"Promoting Countdown to the Television Critics Association"

[Stinky The Clown]

This, according to the fill-in host on tonight's Countdown, is where Mr. Olberman is tonight and also what he's doing out there in Los Angeles.

What's **that** about?

[Democrat 4 Ever]

1. Just a guess but Keith is MSNBC's fair haired boy - and they are

promoting the heck out of the one true hit they have on their schedule.

Sometime over the weekend, at the Television Critics Association, Keith had a O'Lielly mask on a stick (puppet theater!) so the photographers could get pics of O'Lielly since he wasn't allowing photos.

[calimary]

3. Uh- HUH. See there? You mentioned this. Which meant it got your

attention. And if it got your attention, no doubt it got the attention of more than a few TV writers who are always looking for quickie "people" items and good quotes/soundbites. Got a link?

[calimary]

2. Aw MAN! DAMN! I used to cover this stuff! This is one of those

situations in which I do miss the news biz.

If that's true, that IS a de facto announcement of how important the network brass regards Keith. Evidently, they see him as the "hot" commodity, which is why they trotted him out to the TCAs. These twice-a-year junkets for the TV Critics Association promotes new shows, power people, and power lineups. They always roll out the red carpet, the big stars, the biggest names (the more A-listers there are, the more likely the critics and other press people are to show up, and to cover it, so the networks routinely pull out all the stops. The network chieftains themselves are available for interview, either in session or in one-on-one's. There are all kinds of goodies: free food and cocktail parties and perks and give-aways everywhere and side trips and meet-n-greets galore, and the stars are there, en masse. After whatever session or interview set-ups there are, the same stars are very likely to be "staffing" the after-hours receptions and cocktail parties and dinners so the individual press people can rub elbows with 'em, party with 'em, break bread with 'em, pose for publicity photos (and even vanity things that you can take home and show your editor or producer or company promo person - "look! And yeah, sometimes you get to meet and pose with George Clooney - or his manager who will now set you up with a one-on-one, since he/she now knows you.

I'm DELIGHTED to hear that Keith is there. I haven't checked in. Is Rita Clear-Your-Throat out there to help the hype? NO... she's home, filling in, as the B-teamer she is. As I'm watching, evidently joe scarborough is out here for the TCAs, too. They're showcasing only their best people for press events like these. MOST satisfying to hear Keith is part of this.

AND - it could indicate something else, even better! Somebody in the network brass or promo department figured out that Keith is hot at the moment. Evidently, they think something he's doing is working. The ratings tell it. And why? Is it because the critics or the viewers (or both) just enjoy his show, or do they get some really great, consistent response on the "Oddball" section? Or is his unique, irreverent, liberal-leaning approach an increasingly popular one? Or is it the "Worst Person in the World" revue? Or maybe the public fight he's now picked with o'reilly - which is sexy gossip water-cooler-style news for the media-savvy and news junkies? There could be any number of reasons why they want him out there available to the media - and they're all positive, in some way, for the network. They don't promote their losers. Dan Abrams is probably out here, the new executive-suites fair-haired boy, 'cause he's new on this big job and therefore he's news - people are gonna wanna talk to him and ask him questions. Olbermann being part of this - SWEET!!! VERY good news, guys.

[Berry Cool]

4. I sure hope so.

The O'Reilly mask thing was done at a Saturday morning breakfast. Apparently at one point Faux News wasn't going to let the journalists take pictures covering its part of the events and they were just handing out pictures of their people that they had taken ahead of time. KO did the mask as a joke "in case you didn't get a picture of Bill." Later the policy was revised--they decided the journos could take pictures the first 10 minutes of the events or whatever. Sheesh.

Anyway, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle is there and he's a big Olbermann fan. He's chronicling the whole event on a blog, calling it "Death March with Cocktails." He said Keith was also at a Saturday-night party: "If you're going to sweat like a pig in Pasadena, you should try it with Olbermann. Very rewarding." :rofl:

And of course now that he's out there, the freepers are trying to make a big stink about him giving the Nazi salute while holding up the Bill-O mask...as if it is the worst thing anyone ever did and he has to be pilloried and forced to apologize. Too bad for them that no one else is as outraged about it as they are.

Anyway, don't miss him on Leno tomorrow night, or Friday night on Craig Ferguson's late CBS show (12:30, I think it is).

[calimary]

5. My, my, my, that child is truly going places!

LOVE IT! MSNBC must have realized that this is how they play the "if you've got it, flaunt it" card. Olbermann is their ace keeping them OUT of the hole.

GREAT!