Olbermann Debuts in Familiar New Countdown

It has the same music, the same title, the same Limbaugh-bashing, the same liberal anger: In fact, the only thing the new Countdown With Keith Olbermann is missing, oddly enough, is its traditional reverse-ranked topics (hence, "Countdown"). The familiar show debuted last night on Current TV, five months after Olbermann and MSNBC parted ways, the AP reports. His first guest was Michael Moore; his first Special Comment involved bemoaning “the malfeasance of one political party and the timidity of another.”

Olbermann also criticized Congress, Clarence Thomas, John McCain, and even President Obama (over Libya); quoted Harriet Beecher Stowe; and basked in the admiration of his guests (Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas called him a “national treasure,” while former Watergate defendant John Dean complimented his Supreme Court bashing, notes the New York Times). What remains to be seen is whether Olbermann can survive on Current, which is available in roughly one-third fewer homes than MSNBC, and where Olbermann is sandwiched between documentaries like The OxyContin Express and Gateway to Heroin. (More Keith Olbermann stories.)