''Scarborough Country'' was an opinion/analysis show broadcast on

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Country'' received approximately 300,000 viewers per night (Source:

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

). Frequent on-air contributors to Scarborough Country were

Craig Crawford Craig Crawford (born 1956) is an American writer and television political commentator based in Washington, D.C. Publisher of the news commenting forum, Trail Mix, Crawford was a columnist for ''Congressional Quarterly'', Editor-in-Chief of Nation ...

Pat Buchanan Patrick Joseph Buchanan ( ; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative author, political commentator, and politician. He was an assistant and special consultant to U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. He ...

, Brent Bozell, and Tony Perkins. While remaining "extraordinarily conservative", Scarborough became more critical of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

and some of his policies before the show ended in 2007. Scarborough more frequently agreed with traditional conservative

, who appeared on Scarborough's show nearly every day. ''Scarborough Country'' was replaced with '' Live with Dan Abrams'' in 2007 when Scarborough left to host ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

''.

Tabloid turn

In the summer of 2006, ''Scarborough Country'' was criticized for taking a " tabloid turn", covering mainly celebrity, entertainment, and crime stories. The show featured segments such as "Must See SC," and "Hollyweird" about celebrities in trouble. The show covered the August 2006

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Mel Gibson, multiple accolades, he is known for directing historical films as well for his act ...

DUI arrest extensively. The show also devoted much time to segments about '' The View'',

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

's baby,

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

's baby, and other tabloid stories. The segment was also known for sometimes reairing a regular skit from ABC's ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'', "This Week In Unnecessary Censorship".

Scarborough Unplugged

Former

General Manager

Dan Abrams Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. ch ...

started a segment called "Scarborough Unplugged," which featured Joe Scarborough engaging in humorous acts. These segments are fictionalized. One included an audition tape for ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Another included Scarborough's destroying Laura Ingraham video tapes. One made fun of MSNBC's Dan Abrams, and another one featured Scarborough's swearing at reporters over a celebrity list.

Notes and references

External links

{{MSNBC programming 2000s American television news shows 2003 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings MSNBC original programming American English-language television shows