Get It Through Your Brains, MSNBC: Hiring Unpopular Conservatives Will Always Fail For You
Sesame Street creator Jim Henson is one of the true luminous figures in American television history. The creative wonder had the common sense to center his landmark children’s show around the lovable Big Bird, before his staff and PBS discovered after his passing in 1990 that Elmo was the preferred #1 star of Sesame Street for a new generation of kids. There was never any thought that the country’s little ones would gravitate to the curmudgeon of all curmudgeons, Oscar the Grouch, as their favorite Sesame Street character. And, because of that, there was no reason whatsoever to center the iconic series — and various holiday-time coveted toys — around Oscar.
We wish powerful executives in American news television would show sagacity in catering to the public, as Henson certainly did. Instead, if it were up to NBC News bigwig and MSNBC boss Andy Lack to choose the star of Sesame Street, he probably would have no problem going with the temperamental green personality in the trash can over the cherished red wonder. Because, based on his latest array of pivotal decision-making, Lack has a preference for shoving the unpopular right down our throats.
That is firmly evident after a report from then-Huffington Post D.C. bureau chief and TYT colleague Ryan Grim indicated that Lack will give establishment right-wing no-stars (the opposite of all-stars) Nicole Wallace and Hugh Hewitt shows on MSNBC. Selecting those two for their own series rounds off a continued wave for Lack to steer MSNBC into the direction of their old pre-Iraq War days that seemed unfathomable several years ago.
Who would have thought back in 2015 that MSNBC would now be the place in which Greta van Susteren hopes to revitalize her career and where Joe Scarborough wouldn’t be the only cliched, unbearable, white conservative on its airwaves? (Mika and him heading down the marriage aisle is a whole other story for another outlet).
Lack would be one of those few who could see that happening, and one of the few who could actually make those shambolic possibilities actual realities.
The 70-year-old has been determined to make MSNBC revert to its pre-Olbermann-calling-out-the-Bush-Administration’s-lies days. Though it appeared before his return to MSNBC in 2015 that the network had thoughts of jettisoning shows such as The Cycle, Alex Wagner, Ronan Farrow, Ed Schultz, Al Sharpton and, at the time, All In With Chris Hayes, Lack made it official by getting rid of some of those shows. Lack wanted MSNBC to again become a “straight news” outlet, led by revitalizing the career of Brian Williams away from his magically invisible helicopter days.
But “straight news” is just a farcical phrase for American cable news executives like Lack to acquire, in my opinion, centrist or conservative news figures that won’t challenge powerful people and institutions haunting our news coverage and society forever. And, even worse, for the former president of Sony Music to bring in to the channel played-out,right-wing insider hacks who somehow have more TV lives than Mario & Luigi (some, like Wallace, who are his close friends) shows how much his claims of wanting more “straight news” for MSNBC are dubious at best.
It would actually make some sense for Lack to give these people shows if Wallace, Hewitt, or van Susteren were synonymous TV stars with the public like the current Debacle-in-Chief in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. But while van Susteren’s long Fox career makes her somewhat visible to casual followers of cable news politics, the other two aren’t. And, more importantly, all three are less popular than going to the dentist for a root canal or standing in line at the DMV.
Van Susteren’s ratings for MSNBC have been predictably terrible so far, as MSNBC core fans built up in the Obama years were incensed on hearing about her arrival to the network and vowed to never watch her show (and for a few, the network entirely). Wallace, whose claim to fame is trying to fetch Sarah Palin some newspapers to read for the John McCain campaign in 2008, had a much-hyped co-host gig as The View’s latest token annoying conservative, that lasted almost as short as Michael Flynn’s time in the Trump cabinet. And Hewitt is a part of that “intellectual conservative” group that are too pompous and lacking in self awareness to ever be liked by non-conservatives, yet too “smart” and mild mannered to get rabid ultra-right acolytes like the Alex Joneses, Glenn Becks, and even Sean Hannitys of the world have.
In Grim’s report, one MSNBC source told him that Lack is dismayed that Hayes, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O’Donnell are having their biggest ratings ever in this current #RESIST period. Their ratings boost again takes away his needed reason to yank Hayes off the air, as whispers had emerged before the 2016 presidential election primaries that the ex-Nation star would be replaced in the 8 pm slot.
And it has complicated Lack’s desire to end O’Donnell’s show. The former West Wing producer and writer has publicly voiced his disgust at not receiving more promotion on the network despite his new high ratings (as of the timing of this piece, O’Donnell has now stated he may leave MSNBC).
This is what happens when a TV executive makes mind-boggling choices and provides another reason for viewers to turn away from cable news. Lack had no hesitation giving Wallace and Hewitt shows despite a myriad of reasons why they shouldn’t have one, and why his bosses were so content with adding Megyn Kelly’s spurious self from Fox to usher out the actually popular anchor Tamron Hall from the TODAY show (Hall has since left NBC after her unexpected demotion for a figure like Kelly).
If ever there was a last name that truly represented someone well, it would be the Lanny Davis’ separated from birth twin that is Andy Lack (and yes, Lack and Davis look like each other). And while the Jim Hensons of our world create magic in our lives like Sesame Street, the Andy Lacks of our world give us shows that are tragic who should be titled Sensibly Weak.
Thankfully, Sesame Street’s vision was in the hands of some like Henson and not Andy Lack. Because if it were in the hands of the latter, Oscar The Grouch’s grouchiness would take star billing over Big Bird and Elmo every time.
