For years, Bill O'Reilly was arguably on the Mount Rushmore of cable TV news, and was more or less the face of Fox News for the bulk of the 2000s and 2010s thanks to The O'Reilly Factor. He's since shifted over to the streaming side of things after a lucrative exit from Fox News and a settlement over sexual harrassment allegations in 2017. Now, however, he's once again stepping away from the cameras, only this time for health reasons.

O'Reilly, who delivered his No Spin News segments earlier in the week, took to his personal website to share a message with his fans and followers that updated everyone on his current hiatus. Here's how he put it:

It's unclear what kind of malady O'Reilly is dealing with, but one can assume it's more than just a light cold or a broken finger or anything that could likely be dealt with without needing to step away from the spotlight entirely.

As well, bringing up a medical team and saying "fight the good fight" could also be seen as hints of a more serious nature, but hopefully that's just an issue of word choice and nothing else.

Now at age 76, O'Reilly kicked his TV news career off for various local affiliates in the 1970s before making the jump to CBS News in 1982. He later transitioned to ABC News for a few Emmy-winning years before bouncing back to CBS for Inside Edition. It was in 1996 that he landed at Fox News for his 20-year reign. Following his ouster from that network, he has since returned as a guest correspondent.

The void left by O'Reilly's exit was soon filled by Tucker Carlson, whose career also blossomed at the conservative-leaning organization. (Carlson's own exit was later followed by Jesse Watters' primetime dominance. )

One of the more recent and more newsworthy instances of O'Reilly on the small screen was his return to The Daily Show in July 2024, following the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Having spent years as a rival of sorts to comedian Jon Stewart, O'Reilly appeared on the Comedy Central series 15 times or so, and the pair's amicable relationship remains intact. Whether or not Stewart will voice his own well-wishes for O'Reilly's health is another matter.

Over on Instagram, Bill O'Reilly's account is still posting, and just this morning directed viewers to the TV personality's book suggestions. It's possible this is something that was put together ahead of time, but still a positive sign that he'll keep communication open with his followers during his illness and recovery period.

In the meantime, fans can watch many of his recent segments on his YouTube page.

2017 has been a big year for Bill O'Reilly. The former ratings king of Fox News was ousted back in April after news broke that he had been involved in sexual harassment lawsuits a number of times throughout his career, with millions of dollars in payouts footed by the network. He recently received a lucrative offer to join a new network, but negotiations have fallen through for an important reason.

Bill O'Reilly was given an offer to join the team at One America News Network that would have landed him higher pay than he received at Fox. OANN CEO Robert Herring broke the news that the offer had been pulled earlier this week, and he later confirmed to Mediaite that the network had decided to move on after O'Reilly and his agent neglected to give an answer to the offer. O'Reilly had reportedly been directly discussing joining OANN, so it makes sense that OANN wouldn't be too happy if he suddenly stopped communicating with him.

It hasn't been confirmed just how much money Bill O'Reilly would have made at OANN, but if Robert Herring's statement about an offer that would have exceeded his salary at Fox News is accurate, O'Reilly just lost the chance to make tens of millions of dollars back on cable news. As part of his departure from Fox News, he was to receive a severance package that equalled up to one year's salary of $25 million. If O'Reilly was going to return to TV, a new cable news deal of upwards of $25 million would have been a lucrative way to start.

All things considered, Bill O'Reilly may simply be looking to turn his attentions elsewhere than cable news. He has been working on expanding original video content on his website in the months since getting the boot from Fox News. O'Reilly has also become more active on social media, which points to a potential focus on Internet over television for the foreseeable future. He wouldn't be the only cable talk show host to realize that we're in an age in which digital media may replace linear media; sticking with his own brand on his own website rather than signing on with a new network could be a wise career choice for O'Reilly.

Personally, I'm curious about what would have happened if O'Reilly had signed on with OANN so soon after being sacked from Fox News due to sexual harassment lawsuits. He has admitted that he'd do things differently if he was in the Fox News situation again, but it's possible that OANN would face a backlash for signing him. OANN isn't nearly the cable news juggernaut that Fox News is, and advertisers pulling out in protest of a news personality's reputation could be devastating. Now, it seems that we'll never know, which... is fine, really. His fans can still find him online, and OANN will undoubtedly find somebody who does respond to lucrative offers.

If cable news and/or Bill O'Reilly aren't your thing, our 2017 Netflix premiere schedule and summer TV guide can point you toward other choices on the small screen.

2017 has been quite a year for Bill O'Reilly, whose massive viewership heights on Fox News were soon followed by the network kicking him to the lucrative curb, following the public revelation that the he and the network were responsible for paying settlements to various women who sued O'Reilly for sexual harassment. Now accustomed to being off the air, the conservative host is saying that he should have been less accepting of the initial advertiser backlash pointing to Sean Hannity's recent issues as a form of inspiration.

Bill O'Reilly gave an interview with John Bachman of Newsmax TV (via Mediaite), where he talked specifically about his absence from Fox News, as well as those still around on the cable news giant. And apparently with Sean Hannity as an inspirational example, O'Reilly thinks that he might have stood a better shot at keeping his hosting job had he just stood his ground and retaliated once the advertiser exodus began. It's hard to tell whether that would have been a good strategy or if he was just floating a pipe dream out there.

After all, comparing Bill O'Reilly's situation with The O'Reilly Factor's advertisers to Hannity's controversy is like apples and oranges. The stories about O'Reilly's harassment lawsuits came out after former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes was ousted from the company for similar allegations and legal matters. And there were a slew of major companies that pulled advertising from the highly-rated timeslot in the days leading to O'Reilly's firing, which occurred while he was on vacation.

Sean Hannity, who was rumored to be thinking of leaving after his colleague's firing, was meanwhile facing a backlash over making false statements on air about the murder of Seth Rich, an employee at the Democratic National Committee. Hannity kept pushing an unfounded conspiracy theory about the murder that Fox News had already distanced itself from after retracting an earlier story about it. As heinous as that was, the blowback didn't do too much to hurt Hannity by way of the few advertisers that left, and it all soon went mostly back to normal. Not exactly the same build-up as O'Reilly's situation.

With the past behind him, though, Bill O'Reilly has many years of liberal-slamming left to go, and while he's currently trying to turn his website into a media empire, it sounds like he's at least willing to work for someone else in the future. Here's what he told John Bachman about any future employers.

In more ways than one, I'm sure. While Bill O'Reilly isn't currently housed anywhere on the small screen, you can always find him on Twitter and other online sources. If you're wondering what WILL be on TV in the near future, head to our summer premiere schedule for all your primetime needs.

With Bill O' Reilly officially out of the Fox News family, Tucker Carlson has slipped into his nightly 8 p.m. slot. Last night was Carlson's first night in O'Reilly's time slot and many, I'm sure, are curious as to whether Carlson could fill the shoes of Fox's longtime heavyweight anchor. Here's what we know about Tucker Carlson's first night in the new role and how many tuned in to watch his debut.

Variety tells us that Monday's numbers for Tucker Carlson are actually quite solid. In fact, Carlson's first show in the 8 p.m. hour would gain more viewers than O'Reilly in the network's desired 25-54 demographic. Despite his gain in a key demographic, his overall viewership of 3.2 million fell just short of Bill O'Reilly's last episode of The O'Reilly Factor's viewership number of 3.6 million. Even so, that's a pretty good showing for Carlson, who ended the night beating out rival news programming Anderson Cooper 360 and All In With Chris Hayes. Carlson also managed to beat out colleague Greg Gutfield who hosted the show in the week between O'Reilly's exit and Carlson's debut.

The switch was perhaps easier for Tucker Carlson than past moves, as his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight, only moved up an hour from its usual timeslot while Fox News' The Five moved into his old 9 p.m. slot. This will be the third time Carlson has been moved, as he had previously filled in for both Megyn Kelly and Greta Van Susteren upon their departures. In less than a year, Tucker Carlson began at 7 p.m. for Susteren, got promoted to 9 p.m. when Kelly left, and now he's in the prized spot at 8 p.m. with Bill O'Reilly out of the game. Moves like that appear to indicate Fox News is betting big on Carlson's success and future with the company.

That bet likely means a lot to Tucker Carlson considering Bill O'Reilly's legacy on Fox News. The O'Reilly Factor has been on the air since October 1996, and in those more than 20 years had a dominant presence as one of the top cable news programs out there. O'Reilly received his walking papers from the network a couple of weeks ago in response to long-standing allegations that accused him of sexual harassment. While O'Reilly is saddened that he was ousted from his show, I'm sure the rumored $25 million payout he received to leave helps dry any tears.

Will Tucker Carlson Tonight continue an upwards trajectory? It's hard to say, but if Carlson begins breaking Bill O'Reilly's viewership records you can expect some headlines. Be sure to keep track of what shows are safe and what is canceled via our renewal guide and find some new shows on our summer premiere schedule.

Last week, Bill O'Reilly was unceremoniously ousted from his long-running gig at Fox News following reports involving the payouts of multiple sexual harassment lawsuits over the years . He was on vacation when it all came to a head, and outside of some Twitter activity, he was relatively quiet in the days following his firing. But now, O'Reilly is back to basics, focusing on turning his popular website into the new headquarters for all things No Spin, and it's where he unleashed his first big message to fans, sharing his feelings about not being on TV anymore.

Understandably, at least some of the reasoning behind Bill O'Reilly's relatively quiet nature in the aftermath of his firing is because there are so many different and complex elements involved, from the sexual harassment claims themselves to the lawsuits' settlements to how knowledgable the network and its execs were in all of it. Because of the closed-case nature that went into finagling the settlements, no one involved is legally allowed to publicly comment on the details. But O'Reilly has little trouble doubling down on the fact that the "truth" is going to come out at some point, though he refrains from coming out and saying that everyone will rue the day they crossed him.

Without his TV show there to put him back in front of millions of people on a daily basis, Bill O'Reilly basically has two things he can currently roll forward with: keep on denying that anything happened and start talking about anything else to get everyone's attention off of that other stuff. Which is where the renewed focus on www.BillOReilly.com comes into play.

The former cable news stalwart explained in his statement and podcast, which was made free to all visitors and not just subscribers, that the goal is to turn the online No Spin News into something resembling a standard news program in the future, and all invovled are planning to incorporate guest interviews and longer segments. For now, it's mostly a headline rundown and a "listener mail" bit, but expect to see some major growth there in the future, assuming Bill O'Reilly doesn't find his way onto another network (or into a Presidential administration) soon.

At this point, Fox News has removed The O'Reilly Factor from the schedule completely and replaced it with Tucker Carlson Tonight, hosted by the bowtie-wearing network vet. The move has put quite a spotlight on Carlson, and his show has seen the return of the many advertisers that pulled commercials from Fox News during O'Reilly's former timeslot. So while we won't see Stephen Colbert's Papa Bear at his former home in the near future, you can definitely catch him online on his website, and then you can head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to see what else the small screen has to offer in the near future.

Bill O'Reilly was at the center of the action at Fox News for many years, and The O'Reilly Factor was consistently a huge ratings-winner on the cable news circuit. Now, however, O'Reilly has been booted from the network in the wake of a scandal involving sexual harassment allegations. He won't be leaving Fox News with empty pockets, however, as we now know that he'll take home a hefty chunk of change after his departure. Bill O'Reilly could be paid $25 million to leave.

No, I promise that's not a typo. Bill O'Reilly may get $25 million to move on from Fox News. A source close to Fox News has reported that the former O'Reilly Factor host could receive a maximum of one year's salary as his severance for being terminated from the network. Although Reuters reports that O'Reilly's official salary has not been released, CNN has stated that his latest contract involved an annual salary of around $25 million.

All things considered, the sexual harassment allegations and lawsuits against Bill O'Reilly have been quite expensive for Fox News over the years. News broke earlier this month that Fox and O'Reilly settled five lawsuits with women who accused O'Reilly of misconduct, leading to settlements totaling around $13 million. Throw in the decreased revenue of The O'Reilly Factor after a large number of notable advertisers chose to pull their ads from airing during the show, and the scandal has been ugly and costly for the network.

We'll likely never get any exact figures, but the possible $25 million severance package on top of the $13 million in settlements and the ad revenue decrease, and the entire fiasco will cost more than $40 million. For the employees at Fox News who have been wondering if Bill O'Reilly's settlement payouts affected their budgets, the $25 million price for his departure undoubtedly doesn't come as reassuring news.

Bill O'Reilly's severance package is the second pricy payout required of Fox News after the termination of a prominent member of the team. In the summer of 2016, Fox News head honcho Roger Ailes was ousted in the wake of sexual harassment allegations, and his departure cost approximately $40 million. Despite riding the ratings tide of the 2016 presidential election and its aftermath, Fox News has been having some serious trouble.

It should be interesting to see how Fox News does or does not recover from losing O'Reilly. His ousting is being praised by many who felt that his alleged behavior more than warranted termination, but there's no denying that he was a big part of Fox News' success. The O'Reilly factor continued to enjoy impressive ratings even as the scandal developed; Fox may be hard-pressed to find a way to fill O'Reilly's place in the lineup. The network has chosen host Tucker Carlson to step into the slot right off the bat; only time will tell if Fox News will stick with Carlson in the long run or not.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule to see all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Don't forget to drop by our rundowns of broadcast TV and cable/streaming renewals and cancellations so far.

This week brought about the end of an era, as Fox News confirmed it had severed ties with longtime host Bill O'Reilly following reports tied to sexual harassment lawsuits that he's faced over the years. For ages, one of O'Reilly's biggest public critics has been Stephen Colbert, who brilliantly brought his former Colbert Report persona back to The Late Showto not only say goodbye to Papa Bear, but to blame the American public for making it happen. Check it out!

As it's stated at the top of that clip, current Late Show host Stephen Colbert spent a large chunk of his TV career playing a heightened version of right-winger Bill O'Reilly, taking shots at the host and Fox News from a strongly satirical point of view. (As opposed to The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, who used both clever satire and blatant disdain in handling O'Reilly's career.) It seemed strange enough that this latest Fox News scandal had been going on so long without Stephen "My Other Bald Eagle Is Also a Bald Eagle" Colbert rising from the ethers to comment on it in full. Thankfully, the comedian and the Late Show staff were able to bring the pseudo-pundit out of hiding for a mini-diatribe.

With a firmer grasp than ever on the late night ratings game, Stephen Colbert is allowed to take off work every now and again, even if it's just for the 90 seconds that it takes THIS Stephen Colbert to get his thoughts about Bill O'Reilly off his chest. (And since Colbert has the chest of a man, one might jokingly assume O'Reilly wouldn't be interested in staying there anyway.) Considering O'Reilly's ousting was inspired by allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace -- allegations he continues to deny -- bringing the Comedy Central character by to inject humor into the sensitive subject matter is slightly uncomfortable, although hardly more uncomfortable than O'Reilly-centered attacks and defenses made elsewhere on TV and online.

Plus, Colbert even offered O'Reilly an olive branch of sorts by offering him a glimpse of peaceful and dairy-ful seclusion.

It's a shame that Jon Stewart didn't show up somewhere to also make a statement about the matter. Maybe tonight. While we can't make any wagers on when we might see that other Stephen Colbert again -- possibly when bears enter the next presidential election -- you can catch the real Stephen Colbert every night on CBS on The Late Show. Check out one of Colbert and O'Reilly's last talks on the next page, and head to our midseason premiere guide and our summer TV schedule to see what new shows are hitting the small screen in the near future.

When Bill O'Reilly recently left Fox News to go on vacation, the longtime host was making headlines for The O'Reilly Factor's excellent recent ratings, as well as making many more headline over reports that he and network execs had paid off a series of women over the years who'd slapped O'Reilly with sexual harassment lawsuits. Last night, Rupert Murdoch was weighing the option to boot the popular conservative, and now it sounds like O'Reilly was not only fired, but that the moves are in motion to replace him, perhaps as early as next week.

The line is allegedly in the sand for Bill O'Reilly's big ousting from Fox News, where he's been a major force since 1996, when the network came into being. According to New York Magazine, discussions were being had Wednesday morning the best way to handle pulling the plug on The O'Reilly Factor and its host's network involvement, with the aim being to kick up as little dust as possible. One key decision to be made was reportedly whether or not to let him return from his vacation on April 24 to provide an official farewell to audiences, and while it's not entirely clear where things stand on that front, it appears his full-time duties as a Fox News voicebox are complete.

Gabriel Sherman, an editor with New York Magazine -- as well as a contributor to NBC News and MSNBC -- is where the news about Bill O'Reilly's replacement surfaced. And Sherman recently posted the following, indicating that Tucker Carlson would be the big man on Monday nights now.

An alleged copy of the internal memo that Rupert Murdoch allegedly shared with Fox News employees was posted on Twitter, seemingly confirming Bill O'Reilly's firing.

Much as paying off someone to settle a lawsuit is an indication of neither guilt nor innocence, Fox News' decision to excise Bill O'Reilly over his sexual harassment suits says nothing of the cases themselves or the details behind them. (O'Reilly, of course, has denied everything, basically blaming the women for trying to hurt him and his family.) What it does say, however, is Rupert Murdoch is probably sick of dealing with his high-profile employees facing multiple claims of sexual misconduct.

There will no doubt be much more to say about this situation in the coming days and week (and months and years), so stay tuned. And head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to catch up with all the non-news shows coming soon.

Fox News has been dealing with a lot of changes on the backend. Roger Ailes exited the company over the summer, and Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly have both pursued gigs on other networks. Now, news has come to light that other Fox News mainstay Bill O'Reilly may also have recently dealt with sexual harassment allegations.

It seems the network's Juliet Huddy may have dealt with sexual harassment issues with Bill O'Reilly back in 2011, when she alleges he used to call her and spoke with her while it seemed like he was also masturbating. She says he once invited her back to his hotel room after asking her on a dinner date to the Harvard Club, according to a report from the New York Times. The outlet says that Huddy kept quiet about what happened for some time. Her lawyers sent a letter to Fox News in August of 2016, explaining what Juliet Huddy alleges happened. She settled with the network on September 5, per reports, at the same time Gretchen Carlson and other suits related to Roger Ailes were also being settled.

Juliet Huddy says this isn't just a problem she had with Bill O'Reilly. She also says that she was sexually harassed by Jack Abernethy, another executive at Fox. In Abernethy's case, she says the executive "trashed her" at Fox News. In Bill O'Reilly's case, she says he canceled some of her assignments, although its difficult to tell ifthis is something that happens regularly or something that could actually be retaliation for being rejected.

Fox News has already come out and stated that all of the allegations made by Juliet Huddy are false. It's interesting that the news is coming out now, months after it initially happened. In "he said, she said" cases, it's often hard to tell exactly what happened. At one point, for instance, Juliet Huddy was reportedly asked by Bill O'Reilly to go back to his hotel room, but instead of just saying no and leaving, she actually went up to his hotel room, allegedly to drop off the key. Although the letter she shot off to Fox News has come to light at this point, Juliet Huddy and co. have signed an agreement not to talk about the events in 2011 or what happened afterward, so it's unlikely we'll get to the bottom of the matter anytime soon.

Meanwhile, Mr. Abernethy signed a new contract with Fox News in September. Bill O'Reilly still hosts The O'Reilly Factor on the network. The allegations came just a few weeks after Fox News was forced to deal with a slew of headlines related to Roger Ailes allegedly sexually harassing Gretchen Carlson and other employees at Fox News. Around the same time Juliet Huddy also put her name out there related to different Fox News employees, Roger Ailes quietly resigned. Gretchen Carlsono also settled with Fox News for a large amount of compensation---reportedly in the millions. It's certainly a time of changes and shake-ups at the news network.

In the meantime, you can still catch Bill O'Reilly on weeknights on Fox News. The O'Reilly Factor airs at 8 and 11 p.m. ET.

The hits just keep coming to Fox News, a network that has seen its ratings rise to unprecedented levels in a year rife with controversial claims. The most damning and disturbing (initial) allegations came as Gretchen Carlson responded to her firing with sexual harassment lawsuit against then-president Roger Ailes, and more women came forward with similar stories. The latest is former The Five co-host Andrea Tantaros, who is suing not just Ailes, but also the network and several others high-ranking execs.

According to the lawsuit filed Monday, Andrea Tantaros' problems went beyond just the sexual harassment and included serious repercussions for making official complaints. Tantaros joined Fox News back in 2010 as a right-leaning commentator, and she claims those early days were filled with comments about her looks and demands about her clothing. But it was when she got promoted to The Five that it got worse, and she claims Roger Ailes kept trying to get her to not wear long pants on the air so that her legs could be seen.

The lawsuit also alleges Tantaros was called into Ailes' office at one point and was told to turn in a circle so he could watch her, and it was soon after she refused that she claims she was demoted to the lower-rated series Outnumbered. According to the New York Times, things persisted in that manner for months, and Tantaros claims she also received advances and other unwarranted behavior from Ailes' future replacement and senior newsman Bill Shine, as well as popular host Bill O'Reilly and others. As well, she claims that puppeted Twitter accounts were created by Fox publicity employees solely to harass her online.

Before we get to how her complaints were handled, check out this particularly piercing accusation of the network and company.

Things take a darker turn as the lawsuit claims Andrea Tantaros met with Bill Shine to bring up her discomfort when meeting with Roger Ailes, as well as her problems with publicity head Irena Briganti. Shine allegedly told Tantaros to "let this one go," though Shine's reps have said that never happened. Most other reps and spokespeople for Fox have kept mum, but during the arbitration, Tantaros' lawyer even claimed Fox News offered his client a payment in the tune of seven figures if she dropped her claims against the network, Roger Ailes, and everyone else.

The battle between Tantaros and Fox News has actually been going on for months. The network claimed she breached her company contract by writing a book without the appropriate approval, which landed her with a suspension that has kept her off the air ever since. Back in April, Fox News lawyers alleged Tantaros was trying to gain ground in the contract dispute by making up the harassment claims, while Tantaros' lawyer threw it back that the contract dispute was another way of trying to silence the conservative contributor's charges.

It's likely this situation is far from over, and we can only hope that justice prevails and the judgment that's passed is the correct one.

Following the success of National Geographic's adaptation of Bill O'Reilly's book Killing Lincoln, Nat Geo is bringing Killing Kennedy to the small screen. Of course, plans for that were in the works even before Lincoln debuted. And the network had so much faith in O'Reilly's work that they're already on board to adapt Killing Jesus, which won't even hit shelves until September. That's thinking ahead though. The photo above, as you may have surmised, shows us Rob Lowe as the title character in the Killing Kennedy adaptation.

This first look at Lowe as President John F. Kennedy comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly and shows Lowe looking downward, showing off Kennedy's very recognizable hairstyle. He's suited up and standing within view of an American Flag. The two-hour docudrama is based on O'Reilly and Martin Dugard's book, which follows the final years of Kennedy's life, leading to his assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald (Will Rothhaar) in November of 1963. Directed by Nelson McCormick, the TV movie is expected to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's death later this year.

In addition to Rob Lowe, who stands the chance of delivering a pretty outstanding performance in this role - here's hoping - the cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin, who's playing First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, and Michelle Trachtenberg, who will play Oswald's wife Marina. As great as this first look photo is, I'm now especially eager to see how Once Upon a Time's Goodwin looks as Jackie Kennedy. Something tells me that's going to be a fantastic look for her.

Bill O’Reilly might be considered a leading voice for the Republican Party, but that doesn’t mean he always walks the company line on every issue. In fact, like a growing segment of right-leaning Americans, he’s come to the defense of the gay community on several occasions, most notably when One Million Moms demanded JC Penney fire Ellen DeGeneres for being a lesbian. At the time, O’Reilly called the group’s demand a “witchhunt” and fundamentally “against the spirit of America”. Earlier this week, while not nearly as aggressively, he echoed those same basic sentiments when the topic of gay marriage came up.

Here’s what he told his co-worker/ former attorney Megyn Kelly when she said gay marriage advocates make a far more convincing case for legalizing than opponents do for condemning the practice.

The world is changing. Younger generations solidly approve of gay marriage, and even a healthy percentage of older people are starting to move that way. Hopefully, O’Reilly’s public stance will force many Americans to reexamine the issue and potentially take a more tolerant approach to letting their fellow citizens achieve true equality.

The National Geographic channel is really interested in killing off presidents right now. Next month, the network is set to air Killing Lincoln, a TV flick which, naturally, looks at the Lincoln assassination. Now, Nat Geo has greenlighted Killing Kennedy, a two-hour TV movie that will take a look into the Kennedy assassination.

Like Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy is based on a book written by author and political analyst Bill O’ Reilly and co-writer by Martin Dugard. Again, like the Lincoln-based TV flick, Killing Kennedy will be a “factual drama,” based in facts and using archives and other historical reference points to inform the film. To keep up with the similarities with next month’s release, Scott Free Productions, Ridley Scott’s company, is on board to produce the drama. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see whether the crew can bring back Tom Hanks to host Killing Kennedy, as well. Casting is expected to start very soon, and TV Blend will keep you posted.

While it may seem a little odd to have greenlighted Killing Kennedy before Killing Lincoln officially airs, Deadline is reporting that Nat Geo has been openly excited about producing new historical movies after Seal Team 6 did well on the channel. That historical story actually brought in 2.7 million viewers during its initial run, which also happened to be Nat Geo’s best numbers ever. Although Nat Geo seems to be banking on the famous names involved in the two Killing projects, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad call.

Because of his incredible popularity and the fact that he, unlike Rush Limbaugh, is regularly on television, Bill O’Reilly is often cited as the most important voice of the conservative movement. To some, this makes him worth DVRing every night, and to others, it makes him an asshole.

Over the weekend, O’Reilly joined Daily Show host Jon Stewart for a rousing, sold out debate that was broadcast for a fee on the Internet. During the action, both men answered questions without a filter, cracked jokes, insulted each other, brought up important issues and seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves, as much or more than the people in the crowd.

It’s highly unlikely any onlookers actually changed their political opinions because of the Rumble in the Air-Conditioned Auditorium, but many people may have actually changed their opinion of O’Reilly. This weekend wasn’t the first time the talking head appeared opposite Stewart, but it was perhaps the most highly publicized meeting. It was a chance for many liberal observers to see he has a sense of humor and is willing to put himself out there for entertainment.

Regardless of what one’s political views are, I think both O’Reilly and Stewart came away as big winners after the debate. Since, most people already have at least a relatively positive view of Jon, the better question is whether Bill changed some minds. What do you think? Do you like him better after this weekend? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

This poll is no longer available.

For more questions of the day, head here.

It’s been a big week for political TV personalities. Real Time with Bill Maher was just renewed for two seasons, and Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity have been working out new deals to keep on trucking on Fox News. Turns out the multiple year and several million dollar contract offers were enough of a push for at least one of the Fox News regulars.

Today, Bill O’Reilly has signed a new contract with the political network. Unfortunately, Sean Hannity has yet to have the same kind of positive reaction to the numbers, but with O'Reilly already on board, he could be well on his way. Deadline is reporting Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is tickled pink with the new deal, mentioning The O’Reilly Factor is the number one cable news program. Ailes also took the opportunity to speak out his buddy Bill's ability to mix intellect with opinion.

Since Bill O’Reilly first rose to prominence, many imitators have followed in his wake. However, O’Reilly still remains the voice that rings loudest in a certain segment of the conservative party’s ears. Regardless of your feelings on mixing news and opinion, the genre is here to stay and few people are better able to crystallize a message so concisely. That’s probably worth a few million dollars to the right faction of people.

Despite what some commentators would have you believe, members of a political party do not always share the same viewpoints. Not all Republicans are pro-life, just as not all Democrats are in favor of taxing the richest Americans at sixty percent. We all look at the world differently, and some issues are bigger than partisan politics.

Never was that fact more clear than last night on the O’Reilly Factor when Bill squared off against conservative commentator Sandy Rios. She appeared to defend One Million Moms and its attempts to get Ellen DeGeneres fired as the spokeswoman for JC Penney. In short, O’Reilly disagreed rather vehemently.

Calling the group’s threats “a witchhunt” reminiscent of McCarthy-era politics and against “the spirit of America”, O’Reilly offered a lot of thoughts laden with his trademark aggressiveness, all of which boiled down to one basic premise: it’s wrong for people to demand someone be fired simply for his or her lifestyle when that lifestyle doesn’t break any laws. You can take a look at the clip below…

Of course I love watching O’Reilly take this woman to task for her stupid opinion, but more than that, my favorite part of this interview is when Rios makes the wild claim that none of the million moms could appear because “they’re moms”. This is the same organization that has now asked all its members to call their local JC Penneys to demand Ellen be fired. They have time for that but not to publicly defend their stance? Give me a break.

I want to get this out of the way right off the bat, I am a fan of both of these showmen... yes, as deplorable as it might sound (and as deplorable as his views might often be) I get a huge kick out of Bill 'Papa Bear' O'Reilly. Say what you will, but the man is an entertainer and so was his, ever more frequent, quest on last night's The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. The guest, The Daily Show's Jon Stewart...

They spend the majority of the ten minutes together discussing the recent hot-bed issue of President Obama extending an invite to Common to come to the White House. There is little doubt for me who won this debate, argument or 'pettifogging' but make sure to watch both parts and make up your own mind.

Unfortunately, the catch-22 of promoting these excellent clips is that all the video views are being immediately converted into cold hard cash for the fine people at Fox News... an organization I wouldn't otherwise support. C'mon Jon, you have to get Bill back to Comedy Central so the views can fund important things like puppets making prank phone calls.

Part 1: Jon Stewart Goes Head-to-Head With Bill O'Reilly

Part 2: Jon Stewart Goes Head-to-Head With Bill O'Reilly

Regardless of who you think won the debate (cough, Stewart, cough), there is no doubting that this makes for some interesting and engaging television and elevates the level of discourse at Fox News. As always, you can catch The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News every night at 8 and 11 p.m. ET and The Daily Show on Comedy Central Monday-Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.