Could Keith Olbermann Resurface On An Aaron Sorkin TV Show?
Could the fired MSNBC pundit find a new life in TV comedy?
By Devin Faraci Jan. 22, 2011
I guess Keith Olbermann got fired yesterday from MSNBC. This is apparently big news for people who remain interested in the opinions of blowhards, which Olbermann assuredly was, no matter how much we agreed on issues. But if you think Olbermann is just going to disappear now that he's been canned I would say you're deluded. In fact the rumors about his next gig have already surfaced, although I find them hard to believe.
According to Entertainment Weekly Olbermann could resurface on a TV show that Aaron Sorkin has been working on for some time. The new show would be sort of like Sports Night with political pundits, a behind the scenes look at a talking heads show*. Olbermann, a source tells the magazine, could write some of the political rants that one of the pundits would unleash.
The reason why this seems so unlikely is because even Olbermann was surprised to be getting fired. Could he have lost his job late Friday afternoon and have a new one early Saturday? Also, there's no telling what the future of this project is, or how close Sorkin is to having the pilot written. Finally, I suspect that Aaron Sorkin can write his own political dialogue. The guy's kind of proved it in spades on The West Wing. Might Olbermann come in as a consultant? I guess. Sorkin spent time lurking behind the scenes on Olbermann's show while researching the pilot, so they know each other well.
We'll see. For me the Olbermann stuff is a blip - it's a new Sorkin TV series that excites me.
* not the David Byrne kind
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