Olbermann (TV series)


Olbermann was a television sports talk show hosted by Keith Olbermann on the American cable network ESPN2. The show, broadcast live daily from Times Square Studios in New York City, premiered on August 26, 2013, and featured Olbermann offering commentary and analysis on issues in the sports world.
Olbermann was originally a sixty-minute nightly program, usually starting at 11:00 PM Eastern. For a brief period of time, specifically during the ESPN networks’ coverage of the Australian Open, the show temporarily aired at 6:00 PM in a thirty-minute format. During this period a repeat of the program aired on ESPNEWS at 2:00 AM.
In September 2014, Olbermann was moved from its nightly spot to a late afternoon time slot and began airing at 5:00 PM Eastern in a thirty-minute format. ESPNEWS added two additional repeat airings; the first aired at 6:30 p.m., the second one in the usual 2:00 a.m. slot, and the last at 5:00 a.m.
On July 10, 2015, two days after ESPN declined to renew his expiring contract, Olbermann announced on air that the series would be coming to an end on July 24. The announcement came after The Hollywood Reporter claimed that ESPN wanted Olbermann to tone down his critical commentary, but the network claimed the move was to cut costs related to Olbermann's salary and the use of the space at Times Square Studios, claims later confirmed by an aborted move of Mike & Mike to the same facility and releases of other network talent at the end of their contracts throughout 2015 and into 2016.

Background

Olbermann marked the second tour of duty for Keith Olbermann with the ESPN organization, having served as a popular co-anchor of the main network's SportsCenter between 1992 and 1997; it's also Olbermann's second stint at ESPN's secondary network, ESPN2, where he briefly served as original anchor of the network's SportsNight in 1993-1994. In the decade before Olbermann's debut, Olbermann gained notice as an anchor/commentator on hard news and political discussion, serving as host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, which aired on MSNBC and, briefly, Current TV.
Since Olbermann's return to the ESPN family was formally announced in July 2013, much mention had been made in media coverage of the anchor's abrasive off-screen demeanor and his acrimonious partings with several of his previous employers, including his 1997 departure from ESPN. Both Olbermann and ESPN executives had reported "no friction" between them in the run-up to Olbermann's debut ; the anchor himself has owned up to his tempestuous past and his efforts to rebuild bridges with his old colleagues. Olbermann had also indicated he is happy returning to covering sports on a regular basis, telling The New York Times, "If you cover politics for eight years without interruption like I did, you need a change."

Format

The format rundown below was the format in use when the show was reduced to thirty minutes.
Politics are not entirely off limits on Olbermann; rebuffing a report from The New York Times claiming that he was contractually forbidden from speaking about politics on the show, Olbermann said, "There’s nothing preventing me from doing it other than common sense," although he hinted that some aspects of politics would be covered if it crosses paths with the sports world.
The original sixty-minute format included all of the above segments, with the exception that there were two rounds of Keith Lights segments; the first recapped sports action to that point in the program and included the top sports news of the day while the second added any additional action that had been completed in the intervening time.
In October 2013 Olbermann adopted a more rigid format. The opening monologue and format rundown switched places, with Olbermann starting the show with the list of topics and introducing the program with "Olbermann is next, by the way, I'm Olbermann." In April 2014, the show again flipped the order of the monologue and the rundown so that the monologue returns to its cold open style and the rundown leads into the first commercial. For the show's finale, Olbermann, instead of opening with a monologue, explained "his crack staff did everything for me today so I don't have to work", which immediately led into first guest Kareem-Abdul Jabbar.
Olbermann would close the show in the following manner.
Olbermann's signoff pays tribute to two people who influenced his life. After Chet Curtis, with whom Olbermann had worked at WCVB-TV in Boston when he was briefly the station's sportscaster in 1984, died in January 2014 Olbermann began adding the news close to his signoff and employed names of people featured earlier in the show.
Olbermann's signoff line is taken from Arthur Naething, an English teacher of Olbermann's at the Hackley School who used to say this to all of his students and who died in October 2014. Previously Olbermann signed off by using Edward R. Murrow's trademark "good night and good luck" signoff, which he had begun to use while at MSNBC, and had recently begun incorporating the phrase "hap'nin" in honor of his schoolmate Chris Berman. After signing off, Olbermann crumples what is left of his notes and tosses them at the camera, with the lens "shattering" for effect. In his final show on 24 July, Olbermann, after a long montage of hilarity and quirks, thanked all of his directors, artists, and colleagues. He then signed off by saying "Bye, Felicia" one last time and threw his signed Abdul-Jabbar basketball toward the camera to close the series.
When Olbermann first made the move to 5:00 PM, it coincided with a move of Outside the Lines to follow it on the schedule and at the end of the show, Olbermann would toss to Bob Ley in Bristol and briefly discuss the upcoming half-hour. The tosses were cut out of each subsequent reairing and dropped altogether when OTL moved back to ESPN

Former segments

Guest hosts have occasionally shown up on Olbermann for various reasons. These were initially done out of necessity due to Olbermann's previously announced commitment to anchor Turner Sports' coverage of the Major League Baseball postseason in October 2013. Larry King was the first substitute host, with Colin Cowherd and Jeremy Schaap following him. The format for these shows was largely scrapped, and Cowherd had his own segment at the end of the show where he ranked whether or not a sports figure was having a good day.
In early 2014, Olbermann suffered a bout of shingles and required some intermittent substitutes. The two most frequent were Adnan Virk and Pablo S. Torre, and in the former case the "Keith Lights" segments returned. When Torre substituted the shows were more interview driven. In both cases, the program would often be reduced in length to thirty minutes.
Other guest hosts have included Robert Flores, Bram Weinstein, Max Bretos, Jay Harris, Matt Barrie, Ryen Russillo, and Steve Weissman.

Suspension

Olbermann was suspended on February 24, 2015 for a week after he made disparaging comments on Twitter regarding Penn State and Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, which raises money for pediatric cancer. Adnan Virk and Pablo S. Torre hosted the show in his absence. Olbermann gave an apology for his Twitter comments on his first day back from suspension.

International broadcasts