Lawrence O'Donnell: 'Bill O'Reilly Has Most Gullible Audience in Television History'
With his total number of viewers having declined by 45 percent since his premiere in the 8PM time slot, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell appears to be taking a page from his predecessor Keith Olbermann's handbook.
On Monday's "The Last Word," the host did two segments about Fox News, the first included insults about Irish guys and Bill O'Reilly's "gullible" audience that ended with a school yard challenge to cable news's most-watched personality (video follows with transcript and commentary):
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL, HOST: Here is what I see when I look at Bill O'Reilly: A very, very, very rich man who has grown phenomenally rich by playing a character on TV that the most gullible audience in the history of television falls for. When I look at O'Reilly, I also see dozens of guys I grew up with who were just like him. Overbearing, argumentative, Irish guys who think they know everything and can back up nothing. Those guys have always been a joke to me, which is why O’Reilly almost never has the capacity to outrage me, because he is just a joke to me most of the time. But when he blares homicidal encouragement for killing physicians who perform abortions, he deserves all the serious-minded condemnation he has received for that much of it eloquently delivered through microphones of this network.
I realize O'Donnell is Irish, but is all this Irish bashing necessary? Or is this how he thinks he's going to goad O'Reilly into a response that will boost his ratings?
And was the attack on the "Factor" audience specifically designed to evoke e-mail messages from O'Reilly's fans encouraging him to respond to this child?
O'DONNELL: But most of what O’Reilly does day in and day out deserves nothing more than to be laughed at, which is how Saturday Night Live treated him this weekend. What else can you do with someone who says he knows of no other explanation of why the tides go in and out, and then when told it has a little something to do with the moon thinks he can stump you with this question?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL O’REILLY: How did the moon get there? How'd it get there? How’d it get there? How’d it get there? How'd the sun get there? How'd it get there? C’mon. How did it get there? Who put it there?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O’DONNELL: He believes he can ask an utterly idiotic question like that and intimidate you, simply by using his faux Irish tough guy style. Billy Boy, I know real Irish tough guys. They don't look and sound like you. And none of them come from Long Island like you. And none of them go to work in makeup like you. Anybody who knows real tough isn't fooled by your act, Bill.
Seems exactly like the juvenile goading one would see on a playground. None of them come from Long Island like you? Or go to work in makeup?
Is this the way a professional television commentator behaves in 2011?
But O'Donnell wasn't done:
Now, I have a homework assignment for your underworked staff. Since they finished explaining the tides and the moon to you, put them to work trying to find what this network has done or what I have done that is anti-American. Take as long as you want. Find it and show it to your audience. And if you're as afraid to accept my challenge as I think you are, if you don't even try to provide facts to back up what you said about me, no one watching this show is going to be surprised, Billy, because they will know that you will have proved everything that I just said about you.
Pretty pathetic, don't you think? O'Donnell, much like children do, was basically saying, "If you don't respond, I win."
Is this how the new owners at NBC think they're going to drive their ratings?
As for his "No one watching this show" comment, the way he's going, and with performances like this, he's going to get his wish.
When O'Donnell premiered at 8PM the first Monday after Olbermann's departure, he garnered over 1.5 million viewers. By last Thursday, that had plummeted to 843,000.
In fact, all of MSNBC's extended prime time shows have seen their numbers collapse in recent weeks.
Are the network's executives going to do something about it by actually improving the programming, or just by trying to antagonize their competition much as Olbermann did?
Given that Chris Matthews has mentioned the name of his competitor Glenn Beck on 17 of his last 20 shows, it sadly appears this is the network's strategy.
How pathetic.
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Comments
Vince McMahon may want to get
Submitted by bigbones on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 2:34am.
Vince McMahon may want to get a piece of this action. Cable news has degenerated into mud wrestling. It is sad and disgusting.
Yes, absolutely
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:45am.
I can see it now... Hell in a Cell match or TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs). Lawrence acts like he's taken a few chairs to the head as a kid...
Heyman!
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:47am.
Put Paul Heyman in charge! ECW!!! ECW!!! ECW!!! ECW!!! ECW!!! ECW!!!
can you say
Submitted by theduck6 on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:42am.
Jealousy?
Hey. I hear Roseann Barr is getting her own "reality show" and for some reason nutbags like Rosie O'Donnelll are given a voice. A frothing lunatic like Special Ed will always find a place in the liberal universe.
If only they didn't equate gravitas with the loudness of their rhetoric and outrageousness of their stance.
So we not only have to defend
Submitted by amyshulk on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 2:48am.
So we not only have to defend the politicians we agree with, now we have to defend TV personalities? Why not do it up right - have a very special Survivor, where they just debate each other, with their respective "stables" tapping in?
I do watch them, but I don't take them as seriously as they take themselves, and I noticed long ago, to keep their veneer of "fairness", they would have one from their stables say what they agreed with but couldn't say.
Ronald Reagan
Wow...
Submitted by donabernathy on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 2:50am.
Poor Larry's ratings must really be in the toilet.
roflmao
Ratings
Submitted by Franksam on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:34am.
The declining ratings demonstrate that his audience is not so gullible, I guess.
Moreso that Lawrence
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:47am.
isn't so influential as a "journalist". The steady decline at MSNBC should prove point that any time slot isn't doing well. Not just for him, but the whole crew. I think Redeye probably gets more viewers than the prime slots do.
I wonder how long it's going
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:50am.
I wonder how long it's going to take before Comcast actually does meaningful things to try to boost ratings for the long term? Dumping Olbermann was a start but why stop there? Could they be waiting for contracts to expire so they won't have to renew?
"Poor Larry's ratings must
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:48am.
"Poor Larry's ratings must really be in the toilet."
Before or after flushing?
Flush twice...it's a long way to the MSNBC cafeteria.
So much for playing nice
Submitted by MCLIJazz on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 2:52am.
It would have been nice if O'Donnell played nice and avoided goading O'Reilly into a feud to siphon viewers away from him, but that's what has happened. And it will continue to happen. A day after Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC, a commenter at Olbermann Watch suggested someone start O'Donnell Watch. Right now, that looks like a great idea.
Did I read correctly? Lawrence is against wearing makeup on the air? Does that mean the viewers see him au natural? Wow. What's his secret?
The moon deal, as Bill would put it, came up in his Backstage Conversation on January 26. It's for BillOReilly.com premium members only, but the site staff posts previews on his YouTube channel. Gawker got a hold of it a week later and it made its way through the Fox-hater/O'Reilly-hater echo chamber.
Cenk has already gone after Bret. Has Rachel gone after Sean, and Ed after Greta? You can smell the desperation from your computer or TV.
"If you don't respond, I win." Or as they say on the internet, "fail," "burn," "run tail," etc.
MSNBC operational model
Submitted by Injest on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 5:55am.
Given that Chris Matthews has mentioned the name of his competitor Glenn Beck on 17 of his last 20 shows, it sadly appears this is the network's strategy.
I think this is there operational model.
MSNBC is betting that the people who watch FNC will then watch MSNBC to find out what was said on FNC!
The weak link in this model is that people might find out that they don't need to watch MSNBC to find out what was said on FNC, cuz they already watched FNC.
Seems like a bad plan to me, but if that's all they got, well?
leave him in obscurity
Submitted by MidAmerica on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 6:05am.
I hope O'Reilly just ignores this unknown twit. Acknowledging his taunts will only elevate him.
Nahhhh
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:49am.
BOR needs to call him out and bring him on the show and debate him and his ilk and show him why he's the #1 show on news networks and let Lawrence then try to wiggle out of that.
Ignore O'Donnell
Submitted by rwnewsnut on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:14am.
Bill O'Reilly should ignore Lawrence O'Donnell. Even mentioning MSNBC should be banned. Like Air America, it will dry up and fold.
The FoxNews people should just produce the best show they can produce for the FoxNews audience. That is the way to eliminate the competition.
Ignoring O'Donnell
Submitted by MCLIJazz on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 3:26pm.
I have a good feeling he will ignore him.
I dunno, I'm mostly Irish. Shucks.
Submitted by acaiguana on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 6:35am.
Well, I've seen red-boned dogs bully other dogs. Does that make them Irish?
Ah well, check out my Irish Iguana on my NB Profile page.
Now that's Irish.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
O'donnell Is...
Submitted by GeneralAl on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:03am.
O'donnell is the pet Yorkey yapping at the big Bull Dog. While the Bull Dog is walking quietly with his master and minding his own business, the pet Yorkey is being carried in the arms of his high society mistress and exhibits "great bravery" by yapping at the Bull Dog while safe in Mommy's arms!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
good call
Submitted by OldJoe on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:17am.
can't beat that comparison.
I wouldn't say that O'Reilly is ignoring MSNBC
Submitted by Galvanic on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:28am.
He constantly compares ratings, and singles out specific MSNBC claims, quotes, and other outrages for specific attention. If anything, he pays too much attention to dweebs like O'Donnell and Maddow. Fox News personalities would ignore MSNBC entirely if it weren't also beneficial to their ratings to fight back; even with prinicipal nemesis Obersturmbannfuhrer Olbermann gone, there are still plenty of other clowns to joust with.
MSNBC is trying to hold its audience by stepping up its attacks on Fox News. We can't rule out that this may be in response to marching orders from the White House or its alumni (i.e. Anita Hill, Media Matters). But we can expect the attacks and challenges to escalate.
Why would the King stoop to
Submitted by Emil on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:33am.
Why would the King stoop to argue with the serf?
correction...
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:51am.
more like the court jester...
Well, O'Donnell should be
Submitted by irishguy on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:35am.
Well, O'Donnell should be quite familiar with overbearing, argumentative Irish guys. Watching him, (thanks for sparing me that NB) it would appear he grew up in a clan of them.
Me thinks1
Submitted by PJMan on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 7:35am.
Someone want's and need's ratings, what a piece of O'trash!
Is MSNBC in a race with
Submitted by johnsonl on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:04am.
Is MSNBC in a race with itself to see which of their news commentators can get the lowest ratings? Really?
Being an argumentative Irish guy myself ...
Submitted by KC Mulville on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:18am.
I can happily see O'Reilly ignore O'Donnell, and my opinion of neither will have changed a bit. This is attitude in search of substance.
Insulting An Already Small Audience
Submitted by Boil It Down on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:21am.
If the management at MSNBC thinks it's smart to whine about the competition and thinks their viewers are all so small minded as to enjoy these petulant rants, they insult journalism and their views simultaneously. I'm a small time entertainer and I've never found it productive to insult my own audience even when they ask for it. I've always found that it builds my audience and improves their quality when I treat them as though they are better than they actually behave.
O'Donnell doesn't respect the craft or the people he supposedly serves. It's as though he deliberately wants to be taken off the air. Although it's probably got something to do with the inability to examine himself or his premises.
He could easily be replaced with some angry ,immature sophomore from an ivy league school to perform equally.
I want to see
Submitted by Iron Tigers Vet on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:53am.
a laid back, southern drawled, redneck (farmer type) journalist get on the air and just be themselves. Let's see what those ratings would be like. No PC, no BS, no holds barred. Ask the questions that need to be asked and tell the public what needs to be said, not what everyone wants to hear.
I got stopped going into a Target one day by our local news station as I was going inside (wife's choice, I don't like Target or what they stand for) they wanted to ask my opinion of the current POTUS and the way congress was going. I started to laugh and she asked me what was funny... now at that point my wife started to roll her eyes and moved inside very quickly, she knew what was coming.
I commenced to tell her that she didn't want to hear what I had to say because it wasn't PC and that I wasn't going to waste my time or hers. She told me to go ahead... needless to say, it didn't make it on the air, but I did get a bit of applause from the people outside the store. This coming from a University city that hosted BHO during his run for the presidency.
... and yes, I am a redneck (educated) and proud of it.
Larry the Socialist....
Submitted by adamsmith on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:48am.
I don't care what this pussy thinks. And he is a girly man all the way. When a Socialist opens his mouth, I don't care what comes out. He has nothing to say that I'm interested in. Like Olbergoebbels, I think this guy is about eight cans short of a twelve-pak.
Eight
Submitted by HockeyKid on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:59am.
Eight cans short? Heck, Larry's nothing more than the empty cardboard box with a drunken has-been's (read "Olbermann's") stale puke in it, dumped by the side of the road waiting to get hit by a passing semi."Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
BO can and does act as a
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:49am.
BO can and does act as a bully know it all and that is part of his charm. SNL did a great parody of him and it came close to what his show has been lately. He is full of himself, but sometimes he has good shows. I DVR them and watch parts.
O'Donnel is also full of himself and trying to gen ratings by attacking the guy on top.
He acted Stupidly
Submitted by 10ksnooker on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:58am.
Of course you could say that about ODonnel, and all he says and does, but I like saying it ...
Shows they are down and out with no where else to go ... They lost their Oberdouche.
Worse than Olby, even more inane.
Submitted by Truestar on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 8:57am.
Comcast would do well to give this jagoff his walking papers, pronto. I don't know this idiot's background, but if O'Donnell really thinks O'Reilly, or any other reasonable person, gives half a crap about his juvenile rant, he's as idiotic as Olby. My god, it didn't matter in the ratings that Olby had it in for O'Reilly---but this jerk wants to double down on that stupidity? Wow, what a ratings winner!!!
Mr. O'Donnell, your ass will be gone within a month. Sorry about that "tough guy", but your intellect and sense of judgement is amazingly worse than your predecessor. And I doubt seriously that you comprehend anything about Mr. O'Reilly, or his upbringing.
You're Irish too---who cares?! You're a minor league Olbermutt---hope you're proud.
Is it possible?
Submitted by JayVee on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:01am.
Can this guy possibly be dumber than Olby?
i didn't think
Submitted by gr29az on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:24am.
there was a bigger a-hole than ko
Lawerence should be careful what he wishes for.
Submitted by Ashrak on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:40am.
Debate is often times won by the one who asks a question of substance, especially a rhetorical one, about their opponents own words and that opponent refuses to answer by obfuscating instead. However, the point made with such a rhetorical question has to be valid and obvious. No debate is ever won with ad hominem attacks. Indeed, that track is exactly what loses the debate because it demonstrates there is no substance to offer and personal attacks is all that person has to offer.
Bill should do one, and I do mean one, "talking points" memo explaining this and top it off with a clip of Larry admitting openly that he is a socialist who despises the Constitution. If Lawrence had his way, he would ignore the Second Amendment outright, and he said that very thing. It doesn't get much more Anti-American than proclaiming publicly that you detest and would willfully violat the Consitution for these united States.
Ashrak Right About O'Reilly's Response
Submitted by Boil It Down on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 5:27pm.
The point about O'Donnell losing the debate with lack of substance is exactly right. I believe you have good advice for O'Reilly on the respose as well.
Don't Like O'Reilly, Don't like O'Donnell
Submitted by Texndoc on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:44am.
Bill O'Reilly deserves ridicule for the ridiculous "Tides come in, tides go out - explain that!"
He put his foot in it, and can't "Harvard" his way out of it.
Already saw a nice photo of Bill-Oh with "BREAD GOES IN, TOAST POPS UP - EXPLAIN THAT!"
"BREAD GOES IN, TOAST POPS UP
Submitted by celator on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:02am.
"BREAD GOES IN, TOAST POPS UP - EXPLAIN THAT!"
String theory? Nanotechnology? The Big Bang? Systems science? Perhaps it's just magic. Maybe we aren't meant to understand. ;+}
BOR very, very, very rich...
Submitted by SickofLibs on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:48am.
sez the simple-living socialist who spends $90 a pair of socks.
$90 Socks
Submitted by rwnewsnut on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:22am.
Do socialists normally pay $90 for socks? I guess he's done pretty well for himself under Capitalism.
The very, very, very rich thing got me too.
Submitted by Blonde on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 12:22pm.
My mom read BOR's Bold Fresh, and laughed and laughed. IIRC, she said BOR used to paint houses to earn money for college (he even had employees). When he got out of college, he taught at a Catholic high school in Miami for a couple of years, before getting a Masters and then becoming a journalist.
The reason he's "very, very rich" is because he worked hard to get that way, stupid LO'D. He's a self-made man. While I am not a big fan, I do watch occasionally (until he gets up on his high horse), and of course I love Dennis and Megyn, who don't take any of his crap.
BOR is kind of like Rush in that he created his own paradigm, and has become the best at what he does. So he'll continue to have detractors, and imitators. So what? As long as he pulls the ratings, and Fox makes money, he's sitting in that prime time chair for as long as he chooses.
And good for him! Larry will be a ???who was that guy??? within six months.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Ann Coulter rule
Submitted by spepper on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:52am.
The Ann Coulter rule applies here (as it usually does, when analyzing the "left") :
"When you want to figure out what the left is or is up to, just look at what they are accusing others of....."
or, for all you (and I) oldtimers out there: "The pot calling the kettle BLACK" (and no, that's NOT racist)
Someone at MSNBC accusing someone else of being gullible or having a "gullible audience" ought to know best what that's like.......
"In fact, all of MSNBC's
Submitted by jdawg2009 on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:24am.
"In fact, all of MSNBC's extended prime time shows have seen their numbers collapse in recent weeks."
That's because people can only stand so much hate. But hate is what drives MSNBC. It's all they've got.
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-spokane/msnbc-still-network-of-i...
I'm not exactly a member of the BOR Fan Club...
Submitted by Dave. on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 10:54am.
...but if forced to make a choice, I'd watch him over that communist a-hole O'Dumbass any day.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
False dichotomy. Third
Submitted by Beukeboom on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:01am.
False dichotomy.
Third choice: turn off the TV and go outside.
This is a test.....
Submitted by tjc-illinois on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:01am.
This is a test for Madcow, Schultz, O'Donnell, Matthews, etc.
4 + 4 = 10
The sky is? Green
The sea is? Yellow
Up = Down
Here is your time slot for MSNBC.
'Well, to tell the family secret, my grandmother was Dutch." Bart
O'Donnell's teeny audience
Submitted by Morganfrost on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:12am.
If conservatives who watch O'Donnell solely for the purpose of fisking him in a subsequent blog column simply stopped watching him altogether, I think he'd lose a sizeable percentage of his viewership.
lawrence
Submitted by east tennessee john on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:14am.
What's next larry? Blowing your top and shouting liar! liar! at someone, you pompous pos.
Belittling.....
Submitted by almostacowboy on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:43am.
potential viewers' intelligence will surely drive them from FoxNews over to PMSLSD. ......not really.
I Need Some Help, People.....
Submitted by neighb on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 11:48am.
I'm just not gettin' all this, folks.
Who is Lawrence O'Donnell?....and what the devil is MSNBC???
Does anyone know this guy or ever heard of this....what is it, a TV station or somethin'???
Gotta tell ya, I'm scratchin' my head.....
Lawrence O'Donnell
Submitted by Mike009 on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 12:01pm.
All these left-wing talking heads play the same game: Say something stupid and outrageous and hope that someone who actually has an audience like O'Riley, Limbaugh, Coulter, etc. will comment on them.
O'Donnell is just mouthing an updated version of "the voters are stupid" to explain away the popularity of O'Riley as well as the Republican electoral gains last November.
These people can't go a day
Submitted by Thoreau on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 12:07pm.
These people can't go a day without talking about the guy getting 4X their ratings can they.
ChickaBOOMer| Lawrence O'Donnell: The F**k Of The Irish
Submitted by StewartIII on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 12:09pm.
Lawrence O'Donnell: The F**k Of The Irish
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2011/02/lawrence-odonnell-fk-of-irish.html
limp larry
Submitted by telecaster on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 1:05pm.
I don't know Larry....seems to me the last word in gullibility is the" American Idol" generation who elected Obama, and talking heads like you who abetted the biggest political con ever perpetrated on the american citizenry . You're a loser Larry and that can't be blamed on FOX.
He is a self proclaimed
Submitted by DWoSD on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 4:02pm.
He is a self proclaimed socialist which is a foriegn born doctrine incompatible with our heritage of free market capitalism. There...unamerican by action.
Whatever is left of his audience, by extension must be socialist or worse in their beliefs, which is a contribution to the subversion of American values. Of course these people are blooming idiots but never the less traitors to America.
These MSNBC idiot know all
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 4:49pm.
These MSNBC idiot know all their heads are on the block and they are doing their best at inciting hatred in hopes BOR or Rush will mention them in odere to keep them on life support a little longer.
The audience may be gullible but they aren't gullible enough to watch you larry.