC is thinking, though.

[Excerpt]


MSNBC shakes up primetime

 MSNBC has reshuffled its primetime lineup, with only Rachel Maddow staying in place at 9 p.m. Ed Schultz's "The Ed Show," which was moved to 10 o'clock from 6 p.m. earlier this year, will now start at 8, with Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word" back in its original spot at 10. . .

Read more at: Variety