Joe Scarborough Shares the Changes He Wants at ‘Morning Joe’ & MSNBC Amid Shake-Up
Joe Scarborough is ready for even more changes to come into play at MSNBC. Following Rashida Jones’ exit from the network earlier this month, Scarborough said he sees things heading in a different direction.
For one, he’s ready to start expanding the scope of his Morning Joe interviews to cultural icons, rather than just political figures. “We had done a lot of that in the past,” he pointed out to The Hollywood Reporter. “In the pre-[Donald] Trump days, I’d say pre-2015, it would be very normal for us to have Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Bradley Cooper, Pete Townshend, all of these pop culture figures on the show. And then when Donald Trump was running and got elected, he consumed most of the bandwidth of not only the show but also news in general.”
Scarborough said he’s been trying to return to the show’s “original concept” of mixing politics, foreign policy, and the economy, with music, film, and Broadway for “years.” He added, “We’ve wanted to do it. And in 2022, everything was just so hot. I knew that if I wanted to actually interview artists and actors and directors, people that I’ve always loved, whether it’s Christopher Nolan or Al Pacino, that I needed to create a different space for it. So we originally created a primetime show where we would do it [Joe Scarborough Presents], and we would interview these people and pop culture figures and influential artists. But then after a while, I said, ‘Wait, this stuff is so good. I don’t want to have Christopher Nolan on at eight o’clock at night. I want my Morning Joe family to be able to hear Christopher Nolan and Robert Downey, Jr., and all the Oppenheimer people.’ I wanted that in the morning. So we moved it back to the morning, and we’ve just focused on it a lot more.”
It also helps that the more culture-driven interviews have performed well on the network’s YouTube page. “It’s great. One of the things that I had been worried about, that Mika [Brzezinski] and I always went back and forth on, was the fear that we were just preaching to the choir. Whether you’re talking about YouTube, whether you’re talking about the newsletter, whether you’re talking about writing in other formats, whether you’re talking about these town hall meetings, all of them open up the audience and help you reach new people and get new insights,” Scarborough explained.
If he gets his wish for the network to pivot in this direction, Scarborough has one dream guest: Paul McCartney. “That’s the only person,” he admitted. “Here I am, 18 years later, still reaching for the brass ring. One of these days, one of these days, one fine day.”
Morning Joe, Weekdays, 6a/7c, MSNBC
Conversation16 Comments
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Uh, that's NOT going to help your ratings. Just like bending OVER and taking it from the orange skid-mark, this will do NOTHING for the show. You betrayed your viewers again. The first time was when you all KEPT taking the orange stains phone calls, RATHER than forcing him to actually show up, in the studio. NOT pushing back against ANY lies he spews does not help either. So, you and the show DESERVE every form of backlash you are getting, forever.
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MSNBC hire Jim Acosta and give him the Morning slot. Dump Joe and Mika for pandering to Mango Mussolini.
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100%
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He's on a sinking ship and thinks entertainment news will help?
Maybe kissing the orange clowns ring was not such a good idea.
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True. And his boorish wife.
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O
Still don't get it Joe, Talk to real people not just Celebs..
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One more reason to not watch that show. Ratings aren't what you want to see? Make it even more awful?
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Just another excuse not to cover the real stories of Trump incompetence!!!! *The deal that was struck at Their Maralogo meeting
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What we need is Joe and Mika gone it'll be the only way I'll ever start watching MSNBC again. So that's the change that need to be made
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Joe and Mika go away, sick of you groveling to mango Hitler..
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Unfortunately, for Joe & Mika, they have lost the trust of their viewers and like with life it will take a long time to reestablish that trust.
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I am a loyal liberal and have watched morning Joe for years and it just seems that Joe and Mika get more and more full of themselves every month and year that goes by I suppose they're being paid too much and the kiss the ring with Trump was the end for me. screw Joe and Mika find some other presenters to take their place. Seems that they've both developed extreme narcissistic personality disorder.
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I watch it for measured, educated people discussing news. I'd rather not have the entertainment part. I love the Today show, but so little news-would like to see more on there too!
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The View is the program to go to for lively discussions and Truth. Love you gals.
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If you change your show to boring ass people who don't talk about today's stuff, then your show will be boring and we will not watch, Trump can't control the world and change stuff just cause he's the worse. If people can't listen to the truth about him in the new then close down tour show we find the truth about Trump else where, you let him control your show. But know this we will not watch boring ass people talk about nothing, why don't you hv more blacks on your show anyway. I loved MSNBC, now Ass hole Trump has taken over why don't you fight bck
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Joe has to go. Sick of both of them. No celebrities -- who cares about what they think. Joe and Mika are past their prime. Get some new hosts.
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