A versatile personality: Is TV hosting Rev. Sharpton's next career move?

Rev. Al Sharpton

 “For the past two weeks civil rights activists  Rev. Al Sharpton has been sitting in on MSNBC’s 6 p.m. time slot for the network’s regular host, Cenk Uyger, who has been on an extended vacation.  He is scheduled to come back next Monday. But the Rev has been a natural on the show.

 Cenk Uyger

He’s had years of TV experience, albeit as a  presidential candidate, leading marching, preaching about injustice.  The Rev. is no stranger to TV. Love him or hate him, you have to admit he knows how to play to TV better than anyone else around.”  (indieWIRE  blog network)
 
I love it!  Sharpton is not letting politicians and TV savvy guests get away with answering questions he did not ask. He always veer back to the question he asked. I think the other MSNBC hosts should observe him, and learn more about the art of the interview, as conducted by the so-called "amateur, the new kid on the block."

According to a couple of articles I’ve read his ratings are already shooting upwards. Sharpton is coming in behind FOX and CNN, and that ain’t bad! It’s better than the host he is substituting for.

It's so funny to watch guests and pundits get exasperated, trying to retain their cool when Sharpton backs them into a  corner. The majority of the regulars on these shows are used to spouting misinformation about the president and politics. One pundits who agrees with whoever the host is on any given show, refuses to agree with Sharpton, no matter what he say. This pundit has been very critical of Sharpton in his editorials.

I love to watch Sharpton pull his critics back into the fold, letting them know he has done his homework. Unlike some  hosts on MSNBC, Sharpton does not go on the attack with those he disagrees with. Many of his guests formed personal opinions about him long ago, and they come on the show ready to confront him.  They do not understand that the civil rights activist has the intelligence to step out of that suit, and into another when the cameras start rolling. They to think he does not deserve to a TV show. I believe they like the "other" Sharpton;  the one they have long since labeled him an angry fraud, race baiter and race hustler. Wait! That's what Daivd Brooks, columnist for the Washington Post--said about President Obama two years ago!

I hope MSNBC will keep Sharpton on to host the show. As  expected the media are not willing to give him credit for doing a good job. I read today that Cenk Uygur said he voluntarily quit the show. He said he was offered an earlier time slot. On Thursday he is supposed to hold a press conference to explain his departure. That should be interesting to watch.

In its July 20 edition New York Times wrote: "Mr. Uygur, who by most accounts was well liked within MSNBC, said in an interview that he turned down the new contract because he felt Mr. Griffin had been the recipient of political pressure. In April he said Mr. Griffin 'called me into his office and said that he’d been talking to people in Washington, and that they did not like my tone.'

"He said he guessed Mr. Griffin was referring to White House officials, though he had no evidence for the assertion. He also said that Mr. Griffin said the channel was part of the establishment, and that you need to act like it.  MSNBC is home to many hosts who criticize President Obama and other Democrats from a progressive point of view, but at times Mr. Uygur could be especially harsh."

Al Sharpton with his mentor, role model and friend the late James Brown, the hardest working man in show business. They had a long friendship until Brown's death. Sharpton, when he first met Brown, admired his hair so much he began wearing his hair in the same style.