HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS

'''Hardball with Chris Matthews''' is a talk show on MSNBC broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking (as "Politics with Chris Matthews") and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, ''Hardball: How Politics is Played Told By One Who Knows the Game''.
Hardball is a talking-head style cable news show where the moderator advances opinions on a wide range of topics, focusing primarily on political issues. These issues are discussed with a panel of guests that usually consist of political analysts and sometimes include politicians. The format of the show can lead to confrontations: During coverage of the 2004 Republican National Convention, then-U.S. Senator Zell Miller, (D-Georgia), who supported Republican President George W. Bush and was the keynote speaker at the Republican convention, angrily stated that he wished he could challenge Matthews to a duel because of Matthews' questioning ([1]).
The show features many regular guests including right-wing pundit and author Ann Coulter, conservative radio show personality G. Gordon Liddy, infamous from the Watergate scandal, conservative author Rich Lowry, editor of the ''National Review'', Dennis Prager, liberal author Katrina vanden Heuvel, contributor to ''The Nation'', MSNBC pundit Pat Buchanan, former presidential candidate, Craig Crawford, CQPolitics.com writer/MSNBC contributor, Chuck Todd, editor of the political newsmagazine ''The Hotline'', and essayist Christopher Hitchens, among others.
Hardball often follows ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' as the second most-watched show on all of MSNBC. (Source: Nielsen Media Research, 2006.)

Contents

Guest Hosts

International broadcasts

In popular culture

Guest Hosts

Hardball has had a variety of guest hosts when Chris Matthews is unavailable. Hosts include Norah O'Donnell, Mike Barnicle, David Shuster, Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Pete Williams, and Campbell Brown.

International broadcasts

MSNBC and NBC News programming is shown for several hours a day on the 24 hour news network Orbit News in Europe and the Middle East. This includes ''Hardball with Chris Matthews''.

In popular culture

The show has been spoofed by ''Saturday Night Live'', with Darrell Hammond portraying Chris Matthews.
The show was featured in the February 22, 2007 ''30 Rock'' episode "Hard Ball", in which series character Jenna Maroney came on the show to explain about how she was misquoted in the magazine "Maxim" about US military troops, but embarrassed herself even further when she confused Barack Obama with Osama Bin Laden after she mentions who she would support for US President in 2008.