Keith Olbermann Returns to TV Tonight: What To Expect

New freedom from a new channel means Olbermann's "Olbermann-ness" is going to skyrocket -- great news for progressives.
June 19, 2011

Keith Olbermann is the kind of person who is unfailingly himself at all times. Whether on television or in interviews, he never seems like he's putting us on, and he's gained a huge, dedicated fanbase for being an unwavering, concise, passionate, intense and sometimes outrageous person.

But when "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" returns to the small screen tonight, the show will be more “Olbermann” than ever. Armed with the new freedom that comes from broadcasting on an independent station like Al Gore’s Current TV, Olbermann will be able to more comfortably express himself. Which is not to say he was hemmed in too much at MSNBC. Earlier this month, he told Rolling Stone that they never censored him. (“What were they going to do about it? It was live,” said Olbermann. “I will say this. Nobody ever said: If you say this, you're going to be fired.")

But a quick glance at his new roster of contributors hints that the resurrected "Countdown" is stretching out in its newly broad boundaries. For one, comedian Richard Lewis -- the acerbic Brooklynite known for his all-black outfits and sniping sarcasm -- is scheduled to be a regular on the show. “Comedians,” Olbermann told Rolling Stone, “are the only ones paid to tell the truth in public discourse. Everybody else—politicians, news broadcasters, religious figures—we're all paid to be oracles, when in fact we are like a good public-relations man. A good public-relations man keeps you away from the public, and if you have relations, he keeps that hidden.”
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