MSNBC's "Three Pipe Problem"

No shit, Sherlock!

Page Six: The secretive hiring of Ed Schultz by MSNBC executives has thrown the cable channel into a panic. On Wednesday, Keith Olbermann announced on his show that Schultz would be getting his own liberal, "politically oriented show" in the 6 p.m. time slot -- bumping David Shuster's "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" to the 3-to-5 p.m. slot. The move forced "MSNBC Live," hosted by the net's chief Washington correspondent, Norah O'Donnell, out of the 3 p.m. position. "It's ridiculous," an insider said. "They told us all about the changes at 8:50 p.m. -- 10 minutes before they told the rest of the world. And poor Norah. What's she going to do now? She's been crying all night and day. Just out of the blue, they take her show away. Nice, real nice." Other employees are scared for their jobs.

"They also quietly hired Carlos Watson [above] as an anchor but won't say for what show yet," our source said. "So everyone is wondering who else is going to be bumped." Watson, who had been trying to get a show called "Interviews with Carlos Watson" on the air, now does an hour at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. "He's black, and they want to have a more multicultural appearance on air," the source said. "He's going to be a much bigger player there than he is now. But everyone else just wants to know: At whose expense?" A rep for MSNBC said, "Norah will be anchoring a morning hour on 'Dayside.' Carlos Watson was announced as a 'Dayside' anchor; we haven't announced any specific hour that he'll be anchoring yet."

MSNBC greased the skids for Watson with multiple appearances on "Morning Joe." I'm shocked it has taken so long for MSNBC to give a black host an anchor gig... Carlos has that Obama look going on, y'think?

"Excellent!" Phil Griffin cried. "Elementary," said Watson. Phil: "You know my methods, Watson."