Wednesday, August 17, 2016 McLaughlin, TV provocateur and pioneer, diesNEW YORK — John McLaughlin, the conservative political commentator and host of the namesake long-running television show that pioneered hollering-heads discussions of Washington politics, has died. No cause of death was mentioned, but an ailing McLaughlin had missed the taping for this past weekend’s show for the first time in the series’ 34 years. Since its debut in April 1982, The McLaughlin Group upended the soft-spoken and non-confrontational style of shows such as Firing Line, Washington Week in Review and Agronsky & Co. with a raucous format that largely dispensed with politicians. McLaughlin also played himself on episodes of ALF and Murphy Brown and was ridiculed as a speed-talking egomaniac by Dana Carvey on Saturday Night Live. “My theory is people say under pressure for the most part what they really mean,” McLaughlin said.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald August 16, 2016 21:11 UTC