After chastising the downfall of athletics and moving into political journalism, outspoken ESPN host Keith Olbermann is making a return to the sports channel that he helped establish in 1993, with his new show "Olbermann," on ESPN 2.
Set to air Monday at 11 p.m. EST, the pilot episode marks Olbermann's return to sports reporting after spending a decade in the hard news scene, particularly commenting on political topics.
Olbermann's got a bit of a reputation-he's known as a hard-headed, tough-to-deal-with commentator who rides firmly upon his own opinions and notions.
But maybe the tough world of political journalism cracked the hardened host.
According to ESPN's vice president for original programming and production Jamie Horowitz, Olbermann has reacted "incredibly [responsively]" to suggestions, the New York Times reported.
"Because of his past TV series, there had been some reticence by the staff to tell him to try certain things," Horowitz told the Times. "But he's been accountable and willing to do things. Even if I want to change a word in his script, he's said, 'OK, Jamie, I'll change it."
This, coming from the man who Rupert Murdoch called "crazy," a few years back, is a bit of a surprise.
But even Olbermann's aware of the shift in his own behavior.
"There has been no friction at all," he told the Times, on rehearsals with ESPN2. "No one has said to me, 'We let you back in, now sit back and shut up.'"
Make no mistake, though-the commentator will be the reigning leader of his own series.
"The format plays to why people like Keith," Horowitz explained. "Strong commentary, insights and his unique gift for communicating."
Olbermann said that he was done with the political world, and, quite frankly, he was getting sick of it.
"No, I won't miss politics," he clarified. "My understanding of my own emotions relative to politics was really clarified in the past year...I finally figured out I just didn't like the subject matter anymore."
Here's hoping that Olbermann's new bout of positivity and cooperation won't make his show a snore-fest, and that he won't flip to, say, tabloid-writing if he ever gets sick of sports again.
Check out the video of Olbermann giving his opinion with no holds barred below.
