September 26, 2011

up with chris hayesI think Up with Chris Hayes, MSNBC’s new weekend morning show, is a good show and you should consider watching it. And I think I’ve liveblogged enough MSNBC shows for me to qualify as an expert on that channel. This is the show that Morning Joe wishes it could be: just a bunch of youngish journalists and academics sitting around a table, actually discussing things over coffee and baked goods. This being MSNBC, they’re pretty much all liberals, but there’s usually one conservative who serves as the odd man out. So far there’s been no hacks or lame talking point reciters, everyone is interesting and has interesting things to say. Host Chris Hayes is a likable guy – he’s not as sanctimonious as Lawrence O’Donnell or Keith Olbermann, he just seems like someone who’s still in college with a sincere intellectual curiosity about everything, and his giddiness is palpable. When I watch this show I actually feel like I’m learning something; usually when I watch Meet the Press and I hear John McCain or David Brooks repeat the same ol’ talking points, I can feel the hour I’ll never get back physically leaving my soul.

There’s a couple things that sorta bug me, though: one, the people in the control booth can be a little slow on the draw – frequently Hayes will ask “do we have that quote…?” and have to wait five seconds while they put it on screen; once he held up a book to the camera and they neglected to cut to that camera. Two, since this airs really early and I live on the west coast, I have to watch it on the Internet… which isn’t necessarily bad, but the clips from yesterday’s show were out of order, and some segments teased in other segments were omitted. MY IMMERSION WAS RUINED. Finally, I have yet to see anyone eat any of the baked goods on camera and it makes me really mad for some reason. Don’t just let it sit there and go to waste!