For a brief period over five years....I got attracted to "Meet the Press"....the Sunday morning political chat show. That came to an end in 2008....as Tim Russert passed on. I can basically say....that Russert's version of political chat kinda carved up on both Republicans and Democrats. It was one of the few shows that put both groups into a serious discussion of topics.
After Russert came Tom Brokaw.....and it only took one episode to get me disconnected from the series. I didn't see Tom as some real journalist.....he was more of a pretender, whose job was to make Democrats look better than Republicans.
Tom's period lasted only as long as the battle took place and a real replacement came on the air.....David Gregory. I've watched bits and pieces of Gregory's version of the show. Once in a while, he stages a fine piece of political commentary....then you run into one entire show that is developed as a one-sided argument on a topic.
The numbers of Meet the Press over the past five years? Dismal. The network isn't making any real revenue off the show. The bosses have decided to let David Gregory go.
The replacement battle? Chuck Todd (the NBC White House guy) and CNBC's dynamic duo of Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough (Morning Joe Show).
It's more of a race of who brings the show further down.....rather than revives the show.
I can't say much for Chuck Todd.....except I think you'd just get David Gregory version 2.0. Whatever weaknesses were developed into the show.....Chuck would simply carry them on, and ensure nothing much changes (my humble opinion).
Brzezinksi and Scarborough? If they used their normal morning format....it'd be more of a news of the morning and rapid laying of facts on the table....then move on. Intense political discussion? No. That's not their standard.
Brzezinksi leans more to the left, but is active on discussions and asks some tough questions at times. Joe Scarborough? He's a pretend-to-be-Republican, who runs through news at a rapid pace.
I'm not sure the show would improve much with either choice here. To be honest....over the past decade....folks have become inundated with political chat.....and tiring of it. It's like NFL football chatter.....we've all gotten tired of five guys sitting there and talking over the Giant's quarterback situation, the rebuilding of the Dolphins for the sixth time in ten years, and the what-if scenario of Green Bay versus so-and-so on a minus-4 temperature day, and snow falling in the Green Bay stadium.
Personally, I'd like to see NBC hire up three unknown barbers from Iowa.....just let them chat for thirty minutes on national topics, and let the show develop from that point on. Maybe bring on a guest barber from Alabama occasionally to shake things up......perhaps even hire up some Mexican barber to show up and talk over economics.
On the positive side.....at least there's plenty of stuff on the Cartoon Network to watch....if Meet the Press really screws up.
