Tucker (television program)
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| Tucker | |
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| Genre | Talk/News |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Starring | Tucker Carlson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original channel | MSNBC |
| Original run | June 13, 2005–present |
| No. of episodes | N/A (airs daily) |
>Tucker is a television program on MSNBC, hosted by Tucker Carlson.
Carlson is a television, print journalist and commentator, who has previously co-hosted CNN's Crossfire and served as an editor of Policy Review magazine, a conservative journal. Carlson also writes on politics and other topics for various magazines and news publications.
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[edit] The Situation with Tucker Carlson
Prior to July 10, 2006, the show was known as The Situation with Tucker Carlson. In the show, Carlson debates with several other guests: one segment involving a liberal and one with former Around the Horn sports show host Max Kellerman. Kellerman has to provide an argument against Carlson's opinion, regardless of whether he himself disagrees with Tucker. This style has prompted comparisons to sports talk shows that use a similar format, such as ESPN's Pardon the Interruption. Tucker is produced by Bill Wolff, who worked with Kellerman on two other PTI-styled sports shows, Around the Horn and I, Max.
In addition, Carlson interviews guests, most often politicians or newsmakers. The show currently airs on MSNBC weekdays at 4pm ET and replay again at 6pm ET.
[edit] Segments
The show currently has seven regular segments. This format is generally followed, except in such extraordinary cases as the two episodes broadcast from London after the 7 July bombings and episodes broadcasted during / after Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Rita.
First, there is an opening segment in which Carlson introduces his panelist and debates four to five news stories with him or her. Second, in "Crime Blotter," Carlson introduces three stories about "wrongdoing and justice served" and typically discusses one of them with a guest, usually via satellite, on a number of topics related to a situation. Third, in "The Outsider," Carlson debates a variety of news-inspired issues with Max Kellerman, who plays devil's advocate regardless of his personal viewpoint. Fourth, in "Curious Situation", Tucker introduces a story in the news and Tucker is joined by a guest, usually via satellite and typically pre-recorded, to discuss this situation. Fifth, in "First Look", Tucker is joined by his senior producer, Willie Geist, to take a look at tomorrow's news. Sixth, in "Voicemail", viewers are encouraged to call in and leave messages for Tucker. Four to five messages, on a variety of topics ranging from stories that aired on the program to a drinking game for the show to the bowtie, are aired and commented on. Finally, in "The Cutting Room Floor," Carlson jokes about non-serious stories with his senior producer, Willie Geist.
The original format of the program, prior to its move to 11 p.m. on August 8th, 2005, initially had six regular segments. First, there was a segment in which Carlson introduced his two panelists and debated five to six news stories with them. Second, in "Op-Ed Op-Ed," Carlson introduced three editorials from newspapers nationwide and debated them with the panelists. Third, in "Free Speak," Tucker spoke with a politician or newsmaker, usually via satellite, on a number of topics related to his or her situation. The fourth segment followed the same structure as the first. Fifth, in "The Outsider," Carlson debated a variety of news-inspired issues with Max Kellerman. Finally, "The Cutting Room Floor," segment of the show remains the same now, as it did in the past.
After the show changed its name to "Tucker" and time slots to 4PM, "The Outsider" was removed and new segments like "Beat the Press" were added.
[edit] Guests
So far, the show's regulars include Carlson himself, Kellerman, Geist, Flavia Colgan, and liberal Air America radio host Rachel Maddow, who serves as a panelist. Originally, two panelists were on the program–one conservative and one liberal. Conservative/libertarian radio host Jay Severin was slated as the other regular panelist to appear opposite Maddow, but he soon left the show. Since his departure, there has been no regular replacement for Severin.
MSNBC's Monica Crowley, The Most anchor Alison Stewart, sports show host Max Kellerman, former MSNBC personality Curtis Sliwa, and MSNBC's Chris Jansing have served as substitute hosts for Carlson.
[edit] Untied - Tucker's MSNBC blog
On October 13, 2005, Carlson launched his own blog on MSNBC.com known as Untied. The blog, updated regularly, serves as a forum for viewers to e-mail Carlson about topics ranging from guests on the show, politics, gardening, fishing, and addressing the age-old question of 'boxers or briefs'. Carlson will post responses to these e-mails, as well as respond to general topics in the news, on this blog.
[edit] Criticism
Recently, Carlson has made several critical remarks about Canada on his program that has been brought to the attention of thousands of bloggers. For example, on the Dec 15th 2005 broadcast of his program, Carlson likened Canadians to "stalkers" and "your retarded cousin."
In a somewhat ironic twist, although The Situation originally debuted in a 9 p.m. timeslot it was moved to an 11 p.m. timelsot which put it in direct competition with The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. This is notable due to the infamous on-air verbal altercation between the two on his former show Crossfire. During the interview, Stewart accused politically divisive shows, particularly Crossfire, of "hurting America", pleaded with Carlson and co-host Paul Begala to "stop hurting America", and Stewart vehemently refused to be funny, despite Carlson's requests that he do so. It is believed that this exchange was one motivating factor for the subsequent cancellation of Crossfire, even though Carlson's contract was soon to expire, and he had already stated his desire to leave the program.
[edit] Broadcasts outside US
MSNBC and NBC News programming is shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes Tucker and several other MSNBC shows.
