Shepard Smith: I’m Gonna Go Away for a Bit

“When I eventually do return, I’ll be returning from the Fox News Deck.” Fox Report host Shepard Smith signed off Thursday from his evening show for good, sounding even more optimistic about his future at Fox News than Alan Colmes did when he left Hannity and Colmes for “greener pastures” five years ago.

Apparently making way for Megyn Kelly‘s imminent move to prime time, Shep bid adieu to his audience and announced the end of his evening show Thursday. In the final segment of Fox Report, Shep remarked, “I’ve been saying good night…for years and anchoring this newscast since 1999. But, for a while really, I’ve been well aware that most of you already know the news or much of it before we even sign on each evening.” Explicating the denouement of his Fox Report further, Shep said, “The world’s changed a lot in the last fourteen years: smartphones, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and all the rest: We get the news in real time across lots of platforms, and frankly, this concept of anchor in the box telling you what happened hasn’t change that much since the 1960’s. It’s time for something new: And, we’re gonna lead the way!”

Announcing a hiatus of unknown duration, Shep added, “So, I’m gonna go away for a bit and get my bum shoulder fixed.” Assuring his FNC fans that his departure would not be permanent, Shep declared, “When I eventually do return, I’ll be returning from the Fox News Deck.” Elaborating, he said, “From there we’ll fuse multiple platforms and bring the global resources of this amazing company including social media and digital content to the screen all at once. And, on its time, not on ours!”

Optimistically, he promised, “I’ll report whenever the news happens no matter what program is scheduled.”  Shaking his head for emphasis, Shep declared, “It’s the most exciting venture of my career. My team and I are pumped. And, I hope you’ll come along for the ride.”

Concluding somewhat sentimentally, Shep remarked, “So, Fox Report‘s going away in the next few weeks. It’s been an honor and a privilege to anchor this newscast. Bigger and better is coming with Shepard Smith reporting from the Fox News Deck.”

Shep on Fox News Deck: But, will Ailes’ promise mean a real chance for Shep to go to bat and get a hit for himself and Fox News? If so, good luck, Shep: Get a hit!

Banderas Recants Apology

And, deletes other related Tweets! After asserting her “passion for animal rights” and her decision not to run the Trampoline Bear video again on her weekend Fox Report last evening to her Twitter followers, Julie Banderas has taken it all back. I.e., she scrubbed her Twitter page of that particular Tweet, a follow-up one, and related reTweets. However, as Julie should know, the omitted Tweets and RT’s in chronological order can be found elsewhere, e.g., Muckrack.com, and are as follow:

JulieBanderas I’d like to go on the record by saying all who know me are aware of my passion for animal rights. I would never (cont) http://tl.gd/2ou3ct

JulieBanderas I decided to kill the video long before any writeups and PETA had nothing to do with it

JulieBanderas its the same video replayed RT @Nate592 : @JulieBanderas Is the bear alert always the same video or is it different ones?

JulieBanderas Thx! was on last wknd RT @Russell_Hansen :How could any1 ever believe u wouldn’t have only the deepest love 4 animals? I miss u being on fox!

Unfortunately, Julie has done a similar scrubbing to her Twitter page before when she caught flack from followers for support of Alan Colmes (after Red Eye‘s Andy Levy quit following Alan for his use of the derogatory term “teabaggers” for Tea Party members. After Carpe Diem’s “Julie: ‘I’m Following You Now, Alan’” article about her deletions, did Julie think that she could pull it off this time without detection? Or, perhaps, did she gave in to pressure from her Fox News superiors or her weekday counterpart Shepard Smith?

Regardless, Julie made the wrong decision. She was right when she initially said, “I’d like to go on the record by saying all who know me are aware of my passion for animal rights. I would never condone animal cruelty and have informed my producers not to air the bear on a trampoline video on my show ever again. http://bit.ly/bVNExX”“

Since Julie has deleted her statement from the record, Julie’s Fox News fans and Twitter followers deserve to know where she now stands: I.e., did she really mean what she said about animal rights and the offensive bear video or not?

Update: A hopeful omen today from Julie’s colleague, Shepard Smith. In his first “Bear Alert” (07/27/10 with Jack Hanna on Studio B) since Julie’s Tweets, supra, and their erasure, he did not follow it up with the offensive Trampoline Bear footage.

Update2: A second propitious sign today from Shep. On Fox Report this evening (07/27/10), Shep recounted the earlier “Bear Alert” on Studio B (albeit abbreviated) sans Trampoline Bear video.

Stay tuned.

Huddy Debuts Timidly

Bill O’Reilly: “You feel free to disagree with me. I won’t be mean. I promise you.” Fox News correspondent Juliet Huddy made a timid debut in her new segment, “Did You See That” on the O’Reilly Factor.* Unfortunately, Juliet’s weekly topic was politics, not exactly her forte a la Charles Krauthammer, Laura Ingraham, or Alan Colmes. However, she knew the facts but when it came to opining, she fell short.

Whenever host O’Reilly would voice skepticism during her discussion of TX Dem Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) or NV GOP Senatorial candidate Sharron Angle, Juliet would seem to waver. For example, when Juliet indicated that she did not think that Rep. Rodriguez had acted like a statesmen in his outburst toward constituents, O’Reilly said that he admired Rodriguez more and Juliet quickly confessed that she, too, liked passion. Subsequently, when Juliet began to criticize Ms. Angle’s anti-Harry Reid commercial and O’Reilly replied, “I don’t think so: I think this is a homerun, Juliet backtracked, saying, I think it’s a homerun: I think Harry Reid is shuddering right now.” Seeming to sense somewhat too much obsequiousness from Juliet, even for himself, O’Reilly kiddingly responded, “You feel free to disagree with me. I won’t be mean. I promise you.”

For her virgin appearance in “Did You See That,” Juliet still did reasonably well with her fresh, fun flair. Yet, she seemed to have crammed for the subjects and to have not fully digested the material. For future “Did You See That” segments, perhaps, Juliet, O’Reilly, and the audience would be better served with a lighter fare more a propos to FNC shows like Fox & Friends and Red Eye. (As to F&F, while the various co-hosts do discuss heavier topics, they generally do so as a group generally, not as sole authorities.)

For now a tepid, but hopeful “thumbs up” for Juliet in her new O’Reilly role.

O’Reilly Factor – 07/14/10 (@8:49 p.m. ET)

Julie: “I’m Following You Now, Alan”

“Teabagger” rift continues. Julie Banderas, FNC’s Big News Weekend host has taken sides with Alan Colmes against Red Eye’s Andy Levy and the Tea Party. After Carpe Diem reported that Andy had quit following Alan because of his continued use of the derogatory term “teabaggers” to describe members of the Tea Party, Andy RT’d a J$P Tweet that linked to the article. Responding shortly thereafter, Julie Tweeted, “You [Andy] got my attention.. I’m following you now Alan.”*

Unfortunately for Julie, her Twitter followers took note, too. One, IloiloKano, Tweeted, “Well you got my attention too @JulieBanderas, so this ‘teabagger’ is no longer following you..” Another, DaveMolinarolo, wrote, “@JulieBanderas I agree with @andylevy about the term “teabagger”…it’s not funny, it’s stupid. @AlanColmes is part of the problem.”

Related or not to the negative feedback from her followers, Julie deleted her controversial Tweet. (It is still available here.) Nevertheless, she remains true to her word: i.e., she is still following Alan.

Keeping Up with the Banderas.

* The entire Tweet read, “You got my attention.. I’m following you now Alan RT @andylevy: RT @johnnydollar01: Why @andylevy quit @AlanColmes. http://bit.ly/ahvT7E

Andy Levy: Y I Quit “Following” Colmes

“Teabagger” rift. Fox News’ forlorn liberal Alan Colmes seemed genuinely miffed at “TV’s Andy Levy” this morning on Red Eye. During the “Post-Game Wrap-Up,” Andy, as if alerted, asked, “Hey, Alan, did you have a question for me?”: The former Hannity & Colmes co-host replied, “Yeah, I wanted to know why you stopped following me on Twitter.” As both RE panelists Bill Shulz and Juliet Huddy in surprise exclaimed, “Oh,” Andy retorted, “Uh, ’cause you think the word ‘teabagger’ is really, really funny. And, I think it’s really, really stupid.”

In response, Alan, stuttering, facetiously asserted, “I didn’t, uh, you know what, I hate to be on, I’m glad that we are on a show that never does stupid jokes.” As guest host F&F’s Brian Kilmeade roared in laughter in the background (as if to lighten the moment), Andy sternly riposted, “It’s not a question of stupid jokes. You know it’s offensive to people, and you keep using it.”

Defensively, Alan answered, “They’re the ones who started using it themselves, not knowing what it meant. They’re the ones who started using that word.” Dismissively, Andy rejoined, “Oh, stop it, Alan. Please. Give me a break!” Having the final word, Andy concluded, “Back to you, Brian!”

Red Eye for the Liberal Guy?

*Red Eye – 03/26/10 (@3:59 a.m. ET)

Colmes: Dave, “Don’t Say That to Me!”

Did Alan Colmes leave Hannity & Colmes with his ego fully intact? His performance on Fox & Friends Weekend in his interview with co-anchor Dave Briggs might call that into question. In a quite contentious segment on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s future, Colmes took issue sharply with Briggs’ assertions that the Speaker was losing credibility with her evolving tale of her C.I.A. waterboard briefing, that either C.I.A. chief Leon Panetta or Speaker Pelosi was lying, etc. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary.

However, when Briggs asserted that Colmes was not answering his query as to whether Pelosi should have investigated whether the waterboarding was actually occurring if she did not already know, Colmes snapped. Taking obvious offense to a grinning Briggs with arms crossed, Colmes severely and sonorous retorted, “Stop that! Don’t tell me about answering your question. I’m answering your question. Don’t say that to me!”

After laughing in response, Briggs began to realize that he had struck a rather raw nerve. Taken aback, he responded, “Okay” to a chafed Colmes. Even though Briggs then seemed to give him his space and a bit more deference, he continued to ask the tough questions on President Obama’s decisions to not release detainee photographs and to reauthorize military commissions.

Perhaps, Colmes’ departure from H&C was not fully his choice after all.

You Can Call Me Al, Brian: Not!

Hannity & Colmes departing co-host Alan Colmes did not cotton to Brian Kilmeade’s flippant familiarity today. In Fox & Friends’ final segment with Colmes and his wife Jocelyn Crowley (author of Defiant Dads), co-host Brian Kilmeade asked, “Al, what are you are going to be doing: do we know?” Colmes snapped, “Al-[l]an. I don’t go by that nickname!”

Egging them on, co-anchor Steve Doocy interjected, “Them’s fighting words!” Colmes continued, “Don’t call me Al!” Brian smiling rejoined, “You are so angry.” Colmes replied, “I don’t call you Bri: I mean, what is that? [Can I] shorten your name?” Brian responded, “You can call me Bri!” Colmes answered, “I don’t think so! Calming Colmes, Gretchen Carlson commented, “We call him Brain around here.” Steve observed, “This is not ending well.” Colmes retorted, “It didn’t start well.”

Trying to get back on track, Colmes explained that he would continue his radio show and develop a Fox weekend program. Then he ribbed Brian, stating that he was going to be Doocy’s co-host on Fox & Friends. Brian riposted, “I definitely like your wife better!”

Hannity’s Hannity

FNC’s Sean Hannity announced to his “Hannity & Colmes” audience that the show will return as “Hannity” on January 12, 2009. The conservative commentator said that he and his liberal co-host had had a good run and that he had few disagreements off the set. He kiddingly accused his co-host Alan Colmes of “abandoning me.” Colmes response was generally muted and mentioned his unnamed FNC projects in the works.

About three weeks ago, too, when Alan Colmes announced that he would be leaving H&C after twelve successful seasons, Hannity responded that Colmes was abandoning him. Each time that he has said it, it appeared that Colmes didn’t directly respond as if Hannity did protest too much. Even though Colmes has indicated that he initiated the change with Bill Shine, FNC’s SVP of programming, one can’t help wonder if Hannity gave him a little push.

With Hannity’s new $100 million radio contract with ABC Radio Networks and Premiere Radio Networks and recent lucrative four-year renwal with FNC, one may wonder if Hannity is readying to rival Rush and O’Reilly instead of playing second banana.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/business/media/25fox.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/21/sean-hannity-gets-100-mil_n_114026.html