The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell

The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell
GenreEditorial News Program
Presented byLawrence O'Donnell
Guest hosts (Fridays only)
Country of originUnited States
Production
Production locationsNew York City, New York Universal City, California
Running time60 minutes
Original release
NetworkMSNBC
ReleaseSeptember 27, 2010 (2010-09-27) –
present
Related

The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is an American weeknight news and political commentary program on MSNBC. The program airs live at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time Mondays through Fridays, and is hosted by Lawrence O'Donnell from Mondays to Thursdays, with rotating guest hosts (sitting for O'Donnell) on Fridays.[1] O'Donnell is described by MSNBC as "providing the last word on the biggest issues and most compelling stories of the day."[2][3]

As of May 2025, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is the second-most watched cable news program by total day and key 24-54 demo viewers in its 10 p.m. ET time slot, behind rival Gutfeld! and ahead of CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip.[4]

History

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The show originally premiered in the 10:00 pm slot Monday-Thursday on September 27, 2010, with the first episode featuring Vice President Joe Biden[5] and Countdown host Keith Olbermann. The show was moved to the 8 pm slot in January 2011 when Olbermann's show was canceled. Last Word returned to its original 10:00 p.m. slot in October 2011.[6]

Between March and April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, MSNBC temporaily replaced the Tuesday evening broadcasts with NBC News Special Report hours either hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt or Today co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

During the 2022 United States elections, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell was temporarily replaced on Fridays with The Kornacki Countdown hosted by Steve Kornacki during the 2022 midterm elections from October 14 to Election Day November 8.[7]

Since 2024, the program also airs a recap on Sunday as part of Prime Weekend, which also recaps from The Rachel Maddow Show, Deadline: White House, The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle, The Briefing with Jen Psaki, All In with Chris Hayes and The Weeknight.

Format

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The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell typically features a lengthy monologue in the "A-Block," followed by interviews and discussions with guests throughout the remainder of the show.

Replays of the show are available on MSNBC's app (accessible from the US only). The show is also available as an audio podcast. Guest hosts (every Friday night sitting in for O'Donnell) in the series include Ali Velshi, Ayman Mohyeldin, Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, and Alicia Menendez.

Reception

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YouGov, a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, collected 1550 interviews' worth of data between July 2020 and October 2020, and concluded: "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is the 384th most popular contemporary TV show and the 407th most famous. The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is described by fans as: Smart, Helpful, Never miss it, Intelligent and Fair." It collated the ratings of American views:

  • 21% POSITIVE opinion
  • 12% NEGATIVE opinion
  • 14% NEUTRAL opinion
  • 47% HAVE HEARD OF

YouGov's other findings:

  • "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" is more popular among Baby Boomers than among other age groups.
  • "With 23% positive opinion, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is more popular among Men than among Women."[8]

In April 2025, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell and The Rachel Maddow Show were the only non-MSNBC shows to appear in the month's top 15 cable news by total viewers, with The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell averaging 1.442 million total viewers.[9]

Notable guests

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References

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  1. ^ Schwartz, Carly (January 21, 2011). "Final Countdown: Keith Olbermann And MSNBC Announce They Are Parting Ways (VIDEO)". Huffington Post.
  2. ^ Gellman, Lindsay (July 31, 2010). "'Last Word': Lawrence O'Donnell MSNBC Show Gets Name". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Stelter, Brian (June 15, 2010). "Lawrence O'Donnell Gets His Own MSNBC Show". New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  4. ^ Mwachiro, Mark (May 22, 2025). "Tuesday, May 20 Evening Cable News Ratings: Lawrence O'Donnell Claims Total Viewers, Nicole Wallace Takes Demo for MSNBC". Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  5. ^ O'Donnell, Lawrence (September 23, 2010). "'Vice President Joe Biden to Appear on Premiere". Twitter. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  6. ^ "MSNBC changes primetime lineup". NBC News. October 20, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  7. ^ "MSNBC, Fox, Telemundo offering specials ahead of midterms". October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  8. ^ "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell". YouGov. 2020.
  9. ^ Mwachiro, Mark (April 30, 2025). "Here Are the Cable News Ratings for April 2025". Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  10. ^ a b O'Donnell, Lawrence (September 28, 2010). "'Charlie Crist and Levi Johnston to appear on tonight's show". Twitter. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  11. ^ a b O'Donnell, Lawrence (October 4, 2010). "Michael Steele and Howard Dean both join us tomorrow night". Twitter. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
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Preceded by MSNBC Weekday Lineup
10:00 p.m.–11:00 p.m. (ET)
1:00 am – 2:00 am (ET) (replay) 		Succeeded by
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