“The Ed Show” Premiere: Post-Mortem

By SteveK 

Ed Schultz’ new 6pmET MSNBC show premiered last night, and so far the reaction to “The Ed Show” on the Web has been mixed. We’ll have ratings soon, but first, here’s a look at some first-night thoughts:

• Variety’s Brian Lowry thought MSNBC wants Schultz “to be its Glenn Beck.” Although he thought the show might “gradually right itself,” Lowry writes the first night consisted of “talking to people coached to speak with the kind of speed and urgency normally reserved for the gameshow ‘$100,000 Pyramid.'”

• NewscastStudio.com goes in depth about the “look” of the show. “Producers are making liberal use of fancy camera moves similar to those seen on ‘The Rachel Maddow’ show, often incorporating the studio’s mobile plasma cars into sweeping shots,” writes Michael P. Hill. And how about this detail: “The tall LCD array that is often used to create the illusion of a window looking over Rockefeller Plaza was creatively used to display moving colored bars mimicking the spikes seen on an audio board, a subtle nod to Schultz’s radio roots.”

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• Jerry Remmers, columnist at The Moderate Voice, thought Schultz was “a decent addition” to MSNBC. “I like the format and theme of ‘The Ed Show.’ Schultz has a long way to go to finesse and fine tune it,” he writes. “The opening editorial or commentary segment is entertaining with room to grow on substantive issues. But, he cannot be Mr. Nice Guy and allow guest answers to circumvent his questions.”

> Update: The premiere delivered 247,000 viewers in the A25-54 demo and 725,000 Total Viewers. It was 3rd in the time slot in both categories. In the demo, the program was up 86% from March 2009 and up 96% from April 2008.

Click continued to see the first segment of “The Ed Show,” the “Op-Ed,” and leave your thoughts in the comments…

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