The iconic The McLaughlin Group revived as a weekly politics panel show from 7 January 2018 with the former panelists all returning and updated for the digital age.

The McLaughlin Group is returning to television, with the American politics panel discussion show that ran for decades and ended after the death of John McLaughlin in August 2016, that is being revived with former panelist Tom Rogan as the new centre-seat moderator.

The new The McLaughlin Group is also getting a facelift for the new digital television era.

In August this year, Tom Rogan created a pilot episode exactly a year after John McLaughlin's death for possible pick-up, with the weekly and iconic "hardest talk" politics discussion show that is now being revived.

The first new weekly episode of the new The McLaughlin Group will kick off on 7 January 2018, American's WJLA TV station announced, but the show will also be available to watch digitally worldwide.

Besides Tom Rogan, the entire former panel is returning, including the longtime panelists Eleanor Clift, Pat Buchanan and Clarence Page.

"Tom Rogan, in his early 30s, has been working in Washington DC as a respected political journalist and national TV commentator, and is not shy about expressing his opinions on major issues of the day," says the announcement by WJLA about The McLaughlin Group's TV return.

"His cool demeanor will drive a lively yet respectful debate amongst his esteemed panelists. A weekly rotating guest panelist will also join the group. This is the time, now more than ever, for balanced debate".

Tom Rogan (31) says The McLauglin Group "has never been more necessary" since the increased attention to the American political sphere since the election of Donald Trump as American president.

"John McLaughlin was my mentor and a very close friend."

"I can never fill his shoes, but I believe The McLaughlin Group's unique blend of unfiltered news and unrestrained analysis has never been more necessary. With determination and mutual respect, the panel and myself will deliver for our viewers".

In South Africa the excellent The McLauglin Group was carried on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) for several years before it was dumped, but became available for free with episodes streaming on YouTube for viewers worldwide.

The American politics round-table show, The McLaughin Group, returns with a pilot episode with Tim Rogan as moderator, exactly a year after John McLaughlin's death.

Exactly a a year after the death of John McLaughin who held sway as the originator and moderator of The McLaughlin Group, the American round-table political talk show came back with a brand-new pilot episode.

The new McLaughlin Group episode - entitled a "pilot" and suggesting that the show might come back permanently - has Tim Rogan, a former panelist, now as the moderator in the middle chair.

Also back are longtime commentators Eleanor Clift, Clarence Page and Pat Buchanan. Sitting in as the fourth panelist is Evan McMullin, a former CIA officer who ran for American president last year.

The McLaughlin Group pilot kept the same set, blue seats, coffee table and studio backdrop, even the opener and format of the longrunning show.

The half hour episode that can be watched on YouTube was recorded before the shocking events in Charlottesville, Virginia in America, which is why the group isn't discussing it or Donald Trump's shocking press conference about it.

Bye-bye, The McLaughlin Group: The McLaughlin Group to end this weekend after 34 years with a final episode as a special retrospective tribute.

After 34 years on the air, The McLaughlin Group will end this weekend with its final episode, following the death this week on Tuesday of its moderator and host John McLaughlin (89).

The final episode of The McLaughlin Group will be recorded on Friday and will take the form of a special tribute retrospective episode with the existing panelists of Pat Buchanan, Tom Rogan, Eleanor Clift and Clarence Page.

The final episode will be done to honour the legacy of John McLaughlin.

The McLaughlin Group can be viewed online.


■ Esquire's 2008 essay reprinted: The McLaughlin Group taught me more about human interaction than any other show.
"There are 388 shows on television that feature lunatics yelling at one another, but this is still the only good one".

■ Bloomberg: A brief video tribute to John McLaughlin.

■ You'll be missed, John McLaughlin.

■ Clarence Page in The Chicago Tribune: John McLaughlin's final 'Bye-bye'.

'BYE, BYE': John McLaughlin, moderator of 'the American original', The McLaughlin Group, dies at 89 from cancer; now with his dog, Oliver, in heaven.

John McLaughlin, the moderator of the weekly The McLaughlin Group has died.

He was 89 and died in his home in Virginia in hospice care after prostrate cancer that was diagnosed a while ago and that had spread.

After a repeat episode the previous week, this past week was the first time in 34 years of hosting the fast-paced weekly political panel show that John McLaughin wasn't in the centre blue chair as moderator, although such was the dedication of the panelists Clarence Page, Pat Buchanan, Tom Rogan and Eleanor Clift, that they did the episode without him.

"Earlier this morning, a beloved friend and mentor, Dr. John McLaughlin, passed away peacefully at the age of 89," said the McLaughlin family in a statement on Tuesday.

"As a former jesuit priest, teacher, pundit and news host, John touched many lives. For 34 years, The McLaughlin Group informed millions of Americans. Now he has said bye bye for the last time, to rejoin his beloved dog, Oliver, in heaven. He will always be remembered."

John McLaughlin was the creator, executive producer and moderator of "the American original", The McLaughlin Group that started in 1982 and was seen around the world, including South Africa on channels like CNBC Africa (DStv 410) for a number of years, after which full weekly episodes were immediately uploaded every Saturday to YouTube.

John McLaughlin was known for the academic-like quality, topics and grilling questions he asked his panelists, his "Bye, bye" and sign-off handwave at the end of every every episode, his often unexpected "forced predictions" and his "On a scale of zero to 10, where 0 means zero probability and 10 means metaphysical certitude...".

This past week John McLaughlin missed his first episode in 34 years.

The episode started with a note, telling viewers: "Dear friends of The McLaughlin Group, Dr. McLaughlin here. As the panel’s recent absences attest, I am under the weather. The final issue of this episode has my voice, but please forgive me for its weaker than usual quality. Yet my spirit is strong and my dedication to this show remains absolute!"

Although sounding incredibly frail and of course ill, John McLaughlin still recorded the voice-overs for all of the "issues" in the last episode for the panelists to discuss and argue over.

Following his death, on Twitter, The McLaughlin Group said: "John is with Oliver" a reference to his beloved basset hound who passed away years ago and can always be seen at the end of every episode's end credits as part of Oliver Productions.

He mentioned Oliver again in one of his two-part, annual "Year End" specials two years ago, saying: "Person of the year: Pope Francis, especially now that he's told that animals can go to heaven. And Oliver is up there waiting for me."

An emotional Tom Rogan - who often, gently, acted as almost a second moderator helping a sometimes forgetful John McLaughlin along with prompts and who book-ended the last episode with a goodwill message to John McLaughlin ("On behalf of the panel we all want to say to John, we're thinking of you and you have our very best" - shared a message on Tuesday about John McLauglin who he called on his website my close friend and defining mentor.

Panelist Eleanor Clift, for years from Newsweek and then The Daily Beast, wrote a fitting and must-read goodbye, saying "We will miss his signature phrases, beginning with Issue One, and ending with Bye-Bye. And we will miss the man".

Editor: The first time I watched John McLaughlin - and I still have it on several old VHS cassettes - was as moderator of the special Cheers 200th episode that was broadcast on the then CCTV channel.

He was, and spoke like the university professor I wish I had but never did during all my years of tertiary education.

Prefacing every discussion with "issue one", "issue two" he would lay out the subjects with background and then challenge the panelists with difficult questions, trying to catch them out, but probably being proud when they managed to hold their arguments, fight back and come up with "right" answers.

Every since The McLaughlin Group was broadcast in South Africa I've watched it, and I never ever, and mean, never, missed an episode over the past 9 years - first on television, and then later on YouTube where I would religiously download every episode in high definition and watch it very late very Sunday night.

It was packed with humour. The McLaughlin Group was parodied over the years, it popped up in popular culture like the film Watchmen, and also did something for the current film, Independence Day: Resurgence, for instance:

What made The McLaughlin Group different from all other modern-day political shouting heads is that they shouted and argued, but that you could see they were actually friends and had respect for one another, despite their political and ideological differences.

I was amazed, and remained amazed every single week, over the daunting and endless sacrifice in terms of sheer time, dedication and effort John McLaughlin and the panelists have put in over years doing this show, and reaching across the world, including someone like me, a South African TV critic, who appreciated it enormously for what it was.

In March this year I told of how The McLaughlin Group is on my list of guilty TV pleasures - among the countless hours of television I (have to) watch every day and week and month, a bit of the rare television that I honestly enjoyed watching incredibly much.

The McLaughlin Group was the most cerebral singular half hour of television I indulged in weekly.

I will miss John McLaughlin's esoteric comments, the bickering panelists making their cases and the entire show for what it was immensely.

Rest in peace, John McLaughlin.

Shadowhunters renewed for a 2nd season - and some of the other TV shows I watch and actually personally enjoy watching.

People often ask me: "What's your favourite TV shows? What do you love watching?"

It includes a lot of TV executives who who probably want to hear the sweet sound of their own show on my lips!

I never really answer, because yes, don't fear, I do watch your show. I basically watch everything!

Working as a TV critic, I watch an awful lot (another secret: I read even more) of television, but it is still in the end, work. Do a wine critic sip and taste just the wines she likes?

I do have my favourites though - shows that I personally enjoy watching and can't wait for, my own guilty pleasures. Several we don't even get in South Africa - or not on traditional television at least.

And I watch them late at night and over weekends, and almost always with food or snacks - my own private TV-indulge time.

So here's all my personal favourites - the TV stuff I can't live without - and please don't judge! I watch a lot more, this is just my personal must-must.

One of my new favourites is a total fantasy cheese-fest that is just awesome and I literally cannot wait for the next episode. And the great news is that it just got renewed for a second season.

It's not going to win Emmys, but its a youth drama that's funny with smart writing and some new actors I like.

Shadowhunters is available to South African viewers on Netflix South Africa. In America its on the Freeform channel, and on Netflix in the rest of the world.

Shadowhunters, werewolves, vampires, fairy people, demons - Shadowhunters is like Gossip Girl meets True Blood. And. I. Love. It.

How obsessed am I? To the point that I will search out episode recaps after I've watched an episode to immediately see if people noticed and commented on some of the things that I've spotted or noticed.

Star Wars: Rebels on Disney XD (DStv 104) ... total fan fest for me. Again, I will go and read up and read episode recaps. So silly.

I do tend to favour more fantasy and science fiction type shows as personal favourites, but I really watch everything.

Saturday nights very late I quickly download The McLaughlin Group, the "American original" political panel show when the new Friday episode becomes available. Somehow I find time to watch it on a Sunday afternoon or Sunday night late.

We used to get it on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) for a number of years. When it stopped showing, luckily in America they started putting every week's episodes on their YouTube channel from where I quickly download it.

I've literally watched The McLaughlin Group religiously every single week for well over a decade.

Not a day goes by that I don't watch the day's episode of the CBS Evening News (episodes here) or the NBC Nightly News (episodes here). I used to even watch the ABC World News Tonight until it got geo-blocked halfway through Diane Sawyer's tenure.

If you don't watch it online, you can record the CBS Evening News on Sky News' (DStv 402) and NBC Nightly News on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) and watch it on your traditional TV set.

ITV's Beowulf, the BBC's beauuuutiful War and Peace, FOX's (DStv 125 / StarSat 131) The X-Files and shows called Colony, Fuller House (only on Netflix South Africa) and Second Chance I've enjoyed watching on a personal level so far this year, along with DC's Legends of Tomorrow.

Billions on M-Net Edge (DStv 102) I literally watch the moment the new episode is available - it's very clever and insightful about the insider politics, narcissism, and the power plays driving any big corporation.

The best new science fiction show, The Expanse I devoured from the moment Syfy made the first few episodes available online before - a very intricate, interwoven and clever story.

Something I watch every single weekday is The Wendy Williams Show that's on BET (DStv 129). But I don't actually watch it on BET.

I download it from the talk show host's YouTube channel where it's free for the world and then watch it when I have 15 minutes during the day. I don't watch a whole episode - I just always look for the first part of the show which is the "Hot Topics" segment.

The Shannara Chronicles - who knows whether we will see it on MTV (DStv 130) or on another M-Net channel like Teen Wolf - blends fantasy and science fiction in this fantasy youth drama series set in the far-future where magic exists. The first season's 10 episodes have come and gone.