MSNBC has finalized its plans for its new 3 PM show. It will be called “The Cycle,” and will be a panel ensemble show hosted by MSNBC contributors S.E. Cupp, Touré, Krystal Ball and Steve Kornacki. MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan announced the program at the end of his 4-5 PM show. Ratigan will be leaving MSNBC, with Martin Bashir moving to his timeslot, hence the opening at 3 PM.
If “The Cycle” sounds an awful lot like Fox News Channel’s “The Five,” that’s because it is a lot like “The Five,” except there will be four hosts instead of five. As it happens, when Ratigan was introducing the team, he referred to them as “The Four,” twice, and did not mention that the show was actually called “The Cycle.”
Of course, “The Five” is a knockoff of “The View,” which is in turn a knockoff of the many ensemble shows that came before it. What “The Five” did do though was prove than an ensemble show could work with a political focus on cable news, though one could also argue that the old “Crossfire” paved the way too.
The Huffington Post talked to EP Steve Friedman about the show.
“Cable television is programs about the news,” he said. “it’s no longer the news. Nobody turns on to find out what happens, because they already know from you guys. What people are interested in is listening and watching people give their take.”