Oh, Woe is Us! There's nobody on talk/news/political/public affairs television that we love more than Brian Lamb on C-SPAN. For the past three decades and a bit, Lamb's calm and erudite presence has been a low-key delight and influence on the cable industry's premier do-good project. He was there at the beginning, a key player in the founding of the channel in 1978 and its CEO since then, and his intelligent oversight has kept C-SPAN as the only really truly fair and balanced network out there in TV land.
Now, at the beginning of next month, two of his trusted lieutenants -- Susan Swain (pictured at right with Lamb) and Rob Kennedy -- will take over the day-to-day management of the C-SPAN trio of channels, each of them presenting 24 hour-a-day coverage of all things political, historical, literary and beyond. Whichever ill-informed and short-sighted wag once-upon-a-time bemoaned the dulless of "talking heads on television" clearly never envisioned or watched C-SPAN. There isn't a dull moment on the channels, not if you're a citizen who cares about what's happening in Washington, or a history buff interested in life's rich pageant (especially America's past), or even merely a book lover looking for a place on TV that celebrates the written word.
Not that we won't still have Lamb as host of his weekly Q and A series, and not that Swain and Kennedy aren't utterly qualified to serve as co-CEOs (a brilliant move acknowledging both of their complementary talents and expertises). Susan Swain has been an reliable and smartly entertaining on-air presence and behind-the-scenes management force since her arrival at the network in 1982, while Rob Kennedy came onboard a few years later and is the whiz behind C-SPAN's invaluable web archive, among other accomplishments. We know the network couldn't be in better hands, thanks to Brian Lamb's decades of hard work and complete dedication to making C-SPAN the national network of record.
A lot of people undoubtedly take C-SPAN for granted, and maybe seldom watch it, but it's inconceivable to imagine what cable TV would be like without it. Talk about your vast wasteland...C-SPAN is a beacon of responsibility, ethics, intellectual prowess and civic responsibility in an America gone lazy and saturated with junky TV. I am so grateful that the cable industry continues to value C-SPAN's incredible legacy and its ongoing efforts to make our government more transparent, more accessible and more engaging to the citizenry. We all have Brian Lamb to thank for the high-minded standards that C-SPAN has always stood for towards and achieved, without question and without peer.
C-SPAN -- everything about it -- is tops in my TV world, and Brian Lamb is one of the most under-appreciated and unsung heroes of cable television. Take a big bow, Mr. Lamb -- you've earned it!
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Now, at the beginning of next month, two of his trusted lieutenants -- Susan Swain (pictured at right with Lamb) and Rob Kennedy -- will take over the day-to-day management of the C-SPAN trio of channels, each of them presenting 24 hour-a-day coverage of all things political, historical, literary and beyond. Whichever ill-informed and short-sighted wag once-upon-a-time bemoaned the dulless of "talking heads on television" clearly never envisioned or watched C-SPAN. There isn't a dull moment on the channels, not if you're a citizen who cares about what's happening in Washington, or a history buff interested in life's rich pageant (especially America's past), or even merely a book lover looking for a place on TV that celebrates the written word.
Not that we won't still have Lamb as host of his weekly Q and A series, and not that Swain and Kennedy aren't utterly qualified to serve as co-CEOs (a brilliant move acknowledging both of their complementary talents and expertises). Susan Swain has been an reliable and smartly entertaining on-air presence and behind-the-scenes management force since her arrival at the network in 1982, while Rob Kennedy came onboard a few years later and is the whiz behind C-SPAN's invaluable web archive, among other accomplishments. We know the network couldn't be in better hands, thanks to Brian Lamb's decades of hard work and complete dedication to making C-SPAN the national network of record. 
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