Jabba The Hutt now minus Salacious Crumb.

Colmes was a shill for Hannity. Nothing more, nothing less. The pairing was a sham and anyone with half, no, a third of a brain knew it. Nauseating.

A liberal counterpart for Sean Hannity would be someone like Tucker Carlson.

Look for "Hannity and Estritch" on a TV lineup soon. Better yet, don't look for it.

the flip side of stevio's comment: you mean, they might actually pick a liberal debating partner for hannity? then i might watch.

because whatever else may be said of alan colmes (and someone else will have to say it, because i don't know of any virtues he has), he most assuredly was not a "liberal debating partner."

he may or may not be a liberal, but he's an ineffective debater and a junior associate.

I just hope Alan finally eats something.

Seriously, every time I saw him I could only imagine he had a clause in his contract that required him to weigh less than Kate Moss, so Hannity would look more "robust."

I almost never watched this show; the few times I did, there was little push back from Colmes. He may be liberal compared to Hannity, but that is not saying much. That fact he is staying on at Fox and they are paying him says it all. He would not have his own show were he an authentic liberal. BTW, Liberal is not a nasty word. It is one of the defining terms for one who thinks critically, as opposed to one who is rigid in holding onto ideas, regardless of merit. Things do change and one who is unwilling to acknowledge change is bound to suffer when the shift finally happens.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

A replacement for Colmes? How about a punching bag with a smiley face.

I'm impressed he was able to stay in character as a patsy for 12 years. His last act on the show would do us a favor if he should be commit hari kari or shout ali akbar as he detonates a bomb strapped to his chest.d

My wife and I've often joked that FOX must be holding Colmes's family hostage or something to get such a consistently weak performance out of him. Looks like his family's finally been freed.

As for his replacement? My guess is with regular Colmes-stand-in Kirsten Powers, but I'll bet she's too spirited for Hannity to deal with nightly.

Charles, your suggestion is inspired. And FOX won't have to pay the thing.

I'm going to miss "puffy" Colmes mumbling about what happened to his stapler. No, that's not right. I'm going to miss yelling a the T.V. screen for Colmes to fucking say something to counter Hannity's lies.

Steve Benen wrote: "Either way, I'll be watching Maddow."

Yeah, Rachel Maddow has a great show, probably as good as it gets for cable TV "news" -- if you enjoy watching three minutes of obnoxious commercials for every two minutes of actual programming.

That's why I can't stand and don't watch any corporate TV "news" infotainment. Whether branded as 'conservative' or 'liberal' or whatever, it is all just a vehicle for getting you to look at the hideous commercials.

I'll stick with Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for in-depth, hard-hitting, listener-supported investigative journalism.

The voters have made clear for 2 election cycles now that they don't agree with the media pundits. Fox has a declining share of a piece of the media pie (corporate broadcasting) which is itself shrinking.

This election was clear evidence of the decreasing influence of tee vee on the political process.

All crappy things must come to an end too.

The only reason Colmes was on was to make Hannity look good. The poster that suggested Tucker Carlson is a genius. Great idea. With Tucker Carlson on board that duo will finally have just enough rope to hang themselves.

Yeah, Rachel Maddow has a great show, probably as good as it gets for cable TV "news" -- if you enjoy watching three minutes of obnoxious commercials for every two minutes of actual programming.

That's why a DVR (TiVo) is a must at my house. I don't ever watch ANY commercials.

Colmes was a pathetic pushover stooge. I real liberal would've socked Hannity in the mouth about 200 times by now given the ludicrous and often offensive idiocy he spews on the regular...instead, Colmes would sit there like the paid eunuch he is. Of course, Fox is keeping him so they can continue to parade their "fair and balanced" charade around.

As per the great Bugs Bunny - "what a maroon!"

I look forward to "Hannity and Gnomes", in which Sean Hannity berates porcelain garden gnomes for their far left-wing views, and the gnomes passively take it. Should be a smooth transition, says L. Brent Bozell.

Can Al Sharpton replace Al Colmes?

Hannity and Sharpton, I will not miss a single episode!

If they bring Tucker Carlson aboard, can they open each show with a short segment of Jon Stewart's remarkable "You're hurting America" speech?

I don't know if he has any kids, but 12 years of torture probably put them through college. Enough is never too much

It'll probably be harder that they suspect to find a replacement for Colmes. Not everyone is comfortable playing a weak, second banana to a thoroughly unimpressive "thinker" like Hannity. But if a liberal on that show tried to be as forceful and as insistent as The Manatee, every single segement of every single show would degenerate into nothing but shouting matches. Hannity's shtick only works if he's got an opponent who's willing to lay down for him.

Mike

Yeah, and he has a crappy haircut, too.

Colmes's radio show is pretty good. I hope he gets his own platform elsewhere and does a "tell-all."

The world, I've found, would be best served by Sean Hannity debating the business end of an incendiary-loaded 105mm howitzer. We could bill it as "Quantum Shakespeare Theory 101: What Banquo's Ghost Really Wanted to Do to Macbeth." As for Alan Colmes, an old rerun of Captain Kangaroo is, by far, more intellectually stimulating....

Seriously (more or less), I remember Joe Conason writing that he auditioned for Colmes' place on the show. Hannity had already been hired; Conason failed the audition because he WAS too intelligent and forceful, making their boy look bad. If Colmes really had anything to him, he'd seek new opportunities at a different network, if any would have him after such a pathetic more-than-a-decade performance.

I always thought that Colmes was paired with Hannity to make liberals look bad. He's a strange-looking dude and just the visual contrast between him and Hannity seemed designed to make liberals look nutty.

So the Washington Generals are retiring with a 1-142,938 record. Congratualtions.

Stevio: Colmes was a shill for Hannity.

I believe the term you're looking for is "straight man". That, or "the Washington Generals".

Mustang Bobby: A liberal counterpart for Sean Hannity would be someone like Tucker Carlson.

Zing!

There was a liberal on Hannity's show? Who knew?

I nominate Lawrence O'Donnell as a replacement. Let's get some actual debate going.

What about Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild as replacement?

A lot of people nominated Harry Reid's picture to be placed next to the definition of "flaccid" in the dictionary, but I think Holmes should be given some strong consideration. It's not easy to roll over on a daily basis for that long, Reid needs a few more years under his belt.

Why hasn't anybody mentioned that to call this relationship a 'marriage' is a threat to our way of life?

How 'bout Barney Frank as a replacement? Guess he'll be too busy, what with the coming Depression and all. I think Hannity would pee his pants to have to debate him on a routine basis.

Colmes is in a better place now. Fox News took him out to farm in the country where he'll have plenty of space to roam......*sniff* he lives with a happy elderly couple how.....and *sob* he gets to run every day. It's for the best.

Let me guess, I'd say Hannity goes it alone with Poppa Bear before and Glen Beck behind... with a democrat in the whitehouse and a democratically controlled congress there is no longer a need for the charade of "fair and balanced"... it will be like three hours of Rush, with a ever decreasing audience of course...

"Shill" is too kind of a word to describe Alan Colmes.

After 12 years of posing as a serious challenger, I guess Colmes has finally found his balls and dignity.

So who will replace Colmes as Hannity's butt boy?

Oddly enough, I never watched Hannity & Colmes on Fox.

But I listen to Colmes' radio show a few times a week, and I find him to be insightful and courageous. He takes some of the most hateful and vile Republican arguments and summarily quashes them. Not only that, he's the object of some of the most incendiary invectives I've heard on Talk Radio. Yet he continues night after night.

I find it surprising to hear that his TV personality is so much more restrained. I don't people are giving him enough credit.

How about Dick "The Toe Sucker" Morris as a replacement?

i find it very difficult to be disappointed with Alan Colmes. I never watch him of course, but i do know he has to sit and listen to Sean Hannity for hours every day, whereas i can't barely manage a 30 second youtube clip.

I am another of those who watch Rachel rather than the crap on FOX. Even my mom who is 77 and still a liberal watches or tapes Rachel daily and loves her!

...and has announced he'll be the new coach of the Washington Generals.

Why don't they get Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman to replace him as faux Democrats?

John Stewart always referred to him as "Hannity & Whatever". Colmes was about as useful as a sack of packing peanuts in presenting any voice of reason to Hannity's insanity.

When the invisible man left the room, did anybody notice?

Tucker as a replacement? I think that might actually be fun to watch. Tucker is such an elite snob that I sure he would loath Hannity and that would be evident.

Plus the right fighting the right? What could be more fun to watch.

Bring the popcorn!

Hannity & Palin! Hannity & Joe The Plumber! Hannity & O'Reilly! Why pretend that there's any balance?

Hannity and...
Alterman
Hitchens
Maddow
Jon Chait
Tim Noah
would all be fun

"Either way, I'll be watching Maddow."

Heavens yes. The last thing one wants is to have one's preconceptions questioned. It's all scary outside the bubble!

"So who will replace Colmes as Hannity's butt boy?"

I might suggest yourself, sir, but Hannity deserves better, as does this blog. Find another way of expressing yourself, please.

How about cable news political analysts game, as American idol type play off? Done with those of us who have an interest in, and participate in interactive Internet action with all major news telecasting and looking for improvement.

Actually this game should have the notion of only the survivor to continue. Would be Interesting to see what or how the cable medium would respond.

Everyone agrees, that all current first line and long time television anchors, and lately senator, congress, and perhaps any other group or agency to be place in bingo type container where the balls are marked with their name and drawn at random.

The winner continues by the audience determining the out come but the looser is banished from cable television or radio for a time.

Ooo that might hurt!

Hey we could call it the FCC play offs...Yuk, Yuk!!!

According to inside sources, Colmes is considering the positions in the following fields:

Tackling dummy for the NY Giants
Airbag tester
Ipecac quality control taster
Complaints and return dept. manager at Circuit City
UFC sparring partner
The guy wearing the padded suit to train police dogs

..."I'm proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm not pleased! Considering all the BS Colmes has sat there & taken from Hannity, it has always been obvious to me that Colmes was the "token" house liberal at Fox. How anyone could take him seriously is way beyond me.

"As for what happens next on the Fox News program, the network hasn't announced whether the show will simply be Sean Hannity flying solo or whether he'll get a new liberal debating partner."

Ooh! Ooh! How about Peter Beinart?