“Freak Show After Freak Show”

Guess who Tom Shales is talking about in his year-end column for TV Week:

“When the sun goes down and the tide comes out, something funny happens to basic cable: It turns into AM radio. A large number of channels drop the pretext that they have anything that needs to be seen and become something that needs only to be heard (if that). It’s talk show after talk show on Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, Court TV, CNN, Headline News.

It’s also freak show after freak show: a loud-mouthed lawyer who manages to have a prejudicial pronouncement ready for every case she considers; a potbellied baldy who in the guise of giving stock tips, runs wildly around the studio ranting and waving (his arms) and shouting “boo-yaa!”; the Fox gallery of thugs and wackos who mug their own guests if the guest dares to question Fox’s dogma of the day; and, yes, many more.”