Keith Olbermann: the cautionary tale of why he was fired, again

This just in from the “cautionary tales from the media” department – lessons from the now former Current TV talk show host, Keith Olbermann’s appearance Tuesday night on "The Late Show with David Letterman." The salient narrative emerged when the also former MSNBC talk show host went – how shall we say? – architectural. He was explaining to the late-night host what went wrong with his less-than-a-year stint at Al Gore’s television network.

“Just walking around with a $10 million chandelier isn't going to do anybody a lot of good, and it's not going to do any good to the chandelier," he explained, adding, “And then it turned out we didn't have a lot to put the house on, to put the chandelier in, or a building permit, and I should have known that."

"You're the chandelier?" Mr. Letterman said.

Now, there is a certain order to the way things play out when media marriages go bad. But if even Letterman – who is usually a pretty quick study – has to clarify what the heck a guest is talking about, then Mr. Olbermann needs some pointers on which playbook he is actually in, say some observers of this latest public divorce.

“I  wouldn’t compare him to a $10 million chandelier,” says Jason Maloni, senior vice president at Levick Strategic Communications in Washington.The better comparison would be former NFL player Terrell Owens, he adds. “Charlie Sheen comes to mind as well.” All these figures have plenty of talent, he says, but like Mr. Owens, “ultimately, the head coaches just decide they are not worth the trouble of their huge demands and egos.”

To be fair, Olbermann did acknowledge that a high self-assessment may have figured in his departure. "You're always telling me how big my head is," Olbermann told Letterman.

This is not the first time a high-profile media figure has stepped down to a much, em, smaller house. Think Conan O’Brien heading off to the Turner Broadcasting System's cable channel after losing the tussle for "The Tonight Show" job on NBC. Dan Rather exited CBS Evening News, and has landed on HDNet, a venue that defies most efforts to locate it on a TV system. And there are plenty of others from former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw to Ted Koppel of "Nightline."

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