NEWEST MARVEL SEQUEL SOUNDS TERRIBLE. ONE STAR OUT OF FOUR. CANNOT RECOMMEND: MSNBC Ups Rachel Maddow to Five Nights, Sends Alex Wagner Into Field for Trump’s First 100 Days.
A cable-news outlet’s primetime schedule has in past years largely remained inviolate, except when anchors and networks part ways. Under Rashida Jones, MSNBC’s president, the network has experimented with new concepts. Jen Psaki, who anchors a Sunday program, also holds forth on Monday nights at 8, giving host Chris Hayes a schedule like Wagner’s — Tuesdays through Fridays. MSNBC has also tested programs that air separate originals on the Peacock streaming hub and the MSNBC weekend schedule.
Some of those new ideas have made Maddow a more frequent primetime presence than many had previously envisioned. She also leads a schedule-busting concept known internally as “The Avengers” that MSNBC uses on nights of exceptional news. Maddow sits for multiple hours at a dais with a shifting lineup of MSNBC personalities that range from Joy Reid and Nicolle Wallace to Ari Melber and Stephanie Ruhle.
“I made a promise that when you need me, I’ll be there,” Maddow told Variety late last year about her appearances on MSNBC beyond her regular Monday duties.
Other hosts will weave new elements into the mix during Trump’s first weeks in the Oval Office. Jen Psaki will launch “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki,” a new podcast that examines the future for the Democratic Party after a brutal election season. Chris Hayes will debut a new recurring segment, “Here is What is True,” that will scrutinize misinformation tied to news coming out of Washington and how it affects political discourse.
Wagner’s reports may crop up across the MSNBC schedule, as well as in specials, on digital platforms and through live events. “We are building the plane on the runway,” says Wagner as her journey looms.
“Building the plane on the runway” sounds like a recipe for a spectacular crash. Will Boeing be involved in the engineering?
Related: MSNBC’s Avengers will be minus one comic book superhero: Jen Rubin “Exits” the Washington Post; Chuck Todd “Exits” NBC.
As Ace of Spades suggests, “Maybe they can do a show together. Can you imagine the sexual heat that would convect out of your TV? NBC wouldn’t agree to Chuck Todd’s terms, so his contract his ending. I assume that NBC wanted him to take a pay cut, because no one’s watched him in eight years, and he refused, as he couldn’t suffer that indignity.”