Rate the coverages

[The Preacher]

I've been watching mostly MSNBC and Chris Matthews' crew. They are solid in general but I have two problems: 1) Ron Reagan is WAY out of his league and is contributing little to nothing and 2) they haven't really dug into some of the states and make predictions without calling them. Some may not want the latter but since these people have more experience in these things than I do (excluding issue 1), I'd like to hear their insights.

I've flicked over to Fox News and they have a really solid crew that is more willing to dig into the states, mock Murdoch not. People like Juan Williams and Michael Barone provide really balanced, thoughtful insight. The latter is really going into a county-by-county analysis in Ohio which is quite illuminating.

Lastly, the Daily Show was hilarious from top to bottom. Gov. Weld showed a lot of class whereas Sharpton played his usual role (the eloquent clown). I simply love Jon Stewart and his crew.

Who have you watched and what did you think?

[knob]

Sharpton made me cringe on the Daily Show. I mean, I think he was mostly fooling around...wasn't he? But it still seemed excessive.


The Daily Show is the only thing I've watched. I've been at class all day (9 am to 9pm) so it was just starting when I got home. After a long day, the DS is much better than Fox News or any other news station.

[Massena]

Ditto Preacher on Fox's analysis. CNN was a disappointment. That whole "big room" thing just wasn't that great. Akward camera angles. And they had too much partisan jabber versus thoughtful content (if such a thing is possible). IMHO.

I enjoyed Russert and his white board over on NBC. Mainly hit Fox and NBC.

[Zarathud]

CNN's coverage was more than a disappointment -- it was embarassing. I liked the big screen, but the media personalities didn't have much substance to say, and the "political hackery" of the interviewees was pathetic. CNN's website was much, much more informative than the TV.

I am a fan of Peter Jennings on ABC. He has a good sense of timing and humor, and I enjoy how he steps back to inform people who haven't been following politics closely and to bring the conversation back down to a level where a regular person can understand. During his 9/11 coverage, Peter Jennings was the only news anchor I watched (other than Jon Stewart) who obviously felt the human impact of what happened, and made a point of sharing and expressing that important aspect of the story -- how the news effects people.

The Daily Show was extremely disappointing. The funny Monkey did not show up to play. Stephen Colbert was hysterical, but underused. Reporting in his pajama bottoms was a sweet touch on many levels, as well as the need to "stay divided" because in the post-9/11 world anger keeps us going and involved. Jon Stewart was not in his top form, and only his natural charm kept a bunch of his jokes from flopping. His concluding jokes sucked. The pre-scripted skits by and large just weren't funny -- except for the Halo bit. Bee was funny at the start, but kept going in her "exit poll" skit for way too long. I just didn't find Rob Corddry funny with his skatalogical jokes. Ed Helms was kind of funny, but kept doing the same thing. It was nice to see Steve Carrell again. I guess that I'll have to withdraw my nomination of Jon Stewart for comedy sainthood. Al Sharpton sounded mostly like himself (and exhausted), but I think he sounded harsh because of worry about the results.

On the other hand, I learned a few new things today on these Octopus Overlords forums...mainly, that you people are addictive.

[Tareeq]

Dan Rather is losing it. He just coined a metaphor about skinning an antelope.

[YellowKing]

My favorite of the night was Fox News, not because of the perceived conservative slant, but because they were simply more entertaining. The panel was pretty even-handed, they analyzed the raw numbers more than the other networks, and they seemed to be having fun with it.

CNN I agree was a disaster. They were afraid to call anything until the last minute, the "big board" was a confusing mess, and the Crossfire folks were awful. The only enjoyment I had from CNN was watching Carvell squirm - I hate that guy with a passion. And don't get me started on Larry King - what the hell was his purpose? Typical Larry King question: "Ok, but let's say Kerry somehow overturns Florida and wins Ohio and Bush loses all the states he's leading in, then Kerry could win, right? Right? PLEASE TELL ME I'M RIGHT!!!"

NBC is always fun; I'm a big Russert fan and I like Chris Matthews as well. Russert calculates electoral possibilities with an almost sadistic glee.

CBS was another disaster, though they seemed to be calling states earlier (along with ABC). Part of it was because I hate Dan Rather after the forged documents scandal.

Basically I flipped to ABC/CBS at the top of the hour for the newest projections, skipped to CNN occasionally to watch Carvell squirm (especially as the night went on), and divided the remaining time between Fox and NBC for commentary.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I mostly flipped between NBC, MSNBC, and Foxnews. CNN wasn't bringing anything to the table, Jennings is okay (didn't look much since I like Brokaw and Russert for my old-fashioned network fix), and Rather is completely unwatchable (his ratings must be microscopic at this point). I thought the Daily Show was fairly funny for an hour broadcast. Loved the Halo bit. "I'm exit-polling Covenant aliens!"

[Zarathud]

Ok, the Daily Show was hysterical tonight. Jon Stewart and friends (even the news correspondents) channelled all the angst and frustration into some good humor. There may still be hope...in ridicule of the continuing absurdity of the Bush administration.