This Sunday marks Chuck Todd’s one-month anniversary in the anchor chair at Meet the Press. Despite an opening-week ratings spike from his exclusive sit-down interview with President Obama, the Todd-helmed show has settled back into third place behind ABC's This Week and CBS's Face the Nation. This has been frustrating to NBC News executives, who at one point had considered going in a radically different direction with the show.
Before choosing Todd, NBC News president Deborah Turness held negotiations with Jon Stewart about hosting Meet the Press, according to three senior television sources with knowledge of the talks. One source explained that NBC was prepared to offer Stewart virtually “anything" to bring him over. "They were ready to back the Brink's truck up," the source said. A spokesperson for NBC declined to comment. James Dixon, Stewart's agent, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Okay now I am just depressed.
Could you even imagine how much better MTP would be with Stewart at the helm?
He is quick witted, a great interviewer, passionate about politics, and perhaps most importantly, he is NOT fucking boring!
Look maybe NBC could offer him more money, or offer him unlimited creative control, or allow him to bring some of his staff with him, or perhaps an NBC executives first born child, anything just make it happen!
Ah, who am I kidding?
Stewart makes great money where he is, he doesn't have to worry about offending people getting ready for church on a Sunday morning, and he doesn't have to listen to Joe "What intern" Scarborough pontificate about politics and current events.
I don't blame him for not wanting the job.
I blame NBC for not kissing his ass harder and with more passion.
First off, Gryph, thanks for honoring people who share a link by making it a main post at your discretion. I'm not the OP but all of us here keep each other informed, it's a great place to be. Hats off to you, IMers!
ReplyDeleteOnto Jon. What made NBC think that he would ever moderate MTP? He would be censored for what he really wanted to say, and I personally love his bleeped out words. He speaks for many of us as to the audacity of politics and our world today.
Because CBS lured Colbert away to Late Night, they thought they had a chance? John is just fine where he is. I would LOVE it if he mentioned it on The Daily Show. He skewers networks all the time.
Exactly. MTP wants Stewart PRECISELY BECAUSE he is telling too much news where he is. Their purpose is to shut him up, by hiring him for MTP, complete with all the MTP rules. Same reason they wanted to (and did) hire Colbert away (from his show): Colbert told the news so straight it made the PTB (powers-that-be) quake in their boots.
DeleteI agree with this. Stewart if far more valuable in his current show than on MTP.
DeleteInteresting conspiracy theory..I never considered that. However, one thing that I think might be a legit reason for wanting him...look at how edgy and creative and eccentric the tonight show etc have all become...maybe they want to have MTP be edgier too...to attract younger people....?
DeleteChuck Todd Reacts To Report Jon Stewart Turned Down His Job
ReplyDeletehttp://deadline.com/2014/10/jon-stewart-meet-the-press-chuck-todd-reaction-848313/
Oh....if we could clone Stewart, Colbert, Oliver and Maddow....
ReplyDeleteOthers have tried to mimic them, though!! Sometimes the brilliance can not be duplicated. Sad.
Pat Padrnos
Stewart would be so muzzled at NBC it would not work. Smart man - he turned it down. Just as I am glad RM is not the host -- she is far more effective where she is being able to do more in depth analysis
ReplyDeleteI think Colbert will fail at CBS since his "character" and uncensored irreverence is what makes him funny now. The constraints of a talk show will doom him to fail. \
Perhaps you've never seen Colbert as himself. He's extremely quick-witted, and comes across as a genuinely nice guy. He'll do well on CBS, I guarantee it!
DeleteColbert is a legit song and dance man. He's going to reinvent late night & variety shows. He will excel in this new format which he will design.
DeleteColbert is no dummy. He will do well.
DeleteStephen Colbert will be fine. The conservative pundit character he plays on The Colbert Report may make appearances on his new show, but that's all.
DeleteColbert is smart, witty, can sing and dance and most of all, laugh at himself.
Jon Stewart is the Eexcutive Producer of his and Colbert's show and makes a shit ton of money. Like…$25 million a year, I think? I doubt they were willing to match that money. They were probably just putting out feelers to see how people would react or the head of news department probably just wants to save face and make it seem like OF COURSE they knew Chuck Todd would be all wrong in order to make seem like he/she doesn't have his/her head up his/her ass.
ReplyDeleteI actually think he could have done both the Daily Show and MTP.
DeleteOr better yet he and Colbert could have taken turns with each other. One hosting one Sunday, one hosting the next.
Look anything would be better than being stuck with Chuck Todd. You know except David Gregory.
Speaking of TV personalities grrrrrr Gryphen you ruined it for me with Andrea Mitchell when you said you can't stand how she takes these big breathing breaths when she's speaking. I never noticed it before but now it's totally annoying! I can barely watch her anymore unless it's something super duper interesting to me.
DeleteI actually think he could have done both the Daily Show and MTP.
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I do too. I also think it would have brought those disenfranchised people back into caring about what happens in politics. We are losing voters again to bitter apathy. He would have brought fresh air, much like Obama did, to that tired old show. Who watches it any more, other than McCain or his gf Lindsey?
Mildred
Mildred, I talked with someone the other day, a 20 something hipster, who didn't know 11/4 was election day. "I don't pay attention to that stuff." Depressing. How do we get their attention?
DeleteOn Matthews tonight one of the night shows do man-on-the-street interviews in LA with white 20-30something men and women asking them who Joe Biden was. No one knew.
DeleteIt is amazing to me how uninformed Americans are on political subjects - especially those that will be on the ballot in November.
DeleteI have a very nice friend (a senior) that told me the increase in the minimum wage issue was only for children and therefore she would vote 'no'.
She watches FOX, of course, and I can only assume her information came from them.
7:24 PM Wasn't that done on the Jimmy Kimmel show? He goes out on the street often - never have seen Chris Matthews do it.
DeleteVery sad Americans cannot name their own VP or recognize his name.
6:33 Depressing. How do we get their attention?
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I wish I knew. I've been to countries where people risk their lives to vote. Where they have fought and won that right. And here in America the Exceptional, we have people who care more about who wins DWTS than they do important elections. They seem to be happily uninformed. I know finding your way around a biased media doesn't help. But it's what the unscrupulous who are running for office exploit to the fullest.
I think it starts in childhood. Parents need to teach their children how important our right to vote is. And how important their voice is in the community.
Mildred
Viacom, which owns the Daily Show, is a former part of CBS and still connected in many ways. Not likely Jon Stewart's contract would have allowed outside work for another network. It's not the same thing as when he makes films, writes books or other projects.
DeleteReally, maybe no matter how much NBC offers, Stewart understands who he is, and can't be bought. What a beautiful idea.
ReplyDelete0T
ReplyDeletehttp://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2014/10/nbc-tried-hiring-jon-stewart-for-meet.html#comment-form
Alaska Dispatch News sued Gov. Sean Parnell on Wednesday, asking a judge to force the governor’s office to release public records related to the ongoing scandal within the Alaska National Guard.
The news organization, along with its co-plaintiff Alaska Public Media, claims the governor’s office has been wrongly denying public records requests that could help voters verify whether Parnell acted swiftly in dealing with numerous allegations about mishandled sexual assaults, harassment, fraud, favoritism and other misconduct, including abuse of power, within the guard over the past several years. Oct 8 2014
Oh, this will get interesting. He must have known the case was coming, explaining why the recent anemic 'efforts' toward 'trying to look as though he might be investigating/cleaning up' the mess.
DeleteLINK
Deletehttp://www.adn.com/article/20141008/alaska-dispatch-news-sues-gov-sean-parnell-national-guard-records
Stewart could so mercilessly skewer the stupid politicians that it wouldn't be long before so many of the leading TV pols would refuse to come on the show. Now that would be a very good thing!
ReplyDeleteO/T: I'm a Rachel Maddow fan and while watching I just happen to run across a picture of her in high school with long blonde hair and it includes a video of her high school graduation speech.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediaite.com/online/when-they-were-young-tv-personalities-high-school-yearbook-photos/#0
So check out Jon Stewart, Colbert, Maher & others in high school:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2156194/Unearthed-yearbook-photos-Jimmy-Fallon-David-Letterman-Jimmy-Kimmel-famous.html
Jon Stewart also appears to have something called
ReplyDeleteI-n-t-e-g-r-i-t-y. And with folks like that, all the money and ass-kissing in the world won't help.
He can't be bought. I admire that.
DeleteIt would be hell to get Republicans to appear on MTP if Stewart was the host. Look at how they run away from Rachel Maddow!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous6:05 PM
DeleteIt would be hell to get Republicans to appear on MTP if Stewart was the host. Look at how they run away from Rachel Maddow!
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and that would be a bad thing? See no R on MTP? GOOD!
It's beyond clear to me that NBC considers its 'news' shows to be entertainment, and that it does not distinguish between news and comedy. If they were serious about news, a comedian is the last person they would be seeking to hire. But they are interested only in viewer titillation. Perhaps IF they understood what news was, and then hired the appropriate person (i.e., someone they never heard of or would outright disregard), THEN perhaps they would GET viewers. For telling the truth, Conkite was fired, Rather was fired, and so were many others. Ironically, with men like these at the helm, MTP's viewership would be higher, much higher.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the problem NBDC? Scared the GOPsters won't come on the show if they have to answer tough questions? BS. They live and breathe for 'free' television time. They (the GOPsters) have called your bluff, and you (MTP) fell for it. If MTP was truly a news show and conducted as such, they would just be forced to make the proper adjustments. You know, become adults, think like adults, and speak like adults. And, hey, then the country might see a lot of improvements – not only in political cooperation at the higher levels, but in social civility as well. MTP: you're part of the problem.
Meet the Press is not a news show. It is supposed to be an information show in panel/debate form.
DeleteJon Stewart is hardly *just* a comedian. He is a social commentator who can make us laugh. We laugh because if we didn't we'd cry. He talks truth to power and points out what our "news" fails to tell us. He is best at exposing hypocrisy, something our "journalists" have been afraid to do for decades now.
Jon Stewart is exactly what they need but exactly what they will never get.
Tim Russert rocked it like no one......
ReplyDeleteThis just makes NBCs naming Chuck Todd as host all the more frustrating. They recognized MTP was a failure when hosted by empty suit David Gregory lobbing softballs at old, white GOP politicians who volleyed back with canned GOP talking points that went unchallenged. So they pursued one of the most challenging, dynamic interviewers on television and, failing to get him, hired empty suit Chuck Todd whose career is based on lobbing softballs at old, white republicans and letting their canned responses go unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteIf they recognized the need for a more dynamic host, why not continue to conduct a better search for someone outside the beltway (or even conventional journalism) to revive the stale format instead of defaulting to another beltway sycophant? Ugh, the show just needs to be put out of its misery.
No one, I repeat, NO ONE will ever replace Tim Russert on MTP. Not his son, not anyone. Not even Jon Stewart.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Jon Stewart has too much power and influence to be swayed by NBC executives and will never cow tow to corporate BS.
Didn't Sarah audition for Meet the Press when she didn't get the the job at The View?
ReplyDeleteAndrea Mitchell is a woman that I don't like watching - monotone voice and just plain boring.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like Chuck Todd when he was announcing from the White House and didn't think he'd be successful in his new spot on MTP. Looks like my prediction was correct.
I like Dr. Rachel Maddow but think she has more freedom and exposure on MSNBC. She's so good - detailed - researches and provides facts and truth. I've learned so much from her by viewing her show as often as possible throughout the recent years.
Someone suggested that the Sunday shows will eventually
(hopefully soon!) go away and I think they are correct. You get pretty sick of seeing someone like John McCain on all their shows (rotated weekly!). He is so boring, full of himself, so anti President Obama (sore loser!) and such a horrid war monger.
I SO agree!
DeleteI have never watched TV on Sunday morning. I can't think of anything they could put on that would convince me to. And I no longer go to church so it isn't that.
DeleteI just love it when I google news "palin" in the last 24 hrs. and Michael Palin's name pops up first. Just goes to show how irrelevant Sarah really is. And now the LSM is all too willing to show the worst photos of dear Sarah because they reflect what she's become. Sarah Palin has clearly become a joke, a grifter, exposed her uneducated trailer trash family for what they truly are and everyone knows the only platform Sarah deserves is the Jerry Springer show.
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that Sarah, you did it ALL BY YOURSELF. That's what you get for not listening to people smarter than you.
There is something odd about this story. NBC tried desperately to get Jon Stewart and their fallback was Chuck Todd?
ReplyDeleteThat's like saying eh, I wanted Hillary Clinton for president, but I guess I'll go with Sarah Palin (a much vaster gulf, of course).
Gryphen, please don't say "importantly."
ReplyDeleteYou are smarter than that.
Yes, Jon would be perfect for Meet the Press and Meet the Press (and other shows) need a moderator as smart and talented as Stewart.
ReplyDeleteBut.
1. Only if he'd be able to continue The Daily Show and I doubt that would be possible.
2. Only if he had free rein. No censorship or trying to stifle what it is he does best. I doubt that would be allowed either.
It is nice to see that NBC recognizes the talents of Stewart and that they need someone as honest and tenacious as he is to hold the guests accountable.
I think it's high time they gave a Sunday Anchor position to a woman like Tameryn Hall or Rachel Maddow, but since I know that isn't happening soon, Todd's just fine as a placeholder until they find someone like Stewart or Colbert.
ReplyDeleteI don't think either of them would take the job because they'll feel stifled and pigeon-holed. Network news, especially on Sundays, is too dumbed down to appeal to a broader audience,
Trouble is, with someone like Stewart (or Maddow or any other non-pushover) you wouldn't get the heavy hitters to appear on the show. It's the fatal flaw of a show like this.
ReplyDelete