Political Animal: Bow-tie Guy Carlson Has New Show

So I guess we'll all have to watch and see ...

With the real Tucker Carlson sitting beside him in a conference room, MSNBC chief Rick Kaplan grumbles at something the televised Tucker Carlson says on a taped run-through of the new prime-time talk show "The Situation."

"You disagree?" Carlson asks his boss.

"You're just wrong," Kaplan replies.

They make an odd couple. On the right, the bowtied conservative. On the left, the friend of Bill Clinton now running his second cable news network.

But they're longtime pals whose fates are now linked. Carlson's talk show, which debuts 9 p.m. EDT Monday, is MSNBC's first new prime-time program since Kaplan took control in February 2004, his most visible chance to place his stamp.

...

Before leaving the now-cancelled "Crossfire," Carlson sat through an on-air lecture by comedian Jon Stewart about how the argumentative show was doing little to advance the cause of democracy. The irony was that Carlson had privately concluded much the same thing. He had already decided to leave the show and CNN.

Now what's the word for bow-tie pasta ... I can't remember. I'll need to cook up some tonight.