Thursday, August 21, 2008

Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC

Quite possibly the youngest of the APF Pundits, Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC. This is a stratospheric rise for Maddow, a Rhodes Scholar. She got her first radio gig after impressing at an open audition for her local radio station, she later successfully lobbied for a spot on the fledgling Air America Network where she quickly rose through the ranks.

She co-hosted the now canceled Unfiltered with Chuck D and Lizz Winstead. She began hosting her own two-hour-long program in 2005, The Rachel Maddow Show. The show was later expanded to three hours earlier this year. She became a regular panelist on many news programs, for Tucker Carlson's now defunct MSNBC show and CNN's Paula Zahn Now. She was a frequent contributor to Countdown with Keith Olbermann and has been tapped as a fill-in host for the show.

Her mega-push continuous with the announcement that she will have her own show on MSNBC.

APF pundit Keith Olbermann informed fans and welcomed Rachel by writing a diary post for the DailyKOs . As well as being glowing of Rachel, Keith's piece provides as much insight into Keith's character as it does of Rachel's.
Rachel Gets Her Own MSNBC Show by Keith Olbermann
Happy Now?
The network will be formally announcing this tomorrow, but I am pleased to inform you in this fully authorized leak, that as of Monday, September 8, our mutual friend Ms. Maddow will become host of her own show...

Let me answer the key questions in advance:
1) No, she will not be serving as a VeeJay introducing music clips or cartoons...
4) Yes, I had something to do with it...
5) Yes, you had something to do with it...
6) Yes, this is why I never really responded to any of the 41,754 comments that all pretty much read "And get Rachel her own show, nitwit."
8) Yes, I did like the description of her in The Nation: "Everything about her radiates competence and a deft, bright careerism."...
10) No, this actually happened pretty quickly. Less than five months between first paid appearance and own show is pretty fast. I believe I still hold the MSNBC record: I came back to guest host for three days in 2003 and 39 days later I had a contract to do the 8 PM show. With people as talented like Rachel, getting it locked down quickly is a good thing...
Read the full Olbermann diary post from the DailyKOs
Read The Nation feature on Rachel - Mad for Rachel Maddow
Go to Rachel Maddow's official website

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