MSNBC marks its 10th year on the air this summer, but there isn't a lot to celebrate. Even with the muscle of NBC News behind it, the cable news network has lagged in third place behind Fox News Channel and CNN in recent years. The powers that be at 30 Rock hope to jump-start the operation with the surprising appointment of Dan Abrams as its new general manager. The network legal correspondent and host of The Abrams Report will run the day-to-day operation and report to Phil Griffin, a senior executive at NBC News who also keeps his eye on Today. The Biz talked to Abrams, son of well-known First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, about his new job behind the camera.
TVGuide.com: So how was that first day?Dan Abrams: A lot of phone calls. A lot of interviews. But also a lot of walking around. I'm trying to make it cl
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Who put the overly amorous boss from The 40 Year Old Virgin in charge of a dating service?! Part of the credit goes to Will & Grace's Eric McCormack, one of the executive producers of the Lifetime series Lovespring International (premiering tonight at 11 pm/ET). In this improv comedy, Jane Lynch plays Victoria, the head of an "elite Beverly Hills" dating service... based out of Tarzana, California... whose staffers are as pathetic as its pretend pedigree. At the
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Maybe it's just a coincidence: As President Bush's approval ratings are tanking, Chris Matthews' ratings are surging. Compared to a year ago, the February audiences for his MSNBC show, Hardball, doubled at 5 pm/ET, and the repeat at 7 was up significantly as well. If that's too early for you, Hardball is getting a special repeat airing at 11 pm the week of March 6. Soon the show will be hitting the road to cover the major 2006 races in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The president's misfortunes mean there's a strong chance the House could end up back in the control of the Democrats, making it a compelling year for political junkies. But when it comes to politics, every year is compelling to Matthews, who recently spoke with the Biz.
TVGuide.com: It's been said that President Bush likes the sport of politics — that's what gets his blood pumping. Do you think he cares about low approval ratings or what people think about him now that
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As a boy, Sean McManus stood nearby as his sportscaster father, Jim McKay, reported live on the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. ABC Sports president Roone Arledge was overseeing the network's extraordinary coverage and would eventually take over the network's news division, building it into an industry leader. So it was hard not to refer to Arledge when McManus, president of CBS Sports since 1996, added CBS News to his portfolio. He takes over for Andrew Heyward on Nov. 7. The Biz recently spoke to McManus about the challenges he faces in his new job.
TVGuide.com: You must be pleased with the comparisons to Roone Arledge, especially because he and your father put ABC News on the map with the Munich coverage.Sean McManus: The biggest event in my father's professional career happened to be a news event, not a sports event, and I was lucky enough to spend that entire period in the stud
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Is it just me, or does it still seem weird to see Alan Alda as the first credit in the opening of The West Wing? Maybe it's because he's practically been invisible this season. Well, tonight the focus shifts to the Vinick camp. After two weeks of watching the learning curve of young Matt Santos, we get to see behind the curtain of a seasoned pro. Granted, the professionalism of "multitasking" is questionable. (Another reason to be glad I work at TV Guide: no meetings at the urinals.) Alda is ideal at playing the compromise inherent to big-time politics. You can see the wheels turning as he decides not to go negative or to court the Latino vote. He's a guy struggling between the need to do the right thing and his overwhelming desire to win, and it's this kind of tension that has always been at the heart of the show. It would be easy to portray the Republicans just as treacherous enemies. However, Vinick's staffers come off as thinking people of conviction (even
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