On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being metaphysical certitude - what are the odds that the Democrats will manage to figure out a way to lose the election this fall?
Oh, I dunno. 4?
WR-R-O-N-N-G-G!!! The answer is TEN!
And so began every episode of the PBS public affairs half-hour series, The McLaughlin Group.
John McLaughlin, an ex-Jesuit Washington editor of the National Review and former adviser to Presidents Nixon and Ford, created the series, produced it, and served as moderator from the show’s launch in 1982 until he died in 2016.
The format was easy to understand. McLaughlin and four panelists sparred over various hot political topics of the week. In theory, the panelists were split evenly between liberals and conservatives, but often the mix was more centrist and slightly conservative versus the true believers.
It was produced in Washington, D.C., but was distributed by Chicago-based PBS member station WTTW. Most of the stations airing the series were PBS affiliates, but the show also aired on some CBS stations from 2007 to 2016.
In the show’s earliest years, the show typically included three regular panelists - hard-line conservative Robert Novak of the Chicago Sun-Times, centrist Morton Kondracke of Newsweek and old-line liberal Jack Germond of the Baltimore Evening Sun - along with various fourth panelists. In later years, it became the home of former Nixon White House staffer Pat Buchanan, who used the show as a platform to build his national name recognition.
It’s easy to forget now that when The McLaughlin Group premiered, people weren’t used to seeing familiar political reporters on television. They especially weren’t used to seeing them on a show that was loud, contentious and often chaotic. And within several years of its debut, it was the most-watched public affairs show on PBS.
Here is an example of what the show looked like, although since this is an election-centric episode, it’s a bit calmer than the average episode:
The show was important enough in the cultural zeitgeist of the late 80s and early 90s that it was spoofed several times on Saturday Night Live, including this 1991 cold open sketch in which The McLaughlin Group reconvened for a special Halloween edition where John McLaughlin (Dana Carvey) dressed as the grim reaper and cut off his panelists (Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon) before they could speak.
The show ran for 34 years until the death of John McLaughlin in 2016. Over the final abbreviated season, his health had noticeably deteriorated and he died in August, 2016 at his home in Virginia at the age of 89. His passing came days after he missed his own political public affairs program for the first time during its run.
Following the announcement of his death, WTTW’s chief television content officer Dan Soles issued this statement:
“The McLaughlin Group has been a mainstay on WTTW in Chicago, and on public media stations across the country, for decades. It was a trailblazer in the political talk show genre that inspired so many programs that came after. This long-running political commentary and discussion show was consistently an audience favorite, and we will miss this important contribution to our political coverage. WTTW is proud to have brought the series, and Dr. McLaughlin, to the PBS system.”
There were several short-lived attempts to revive the series in 2018-2020, but they didn’t last for more than a few episodes. The McLaughlin Group was one of those shows - for better or worse - that is impossible to imagine without its namesake.