So what do you do if you’re a news channel that needs to promote a new show hosted by a comedy actor with a colorful tabloid past? If you’re MSNBC and the host is Alec Baldwin, you ditch the straight news playbook and play to the star’s comedic strengths while acknowledging that past.
MSNBC unveiled the first promo for their new Friday night current affairs and culture talker “Up Late with Alec Baldwin” on Tuesday. Baldwin’s new MSNBC colleague Ed Schultz sets up the pitch: “Responding to criticism, MSNBC has turned to a man who can restore balance to an unbalanced network.” Schultz goes on to describe Baldwin as someone who “values reason over passion” and can “keep his emotions in check.”
Those who aren’t in on the joke may need to be reminded that Baldwin has earned a reputation as somewhat of loose cannon when it comes to those emotions. In 2007, Baldwin was famously caught in a taped tirade referring to his then 11-year old daughter with ex-wife Kim Basinger as a “thoughtless little pig.”
“Up Late with Alec Baldwin” premieres on MSNBC on Oct. 11 at 10pm ET.
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