If Morning Joe seems every-so-slightly less up-to-date, there's a reason for it. The show is now seven seconds behind the times. A tape delay has been instituted in the wake of Joe Scarborough's unintentional dropping of an f-bomb two days ago.B&C reported the change yesterday, and NewsBuster Ken Shepherd discussed it here. The Morning Joe crew had fun with the move on today's show. Coming back from its first break, the show aired tape [via Jimmy Kimmel Live] of CNN's Rick Sanchez coming back from a break of his own. With a screen over his shoulder reading "Transition to Power," Sanchez said: "We welcome you black. Uh, welcome you back." Point made: Joe's not the only cable TV guy capable of an embarrassing slip 'o the tongue.
The crew proceeded to a light-hearted discussion of the move to tape delay, with executive producer Chris Licht proudly displaying his finger poised on the red button.
View video here.
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WILLIE GEIST: Poor Sanchez. Do we have the taser video?It was then that Licht displayed the red button of doom. After Joe gave a bit more of the background on the decision, even mild-mannered meteorologist Bill Karins got into the act, wondering about the Vegas odds on who would cause the button to be hit first.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: He needs the seven-second delay. Seriously, we asked for one.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I know; you asked for one.
GEIST: You got it.
SCARBOROUGH: I demanded it.
BRZEZINSKI: You ask for it, you get it. Thattaboy, Chris.
SCARBOROUGH: If you talk for 47 hours a week --
BRZEZINSKI: That's correct.
SCARBOROUGH: With a sidekick all doped up on Ambien and [inaudible] and vodka --
BRZEZINSKI: Well, stop talking about me. That's not nice.
Predictions, anyone?
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
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It's a technique Congress
November 12, 2008 - 07:08 ET by ThisnThatIt's a technique Congress and all other politicians should deploy, too. Put in a delay of, say, a couple years or so, and maybe that will prevent further harm to the country.
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I missed that this
November 12, 2008 - 08:06 ET by SeashellI missed that this morning. Thanks for showing it. It was fun! :-)
Not sure why they're using
November 12, 2008 - 15:04 ET by ckc1227Not sure why they're using the delay in the first place. One, how many times has the f-word accidently been used by Joe, or anyone else there? Two, they don't have the same restrictions as broadcast tv, so using the f-word doesn't break any rules, though it might be offensive to some, which brings us to three: is their main demographic really offended by the use of the f-word?Are you kidding, lol?
Almost seems like they
November 12, 2008 - 23:04 ET by balboaAlmost seems like they announced they're using the delay as if to let everyone know they're trying to be responsible.
That's What They're Debating In The Supreme Court...
November 12, 2008 - 23:01 ET by The7SticksSince the Justin Timberlake wardrobe malfunction (I'm not going to say Janet Jackson because she was the one being victimized by Timberlake, then by the media.), the FCC has been on a campaign to clean up the airwaves at pretty much all hours. They have also been pushed to bring their regulations onto cable television, but right now they are the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case over fleeting expletives. Up until now, the FCC has only focused on scripted expletives that are purposely inserted into scripted shows the way N.Y.P.D. Blues used to do it. What the FCC is trying to do now is to convince the court that they should have the authority to fine live broadcasts where any expletive is uttered, even if it's unscripted or by accident. It would be one thing if it was intentionally scripted in a live broadcast, but they also want to fine the kind of utterances that happened on Morning Joe.