I’ve noticed Gutfield has been more snarky than usual and has thrown in a few quips about the changes after Tucker left. I wonder if he’s on the chopping block in the near future, either by Fox or on his own volition.
As you can see, I thought that Gutfeld might be replaced at 5:00pm, but I don't understand the move out of the 11:00pm slot, especially with the blue nature of his show. Fox caught lightning in a bottle with that, and they'd be killing the goose that lays the golden egg by moving him earlier in the evening. (mixed metaphor alert)
I do watch a lot of Gutfeld, and I've been very critical of him here.I really like his take on things because he comes at it from a perspective of how liberals frame the issues. Everyone else focuses on the party politics of tit-for-tat and whataboutism.
As I've said earlier, Gutfeld's problem is that his "style" isn't really appropriate for a 5:00pm panel show. He's too disruptive of the time of others when he jumps in with his potty humor. If he dropped the scatology at 5:00pm and had a normal adult conversation, he'd be great (remember, he's sharing the table with a former Congressman, a former county district attorney and judge, and a former White House Press Secretary). A little dignity and respect goes a long way. Save the blue jokes for 11:00pm.
The thing that strikes me the most is what I'm now perceiving as a classic rivalry going on with Jesse Watters. I've seen this before in business when two people compete for certain jobs and one of them advances over the other. Gutfeld has recently taken to sniping at Watters, and the two of them keep throwing barbs back and forth at each other during the panel topics. I think Gutfeld is jealous of Watters' success, despite Gutfeld dominating the late-night hour and Fox News building a live-audience studio for him (and a Super Bowl commercial).
I think Gutfeld realizes that the management at Fox sees Watters as more of a traditional journalist (even though he's a bit yellow) while Gutfeld is a court jester (again, his Super Bowl commercial?). It's no wonder to me that when there's breaking news, it's Gutfeld's show that gets pre-empted. During elections, Gutfeld's studio is used for focus group shows hosted by others.
I don't think Fox will ever get rid of Gutfeld, but I can see them removing him from The Five and replacing him with someone like Will Cain. Cain's appearances on The Five are much more cogent and less jarring to the viewer's attention span (IMHO).
-PJ