CNN's twinkie Erin Burnett's 7p numbers continue to be unimpressive on the third night out of the box.
Variety's Brian Lowry sums up critics' universal scorn:
"Burnett does appear to have been a terrible choice for her new role,
on a program oddly titled "Erin Burnett OutFront." Out front of what,
exactly? Burnett comes across like she's running for
class president at her junior high. Overly animated, and seemingly
under-informed, it's as if she's trying to approximate what Megyn Kelly's dim-witted sister would be like. Burnett cut her teeth covering financial news, but thus far she appears
wildly out of her depth. And this is one hire that CNN can't blame on
former prez Jon Klein."
(H/t Wayne J. Svantner)
*"America's Choice" was Jon Stewart's Nov. 4, 2008 election special. Election night "co-anchor" Stephen Colbert:
"America's Choice? That's not the name of an election special. That's a generic supermarket brand. They make, like, raisin flakes and twinkies." Abe Sauer Brand Channel
I haven't watched Burnett go up in flames. My take comes from MSNBC's Morning Joe where Scarborough introduced her frequent appearances with the annoyingly obsequious
"International Superstar Erin Burnett." On MSNBC I found Burnett light in the Louboutins, snotty, arrogant, condescending, self-absorbed. Apparently Burnett and CNN believed the hype tripe, promoting Burnett and the show like Hollywood movie premiere. Burnett is the latest on a short list of CNN Peter Principle hires rising to the level of their incompetence.
A Kathy Griffin hand puppet would confer more gravitas than comely cretin Burnett.
Baltimore Sun TV guru David Zurawik: “She comes across as self-satisfied, smug, privileged. . . . Don't they [CNN management] understand how Cooper earned his
authority -- and how she absolutely hasn't? Do they think you can
manufacture moral and cultural authority in a Manhattan office building
and confer it on someone like the Pope handing out a blessing when you
give them a nightly show? Didn't they learn anything from the Spitzer
debacle? And don't they understand where this nation is and the
desperate pain it is in?”
Doesn't anyone at CNN know about Google? America's Choice is a real estate company.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Zurawik's questions: No, no, yes, yes, no, and no.
ReplyDeleteProbably till January.
ReplyDeleteGranted, she has a nice pair of empemerals...
ReplyDeleteThey're all self satisfied and smug. That's what led to Mark Halperin's dick comment. Cooper's the same way, as are most on MSNBC. Shuster and Olbermann and all their guests. They're all wannabe Stewarts,/Gawker mediaites, and it is nauseating to watch. So I don't see the point in singling out Burnett.
ReplyDeleteThe proble with the Playboy Club,- and I thought Amber Heard was something to look at, - is that Showtime and HBO and regular cable now supply better plots with more exposed flesh. So why bother with the the watered down version.
Erin Burnett was the sex bomb on CNBC. I can't blame her or CNN for going for it. But it's not enought to be a pretty face anymore. Campbell Brown was pretty, so was Paula Zahn. You need a standout identity. Not more interviews with the same hacks and the same snark.
Fox and Howard Stern always benefitted from the fact that they stood out to the point where people hated them. That boosted their brand even further. GBTV already has 250,000 thou paid subscribers.
Cheap imitations have never worked. No reason to think they will now.