Today is quite the busy day on the cable news networks for new debuts. Maria Bartiromo, late of CNBC, made her maiden voyage on her new Opening Bell program on Fox Business Network, and both Ronan Farrow and Joy-Ann Reid launch their eponymous MSNBC programs at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern respectively.
Big friggin deal, you say. I agree, but oddly enough, Washington Post TV columnist Rachel Lubitz found Bartiromo and Farrow's premieres as worthy of noting in her February 24 TV Highlights column, while ignoring Ms. Reid. By contrast, Lubitz found space today to plug the History Channel's latest fascinating foray into non-historical "reality" programming: Cryptid: The Swamp Beast.
It should be noted that it's pretty rare that the TV Highlights column notes anything that isn't aired in primetime. Generally speaking the column -- appearing in the print edition right next to the primetime TV listings chart -- is the TV columnist's way of highlighting what she thinks are the most "must-watch" programs of the night.
For what it's worth, Lubitz also thought a Maryland Public Television documentary on Maryland's corrupt 56th governor Marvin Mandel (D) and the premiere of TNT's Private Lives of Nashville Wives were worth at least programming the DVR for.
Here's how Lubitz plugged Bartiromo and Farrow (emphases mine):
“Opening Bell With Maria Bartiromo” (FBN at 9 a.m.) premieres this morning. The show will feature Bartiromo interviewing major financial leaders before and after the bell.
SERIES PREMIERE: A highly educated offspring of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen (or is it Frank Sinatra?) begins his long-awaited afternoon show, “Ronan Farrow Daily” (MSNBC at 1 p.m.), focusing on foreign policy and other topics on the left-leaning cable news channel.
And here's how she plugged the aforementioned Private Lives and Swamp Beast programs (again, emphases mine):
SERIES PREMIERE: Set in and around the capital of the high-stakes country music business, “Private Lives of Nashville Wives” (TNT at 10) follows a group of accomplished, opinionated and driven women as they deal with professional challenges, family issues and relationships.
SERIES PREMIERE: Reality series “Cryptid: The Swamp Beast” (History at 10) investigates and dramatizes local stories about a creature that lives in the Southern swamps.
Photo illustration above a Ken Shepherd mashup.