Joe Scarborough's Vision for Morning Joe
Joe Scarborough, the charismatic host of Morning Joe, has been at the helm of the MSNBC show since 2007. Despite its longstanding success, Joe is not one to rest on his laurels. Recently, in a candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 61-year-old host unveiled his ambitious plans to evolve the show further. Joe expressed a desire to incorporate more segments featuring interviews with cultural icons, alongside the show’s usual political discourse. This shift aims to bring a fresh and diverse perspective to the morning show.
A Nostalgic Look Back
Joe reminisced about the earlier days of Morning Joe, before 2015, when the show frequently welcomed a range of pop culture luminaries. He recalled, “It would be very normal for us to have Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Bradley Cooper, Pete Townsend, all of these pop culture figures on the show.” Joe fondly remembered those times, emphasizing how the show’s original concept was to cover not just politics and foreign policy but also the arts—music, film, and Broadway. He explained, “For years, I have wanted us to push back and go more into the original concept of Morning Joe, which was like, yes, politics and foreign policy and the economy, but also music and film and Broadway.”
A New Direction for Morning Joe
This isn’t a new idea for Joe. He’s been wanting to bring this vision to life for several years now. Recent changes in leadership at MSNBC seem to be aligning with Joe’s aspirations, giving him the opportunity to make this dream a reality. During the interview, Joe elaborated on his strategy. He said, “We’ve wanted to do it. And in 2022 everything was just so intense. I knew that if I wanted to actually interview artists and actors and directors, people that I’ve always admired, whether it’s Christopher Nolan or Al Pacino, that I needed to create a different space for it.”
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Joe explained his initial plan to launch a primetime show, Joe Scarborough Presents, where these interviews would take place. However, he soon realized the value of bringing these segments back to Morning Joe. He admitted, “But then after a while, I said, wait, this stuff is so good. I don’t want to have Christopher Nolan on at 8:00 at night. I want my Morning Joe family to be able to hear Christopher Nolan and Robert Downey Jr. and all the Oppenheimer people. I wanted that in the morning. So we moved it back to the morning, and we’ve just focused on it a lot more.”
Embracing New Topics
Joe cited an example from the show when he invited broadcaster Roger Bennett to discuss soccer every Monday morning. He recalled, “I remember Tom Brokaw asking, ‘What? What are you talking about soccer on a news show for?’ It was because I like soccer! I like the Premier League, and it caught on.” Joe believes there’s a significant appetite for such diverse content. He remarked, “I definitely know there’s a big appetite for it. I mean, who doesn’t want to hear Al Pacino talk about his life and his work? Who doesn’t want to hear Christopher Nolan talking about his creative process, or Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, all of them talking about what it was like making Oppenheimer? I think there’s a big appetite for that.”
Current Lineup and Future Guests
Currently, Joe co-hosts Morning Joe with his wife, Mika Brzezinski, Today’s Willie Geist, and a roster of political figures and reporters who join the morning table each week for lively discussions. Looking ahead, Joe hinted at exciting guest appearances. Mick Jagger and Anjelica Huston are in talks to appear on the show, and Joe is keen to interview another music legend, Paul McCartney.
