In reviewing the Best Television of the Decade on Sunday, Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales named one day’s live news coverage (9/11), six TV shows, and three people – Tina Fey, Rachel Maddow, and Barack Obama. Shales honored Fey (at number 3) for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, with special emphasis on the genius of "a detour to play the role she seemed born for, Alaska politician and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin." Then came the other lefties:
7. Rachel Maddow blossomed forth on the revamped MSNBC and proved that the political left doesn't have to be locked out of TV by the garrulous right.
8. Barack Obama, a president as ideally suited for the new information age (the one that has supplanted the old information age) as his predecessor, George W. Bush, was ill-equipped. Also unlike Bush, Obama seemed to thrive under TV lights, and spent more time under them than any president to precede him.
To Shales, his "President Wonderful" just gets better the more and more he appears on television. He is never overexposed, and he never underperforms.
As for Maddow "blossoming," Shales may not be referring to her ratings. They dropped off seriously from October 2008 to October 2009 (down 65 percent in the 25-54 demographic prized by advertisers).
