Fox News plucks one from the asylum

This should be precious. Mouthbreather central is scrambling to regain ratings.

Fox News Channel is testing another pilot on Sunday that will air following its experiment in news satire, "The ½ Hour News Hour."

"It's Out There," a half-hour of stories derived from blogs, will get a half-hour test run following Joel Surnow's satirical take on news.

Show, fronted by conservative blogger-columnist Michele Malkin and former Clinton administration operative Kirsten Powers, will take on political and cultural issues enflaming the blogosphere.

The first episode will look at John Edwards' virtual campaign HQ and other candidates using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to reach young voters.

The pilot airs in a timeslot that's sported a grab-bag of specials and repeats of shows. Both pilots are part of FNC's bid to develop a more permanent lineup for the night with young-skewing skeins that can attract and maintain an aud.

This will be the fair and balanced Michelle Malkin we're talking about. The one who wrote this. Oops! Sorry... (the titles were so close!) She wrote this. (Jesse only did the research!) She also wrote this, while claiming that she's not a racist.

Joining her will be Kirsten Powers, former Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative for Public Affairs during the Clinton administration. (Why do I keep interpreting that as Recording Secretary at a Sons of Scotland executive committee meeting?)

Powers is undoubtedly the "liberal" side of the 1/2 hour program. Well, as "liberal" as you're ever likely to see on a Rupert Murdoch production. She's the "looks" part of the show given that she isn't all that comfortable with TV studio technology.

... hopefully I'll avoid any bloopers such as this one from last night, when I started reading the teleprompter at the wrong time

We'll see how long this lasts. Given Malkin's inclination to go off like a jar of putrefying moose-meat in an Osoyoos heat-wave, Powers might find sitting beside her a tad uncomfortable. After all, Malkin actually likes Ann Coulter while Powers tore Coulter up for dog food over the Iraq war.

And, um, a short word to both Powers and Malkin. If you find a sort of cylindrical object laying around, just take it down the hall to this guy.