Rachel Maddow Gets Own Show, Replaces Abrams

It's about time:

Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election, MSNBC is shaking up its prime-time programming lineup, removing the long-time host –- and one-time general manager of the network — Dan Abrams from his 9 p.m. program and replacing him with Rachel Maddow, who has emerged as a favored political commentator for the all-news cable channel.

The moves, which were confirmed by MSNBC executives Tuesday, are expected to be finalized by Wednesday, with Mr. Abrams’s last program on Thursday. After MSNBC’s extensive coverage of the two political conventions during the next two weeks, Ms. Maddow will begin her program on Sept. 8.

Abrams will stay on as general manager, daytime anchor and MSNBC correspondent.

Rachel on her new gig:

“This is great; getting a regular cable show is something I’ve wanted,” Ms. Maddow said. She acknowledged that the intensity of the presidential race meant that will remain the focus through the election and probably for the first 100 days of a new administration.

But she said she would likely reshape the show as more of a general news program after “this political Christmas” has come to an end. That is the kind of show she does on Air America, and she will continue that show after she joins MSNBC, she said.

A month ago, the New York Times dubbed Maddow the "host apparent". Rebecca Traister's article for The Nation two weeks later also explained why so many are gaga about Rachel:

Her specialty was making Tucker Carlson's head explode, or getting under Buchanan's skin until all he could do was gibber at her about socialism...

Unlike her beautiful, bilious conservative female counterparts or the cocksure boys-on-the-bus analysts, however, Maddow didn't get here by bluster and bravado but with a combination of crisp thinking and galumphing good cheer. Remarkably, this season's discovery isn't a glossy matinee idol or a smooth-talking partisan hack but a PhD Rhodes scholar lesbian policy wonk who started as a prison AIDS activist.

Wow, an actual liberal with her own tv show, imagine that. Congrats, Rachel!

More reactions at Memeorandum.

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