Jay Leno didn't miss a day for 16 years. And he had losses and hardships in his life and family.
It's not like his job is that hard...show up for an hour and read what your producers put in the teleprompter for an hour once a day if things are tough at home. When a show is SO much about your personality, either show up or show reruns, but not those Boooooooring and weird substitutes.
Many, many talk show hosts have never had a guest host.
But these on MSNBC, Keith, Rachael and Joe Scarborough...I've NEVER seen this kind of absenteeism.
It's unprofessional.
Oh, and when "his mom passed away" he was caught at a baseball game, grieving by standing and cheering his team. So, he gave an exhaustive "explanation" on his show, just as he did for being absent for his "sick dad"...
I'm sure he is familiar with the phrase "you protest too much".
Better to not address it at all...his kool aid drinking fans will love him no matter what he does.
Too bad there aren't enough of them to pull him out of THIRD PLACE, behind even pitiful CNN!
MSNBC seriously needs a reboot.
Well, you get what you negotiate. The fact is, if he couldn't take that much time off, he probably wouldn't. There's nothing fair or unfair about it. Dick Van Dyke used to do something like 25 shows a year for thousands of dollars. The cast of Friends did half of that with a long hiatus and made millions. What do you suggest be done about these discrpencies?
My vacation package allows me to have 45 days off in a row. That's the way I made it work out this year. My union and management team negotiated it this way. That's the way it is. It doesn't really matter what you think is professional or what is fair? I don't have any idea of what Keith Olberman's contract with MSNBC entitles him to, but I'm pretty confident if he takes too much time off he will be fired. If he's still on the air next week it's because his bosses are OK with it and happy with his ratings.
Why do you care so much? I used to watch the O'Reilly Factor almost every day. Even though you think other host's never take time off, I seeme to remember many months where O'Reilly would use a guest host one day a week, EVERY week. I couldn't stand any of them, so I rarely ever watched the show on those days. Obviously if enough people did that he probably wouldn't have been able to take the time off, but his bosses were certainly fine with his schedule. I suspect the same thing is true with Countdown, and I would guess many of his viewers probably change the channel when he's not on. I know I do.
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Bladerunnerrr
15 years ago
LeftCoast...
This is not surprising coming from a union member. I bet you also get sick EXACTLY as many sick days as you are allowed. How convenient.
This is what I said about midwestern work ethic.
My dad worked at a place where he was in a union (it was required). He was contantly being told by coworkers to "slow down" because they wanted to jerk around. My dad grew up on a farm and wanted...and LIKED to work hard.
He didn't take "sick" days, unless he was SICK.
He liked his job. He worked there for 30 years and retired from there.
He was given multiple awards and bonuses for inventing new and better ways to help the company.
Now, of course there were a few guys who would do the minimum they had to do just to get a paycheck. That is a "bad work ethic".
My dad's job was too important to him to risk losing, and he cared too much about his family to risk that as well.
The union did zip for him. All it did was make sure the worst workers got the same wages as the best workers. "Everyone is equal". Riiiiiight. No pay for people who are more efficient. Perfect socialist system.
I also don't watch O'Reilly when he has guest hosts. He has a deal like Carson did, where he works 4 day work weeks often. But he is in FIRST PLACE IN THE RATINGS and that makes him much more valuable and worth more than someone like Olbermann (last place).
Olbermann ought to be working OVERTIME to catch up with O'Reilly!
And I'm sure Leno has a contract too...but just because it SAYS you can take X amount of days vacation, does not REQUIRE it.
Do you really think Leno, one of the richest men on television, has a contract that gives him NO vacation and NO sick days? Your logic is flawed.
He loves his job...so he goes to it! Plus does stand up on the weekends!
Olbermann seems to despise everything and everyone. Maybe being filled with so much hate makes him sick often. Karma is a beatch. O'Reilly has fun on his show, Leno does as well. Even Anderson Cooper will smile and has upbeat stories.
Olbermann spends his days finding 'worst persons in the world' and quoting people in funny voices and coming up with childish nicknames for people. Nice. He's an angry, bitter old man.
But you just go ahead, with your union contract that is probably pushing your company to the brink of bankrupcy while you and your co workers work at a pace JUST fast enough not to get disciplined.
I'm glad you don't work for me...we expect (and get, and also PAY for) excellence at my business.
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Left Coast
15 years ago
Way to change the topic. Nice diversion, and way to lump all union workers into that stereotype. Why do you hate America so? (I'm being rhetorical and facetious BTW).
Your tirade is more than offensive and you have zero idea of what I actually do. I've called in sick ONCE in the last four years and have enough sick time in my "bank" (of which I worked for) to cover myself if I'm in an unfortunate accident like breaking my leg.
Very telling that you focussed on "union" when I made my statement which was "my union and my management team negotiated....." Why is that? Hmmm, so you hate unions and you hate the free market system which negotiated my contract between both management lawyers and union lawyers. Gee, you really seem to hate America. I'm just saying.
If I wasn't part of a large work force I might not have a union negotiate for me but then i would have an Agent. Do you hate them too?
The truth is my management team is fine with my vacation package. It's a give and take. The union wanted higher wages the company offered more time off. That's how the real world works. My schedule is much different than what you are probably used to. Just because I get a lot of time off doesn't mean I don't work as hard as your Dad. Was he home every night? I'm away from home for many days at a time. It's not for everyone.
But again, why do you care so much? I'm kind of curious as to whether or not you have a job because you seem kind of naive about these things.
And yet AGAIN.....You mentioned that people get offended and I addressed that issue. But you also made a statement that a person on television could not say the G.D phrase on T.V. because the FCC doesn't allow it and that's simply not true. I provided proof of this because if I didn't, I would just be some guy on the internet making statements that may or may not be true. If you want to disregard facts, that's your right, but why would you want to do that? I hope when you get a job someday it's not a union job. You seem to hate them, but remember you can still have the same work ethic your Father had. I've never been accused of being a slacker at work by anyone (except for you) but you don't have any credibility when it comes to my work ethic nor do you know much about the FCC, so it really doesn't matter to me.
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Left Coast
15 years ago
And just so you know Bladerunner. I am sure you work because if your dad is retired you are probably old enough to have a job and from your post it sounds as if you maybe own your own business.
I'm not going to post on the internet what I do for a living but I will tell you, that I love my job. My neighbors, my friends, and even my wife make jokes about what a great job I have. But they have no idea what I had to do to be in the position I'm in now. Trust me, I have the same work ethic you claim your Father had, and I'm sure you do as well.
I have found that most people who seem to have great jobs, like doctors and lawyers and successful business owners (which maybe you are one) spent much of their working life working unbelievably hard. I would guess that Leno, Olberman, and O'Reilly sacrificed for many years before they made it big. Some, more than others. Maybe you are still working hard, and maybe someday you will reap the benefits of that hard work. If you do, I guarantee you some idiot that knows nothing about your sacrifices will look at you as a lucky S.O.B who doesn't do much of anything and makes gobs of money and it will piss you off.
That's why I'm so condescending towards your rant about what you perceive as a poor work ethic. Like I said, if Olberman is still on the air, his bosses must be happy. You seem to care more about this than they do and they are the ones with money on the line.
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