As TVNewser first reported on Friday, CNN is mulling a return of “Crossfire,” the long-running political debate show that was canceled in 2005. It isn’t entirely clear when (or if) CNN will give the official go-ahead, and who would be involved in the new program, although we hear CNN’s current political contributor lineup would likely fill the roles.
That said, The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone spoke to a number of former “Crossfire” hosts, and all agreed that bringing the show back is a good idea. They also took issue with the comments made by Jon Stewart on the program, when he said it was “Hurting America.”
“In a city that’s run with interest groups and lobbyists and gerrymandering, and money and everything else, the idea that somehow or another the whole thing was brought down from 4 to 4:30 Eastern on CNN is completely asinine,” said James Carville, a Democratic strategist and former “Crossfire” co-host who recently left the network.
Advertisement“There are a lot of things that contribute to the problems in this country,” Carville added. “’Crossfire’ wasn’t one of them.”
[Bill] Press, who also wrote about the show in The Hill, said the original “Crossfire” was “the best political debate show ever on television” and “canceling it was the stupidest decision ever on television.”“Jon Stewart did not kill ‘Crossfire.’ CNN killed ‘Crossfire,’” Press said. “They created this baby Crossfire, kiddie Crossfire, moved it to [George Washington University] and turned it into a gong show.”
“The real tragedy was killing the original ‘Crossfire,’” Press said. “It’s also a classic case of, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”