Rachel Maddow to Replace Dan Abrams on MSNBC: Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the long-time host –- and one-time general manager of the network — Dan Abrams from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has [...]

Rachel Maddow to Replace Dan Abrams on MSNBC:

Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the long-time host –- and one-time general manager of the network — Dan Abrams from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has emerged as a favored political commentator for the all-news cable channel.

The moves, which were confirmed by MSNBC executives Tuesday, are expected to be finalized by Wednesday, with Mr. Abrams’s last program on Thursday. After MSNBC’s extensive coverage of the two political conventions during the next two weeks, Ms. Maddow will begin her program on Sept. 8.

What can I say? I already mentioned how Rachel Maddow is tops in my book (with Keith Olbermann a very close second) so this for me is terrific news.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0xxU] I love this, but as Christian Finnegan said on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” last night, “You know, I really love the political far left; if only they could be a bit more smug.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQJ9Xp0xxU]

I love this, but as Christian Finnegan said on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” last night, “You know, I really love the political far left; if only they could be a bit more smug.”

If you: Have a hacked DirecTiVo (or hacked standalone TiVo), Use TivoWebPlus to manage recordings, Have a Season Pass for Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and Are annoyed at having to manually delete the rebroadcast showings of Countdown–especially now that there are two rebroadcasts every night–because the rebroadcasts are not properly marked as “repeats”, You can [...]

If you:

• Have a hacked DirecTiVo (or hacked standalone TiVo),
• Use TivoWebPlus to manage recordings,
• Have a Season Pass for Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and
• Are annoyed at having to manually delete the rebroadcast showings of Countdown–especially now that there are two rebroadcasts every night–because the rebroadcasts are not properly marked as “repeats”,

You can add a filter (called a Blocking Pattern) to the Todo List which will automatically cancel recording the rebroadcasts. Here’s how:

• In TivoWebPlus, go to the /todo page and then click the “Title Blocklists and Blocking Patterns” link (/gbl_edit).
• In the right pane, add “Countdown+!17″ — that means “don’t record anything named ‘Countdown’ if it doesn’t start at 5:00 pm”. Readers in time zones other than Pacific should alter the time accordingly, e.g. “Countdown+!20″ for Eastern time.
• Click “Save Changes” and you’re done.

I hope this helps someone. I’m very pleased to no longer have to manually delete the rebroadcasts from my Playlist and Todo list.

McCain Seals GOP Nod As Romney Suspends: John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. ‘I must now stand aside, for our party and our country,’ Romney told conservatives. I’m totally looking forward to this afternoon, when Rachel Maddow (Air America Radio) and [...]

McCain Seals GOP Nod As Romney Suspends:

John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. ‘I must now stand aside, for our party and our country,’ Romney told conservatives.

I’m totally looking forward to this afternoon, when Rachel Maddow (Air America Radio) and Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) will crow about Mittens dropping out after his miserable performance on Tuesday. And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Olbermann the New Ed Murrow? — The Nation, 2007-09-20 The launch of Katie Couric a year ago as the anchor of the CBS Evening News was hailed by CBS as the biggest thing in news since, well, the invention of denture fixative commercials. It was also the biggest flop. The CBS Evening News Without Dan [...]

Olbermann the New Ed Murrow? — The Nation, 2007-09-20

The launch of Katie Couric a year ago as the anchor of the CBS Evening News was hailed by CBS as the biggest thing in news since, well, the invention of denture fixative commercials. It was also the biggest flop. The CBS Evening News Without Dan Rather or Bob Schieffer had its lowest ratings since Nielsen began tracking evening news shows in 1987.
…
In short, what CBS (and all the others) need is a new Ed Murrow. Good news! There’s already one out there on the launchpad who has demonstrated his qualifications. I’m talking about Keith Olbermann of MSNBC. He has the journalistic chops and the mind, heart, instincts and courage.

We TiVo and watch Countdown every night. The chiron and graphics are a little obnoxious at first, but they fade into the background very quickly.

I’m not old enough to remember Edward R. Murrow, but based on what I’ve read, clips of Murrow’s broadcasts and of course Good Night, and Good Luck I would have to say that Olbermann is Murrow’s obvious successor.