El Programma de Rachel Maddow

Woo, apparently Olbermann posted an article on MSNBC's website detailing a replacement show for Verdict at the 9PM EST timeslot, starring the loveable Rachel Maddow. As much as I like Dan Abrams, I like Maddow a lot more, and am glad for the shift.

Obviously, over the next couple weeks the convention coverage will take up the majority of the schedule at MSNBC. Abrams will run his last show on Thursday, and Maddow will begin hers on the eighth of September. She's always been well spoken and is very similar to Olbermann in her humor, though there's a marked difference between their reporting and opinion-giving styles. Of course, this means another mark against MSNBC in the whole "liberal media" onslaught, since she originally hosted a show on Air America. Regardless of the partisanship, she's a good host and worth watching.

I remember watching Abrams years ago when Olbermann's Countdown began on a show called The Abrams Report. Since he's the chief legal correspondent, he went through the legal stories and news of the day and had on other legal experts to give their opinions on where cases were going. It wasn't riveting, but it made me become a Dan Abrams fan. He was offered a job as the general manager of the entire network, which he took, dissolving his show and undoubtedly leading to the creation of Tucker or something. I hate to see him crash and burn with Verdict, although the splashy use of graphics and idiotic segment names seemed really cheap and flimsy. Glad to see he'll still be with the network, though.