The "Countdown" Resumes

Image via WikipediaKeith Olbermann, who suddenly departed MSNBC last winter after yet another showdown with his bosses, resurfaced Monday night with a new version of "Countdown" on a previously obscure channel called Current TV.  (For our Minnesota readers, it is not to be confused with 89.3 The Current, an alternative music station owned by the 800-pound gorilla of public radio called MPR.)

Olbermann was back making fun of Republicans and Fox News, even if contributors Michael Moore, John Dean and Markos Moulitsas' butt-kissing the host during the first broadcast tended to be nauseating.  It's kind of surprising that "Countdown" and the "Worst Persons" segment made it through the transition, given NBC's peculiar attachment to "intellectual property" (just ask David Letterman).  But the "Oddball" segment of weird videos did get renamed "Time Marches On", which was probably borrowed from the old "March of Time" newsreels and radio program of the 1930s and '40s.  Not only that, but it uses an old Mutual Radio news theme as its background.

Even though Current TV has been on the air for a few years (it's partially owned by former Vice President Al Gore), it still looks like a startup channel that's harder to find than MSNBC.  What else is on there besides "Countdown"?  Documentaries, and lots of them.  In fact, this could have been called the Documentary Channel if someone else hadn't taken the name first.

Meanwhile, MSNBC claims to be doing just fine after Olbermann left, though the ratings are not what they once were.  Rachel Maddow has become the new voice of reason over there.  Lawrence O'Donnell, who inherited Olbermann's time period (and is now his competitor), managed to keep his job after dissing NBC for still doing business with Donald Trump while he was flirting with a White House run.  And Ed Schultz got suspended for a week for calling conservative commentator Laura Ingraham a derogatory name, for which he later apologized.

Moulitsas, the guy who runs the website Daily Kos, made headlines on Monday's broadcast by ripping MSNBC for allegedly letting Joe Scarborough influence what guests get on the network.  Apparently, Moulitsas must have offended Scarborough somehow because he says he hasn't been seen much on TV in about a year.  Olbermann extended his program past the top of the hour just to cover this bit of inside baseball. (Those three extra minutes are now permanent, in an effort to stick it to his old bosses at MSNBC, causing viewers to miss the first part of Maddow's show.)

It will be interesting to see how far Olbermann can go with his new platform.  As long as he doesn't challenge himself by inviting anyone with a different point of view onto his program, and as long as he gets along with his new bosses, he'll do fine.  Otherwise, he'll be counting himself out of another job.