:k: haha I haven’t watched Daily Show in sometime now, but did John had something to say about this?
'Crossfire’ Is Crossed Out in CNN Shuffle
Fri Jan 7, 2:12 AM ET
By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Three months after comedian Jon Stewart attacked its format and sparred with co-host Tucker Carlson, “Crossfire” has become a casualty of the evolving CNN.
The right-left slugfest, aired live weekdays from Washington, will lose its half-hour spot to be folded perhaps into “Inside Politics” as a kinder, gentler discourse and much shorter. CNN-U.S. President Jonathan Klein said it seemed like it was time to do something different with “Crossfire,” which has been on the air since 1982.
“People screaming at each other adds a lot of heat but not much light,” Klein said.
In the end, “Crossfire” isn’t the kind of show Klein sees in the CNN he’s trying to create. He said he hoped that the other three show regulars – James Carville, Paul Begala and Robert Novak – would remain with “Crossfire” in the new format.
Carville said Thursday afternoon that he wasn’t surprised by the fact that “Crossfire” will change, and thought it was a pretty good idea to change.
“I had a pretty good idea about most everything that was coming. I’m not dissatisfied at all,” Carville said. “I love the old show, and I’m very much looking forward to the new show.”
But he defended “Crossfire” from critics, saying that he thought the bickering and disagreeing wasn’t bad. He felt that it had become fashionable to dump on the show, and that altering “Crossfire” would help CNN.
“The salons of Georgetown and the lofts of Manhattan will view this positively, and it will give them (CNN) breathing room among the chattering class,” Carville said.
Begala announced the changes to the “Crossfire” audience during Carlson’s last show Thursday afternoon. Carlson, who said he was going to another network, added: “To me, ‘Crossfire’ has always been more than shouting.”
In the fall, “The Daily Show” host Stewart told Begala and Carlson that they needed to stop because they were “hurting America.” Stewart couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
“This has been coming for a long time,” said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia. “It wasn’t my cup of tea. I almost never watched it … because it was people shouting at each other.”
On the other hand, Sabato said he felt a certain amount of regret whenever any public-affairs show goes off the air.
“It takes many different means and methods to get Americans engaged in politics,” Sabato said. “Some people like that (type of show).” He said that in the beginning, “Crossfire” had been a “pretty distinguished show,” with high-toned debate and room for nonpartisans.
For his part, Carlson said Wednesday night that he enjoyed the six years he spent on “Crossfire” but told his CNN bosses in Atlanta in April that he wanted to do something different. He didn’t have an opinion on the changes proposed but said, “Every format needs to be reinvented at some point.”
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter