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What are the good political disucssion shows?
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Posted by: Philosofy

I had a place I used to go to with a bunch of intelligent, polite people with a wide spectrum of views and philosophies to discuss current events, but now that place is gone. Are there any good political shows out there that present both sides of an issue in an intelligent way?

Posted by: sieglinde

Chris Mathews show is very polite, both his daily hour long show and is weekend half an hour show. MSNBC for the Hardball show and NBC and CNBC for the Chris Mathews Show.

Posted by: Todd

The second half-hour of Special Report with Brit Hume on Foxnews. 6:30 on weeknights...

Posted by: kitsap

My favorite political shows currently are Meet the Press (in the interview category) and The Chris Matthews Show (in the discussion category). Tim Russert (on MTP) does his pre-interview homework better than anyone on television; Chris Matthews has a good mix of insightful journalists on his weekly show.

Of course, Matthews also hosts the daily "Hardball" show, which is a different thing altogether. While I also like that quite a bit, it's easy to dislike it because he's just "over the top" so much of the time. Still, Hardball has excellent guests with varying viewpoints. Yes, Matthews spends a lot of time with his volume cranked up, interrupting people: Unlike a lot of such shows, however, he doesn't seem to be yelling out his political agenda at other people; he just really tries to control the course of where the discussion goes and keep it focussed on point, and he does this with an extremely firm hand. Thus Hardball is a very qualified recommendation, because I can easily see how he can irritate the heck out of many people ... but I find it to be worth the trouble.

Great topic; I look forward to other views.

Edit: I was still typing when sieglinde posted. Perhaps I'm "too hard on Hardball"? :)

Posted by: JAJ

I think the best show by far is The McLaughlin Group. The best person (most fair, not slanted amazingly one way or the other) on that show is Lawrence O'Donnell from MSNBC?

Posted by: YCantAngieRead

Wonder how long it'll take for this thread to be zapped... Just in case it doesn't, I'd vote for Anderson Cooper's show on MSNBC, but I'm not sure how well it shows both sides-it just kinda shows the side I agree with most. :) McLaughlin group, as mentioned above is good for all sides.

Posted by: jsmeeker

Cooper is on CNN.

Posted by: jasoncarr

quote:
Originally posted by Philosofy
I had a place I used to go to with a bunch of intelligent, polite people with a wide spectrum of views and philosophies to discuss current events, but now that place is gone. Are there any good political shows out there that present both sides of an issue in an intelligent way?

Washington Week on PBS. Civil and intelligent. Tackles topics like McLaughlin group but without the shouting and interrupting.

Posted by: kitsap

quote:
Originally posted by jasoncarr
Washington Week on PBS. Civil and intelligent. Tackles topics like McLaughlin group but without the shouting and interrupting.

I can't believe I forgot to mention that one. Yes, it is excellent, and I hereby amend my previous response to include it. It's not really a give-and-take between different sides, however, but more of an attempt at pure news reporting and analysis, so I guess I'll add it as a "third category" in my nominations.

(I also agree with JAJ that Lawrence O'Donnell is the best part of The McLaughlin Group. That show has a really high "windbag factor," but O'Donnell is really good.)

Posted by: wmcbrine

My biggest problem with the bulk of the political shows on now isn't that they're rude and simplistic -- though they are. It's that, even when they aren't, they tend to focus on the "horse race" stuff, rather than substance. I.E., they'll talk about strategies; what canditates are doing, or ought to do, to appeal to what type of voters -- but not about what policies are right or wrong. In fact, I almost have to rate the shouting match shows higher in that respect.

My favorite show in this category right now is "Now with Bill Moyers", but that's because I'm a lefty. :-) They do have quite a variety of guests, though, and there's no shouting. They get more in-depth than average.

But the best political stuff is on C-SPAN. No particular show, except "Book Notes"; but they broadcast in-depth coverage, unfiltered, of speakers from all perspectives. You even get to see things like the British/Canadian/Irish legislatures, or the Libertarian Party convention. The biggest problem is that the schedule (at least on DirecTV) is nearly useless; almost everything shows up as "Public Affairs". But it's easy for me to tune in at any random time and get hooked for an hour or two.

Posted by: sieglinde

I didn't mention McLaughlin Group because the person who started this thread wanted "civil" discussion. :)

Posted by: jwjody

Just don't get this thread deleted before I get home so I can set up recordings for some of the suggestions here.

J

Posted by: devdogaz

Hannity and Colmes on Fox News has hosts from both sides of the spectrum and they bring in guests of all types and viewpoints. Very often the guests are primarily interviewed by the host with the opposing viewpoint so you get to hear all sides. Hannity is more aggressive and therefore the show leans a little bit right, but it's pretty fair to both viewpoints.

Posted by: dswallow

There are no good political discussion shows. The shows that purport to be such a thing are really more geared to showing conflict; the audience wants to see conflict... they don't care what's discussed.

Without the ability to participate yourself, the shows are worthless.

Posted by: Marco

Fridays on The News Hour on PBS you get several minutes of political analysis with Mark Shields and David Brooks, who do an excellent job of discussing what's going on without shouting at each other.

It's definitely worth a manual recording on *my* TiVo. :up:

Posted by: Bradc314

quote:
Originally posted by dswallow
There are no good political discussion shows. The shows that purport to be such a thing are really more geared to showing conflict; the audience wants to see conflict... they don't care what's discussed.

Without the ability to participate yourself, the shows are worthless.

Doug and I agree. It's no fun watching, you've got to participate.

(How's THAT for sig fodder??)

Posted by: Doh

quote:
Originally posted by dswallow
There are no good political discussion shows. The shows that purport to be such a thing are really more geared to showing conflict; the audience wants to see conflict... they don't care what's discussed.

Without the ability to participate yourself, the shows are worthless.

what about that sunday pbs show with gwen ifill? (washington week in review maybe?). i don't watch it much, but it seems at least like intelligent discussion.

Posted by: ncsercs

The O'Reilly Factor.......

Posted by: dswallow

quote:
Originally posted by ncsercs
The O'Reilly Factor.......

The OP wanted "good" not "conflict-filled". :D

Posted by: jones07

Chris Matthews
Chris Matthew's Hardball
McLaughlin Group on PBS
Washington Week on PBS

Posted by: skanter

quote:
Originally posted by devdogaz
Hannity and Colmes on Fox News has hosts from both sides of the spectrum and they bring in guests of all types and viewpoints. Very often the guests are primarily interviewed by the host with the opposing viewpoint so you get to hear all sides. Hannity is more aggressive and therefore the show leans a little bit right, but it's pretty fair to both viewpoints.

Hope this is not political, but I read somewhere that the show's marquee could look like this:

Hannity and Colmes

;)

Posted by: dswallow

quote:
Originally posted by skanter
Hope this is not political, but I read somewhere that the show's marquee could look like this:

Hannity and Colmes

;)

Having been a guest on a few of the Fox News programs, they go all out to make it appear like they;re giving opposing viewpoints, but the discussion is slanted towards whichever element of it they think creates the most controversy and questions are stilted heavily in that direction. The opportunity to really discuss or debate the topic is very directed and very much non-existent. The best you usually come out with is one or two lines where you just said what you needed to say, ignoring the question you were supposed to answer and figuring that at least people now know there's an opposing viewpoint.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still rather have the chance of actually presenting my viewpoint, but their shows are hardly providing any sort of equality to be considered anywhere close to unbiased, like something on the order of 60 Minutes' point/counter-point (do they still do that?).

Posted by: ncsercs

quote:
Originally posted by dswallow
The OP wanted "good" not "conflict-filled". :D

That's half the fun. :D

Posted by: Dashel

I regularly watch To the Contrary on PBS. It's "A discussion of issues from a variety of women's perspectives." Think CNN's Crossfire but all the commentators are female (2 conservatives, 2 liberals and the moderate-to-liberal host, Bonnie Erbe) and they're usually more polite/civil. I do miss the likes of ultra-liberal Julianne Malveaux and ultra-conservative Jan Parshall (both of whom really fired up things), but it's still a pretty good show that informs me about some real issues.

Posted by: steuert

I also like Chris Matthews (both weekdays and weekends), and the McLaughlin Group - although I could do nicely without Eleanor Clift's raspy, whiney screeching. Washington Week is, as pointed out above, mostly a straight recap of the news without much discussion, let alone debate.

I used to watch O'Reilly, but his bullying interview style now turns me off: O'R: "What say you, Mr. Guest?" Guest "Well, I . . " O'R (interrupting): I think - blah, blah blah. . ." He also characterizes anyone who won't appear on his show as "Hiding under their desks," while anybody who does come on is automatically a "Stand-up Guy" e.g., Rosie O'Donnel.

Posted by: Dmon4u

Most shows on Politics are like dead fish on the beach, they stink and are hard to take for long.

I've grown accustomed to the hard humor of the "Tough Crowd show: http://www.comcentral.com/tv_shows/colinquinn/

It's amazing the amount of truth that can be found in Comedy opposed to the 'seriousness' of any speech by the politicos.

Posted by: LoadStar

Just to correct the post earlier in this thread - "The Chris Matthews Show" is distributed by NBC, but is syndicated. (It airs locally on SE Wisconsin's ABC affiliate on Sundays, right after This Week.)

Posted by: dirtypacman

I would say look into the "Talk Radio" in your area. I do not think any of the political talk show on television are worth watching.

Posted by: hughvh

The panel on Real Time with Bill Maher is usually pretty good. One person from the left, one from the right, and one actor. I really liked last week's panel with Ian McKellen.

I don't care for Maher's skits or monologue. Those are filled with cheap shots to get a few laughs. They have no intellectual substance

Posted by: Talon

Hannity and Colmes.

Posted by: ThomasDrew

I enjoy "Crossfire"..in fact, I've even set up a season pass for it, since it rarely conflicts with anything in that 4:30 timeslot.

I definitely prefer the Begala-Carlsson pairings to the Carville-Novak element. Too much shouting and nastiness with those two.... Paul Begala is a favorite of mine, and Carlsson, while I rarely agree with him, usually affords guests the respect that they deserve, regardless of their viewpoint.

As for Hannity and Colmes, I can't bear to watch that patsy Alan Colmes take it on the chin and not fight back. He might as well wear a skirt to work.

Posted by: skanter

quote:
Originally posted by ThomasDrew
I enjoy "Crossfire"..in fact, I've even set up a season pass for it, since it rarely conflicts with anything in that 4:30 timeslot.

I definitely prefer the Begala-Carlsson pairings to the Carville-Novak element. Too much shouting and nastiness with those two.... Paul Begala is a favorite of mine, and Carlsson, while I rarely agree with him, usually affords guests the respect that they deserve, regardless of their viewpoint.

As for Hannity and Colmes, I can't bear to watch that patsy Alan Colmes take it on the chin and not fight back. He might as well wear a skirt to work.

That's:

Hannity & Colmes

;)

Posted by: skanter

I you want the center, Charlie Rose is pretty good...

Posted by: skanter

quote:
Originally posted by hughvh
The panel on Real Time with Bill Maher is usually pretty good. One person from the left, one from the right, and one actor. I really liked last week's panel with Ian McKellen.

I don't care for Maher's skits or monologue. Those are filled with cheap shots to get a few laughs. They have no intellectual substance

I agree. Using humor to make a political point is fine, but Maher and others are more interested in the laughs than making a substantial point. You end up with a mishmosh of jokes and politics, with little meaning.

Posted by: Jacquelyn

Is anyone watching Dennis Miller's show on CNBC? I loved his HBO show and was looking forward to seeing him on TV again. Some of the segments have been good but he seems to be having trouble finding his footing. I hope it gets better.

Posted by: kdaveler

Miller is OK but the problem seems to be that are stealing formats and all of them stink. The only debate that is adult is the one's they have on PBS news hour, IMHO.

Ken