Ted Koppel and Bill O’Reilly are apparently friendly. They seem to have a professional relationship that extends into cocktail parties and other events that I think can be described as “swanky.” Koppel will have civil conversations with O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor—it usually coincides with promoting a book. Bill, feeling the pressure of last night’s debate coming up and the interview with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in his future, wanted to get some pointers from the veteran Koppel.
O’Reilly: I have interviewed him a number of times. Not an easy interview. How would you do it?
Koppel: You know something, Bill, you and I have talked about this general subject many times over the years. It's irrelevant how I would do it. You who made it it irrelevant? You did. You have changed the television landscape over the past 20 years. You took it from being objective and dull to being subjective and entertaining. And in this current climate, it doesn't matter what the interviewer asks him, Mr. Trump is going to say whatever he wants to say as outrageous as it may be.
[Bold is me laughing]
Watch this, and then watch Koppel being generally dismissive of Bill O’Reilly. Bill even sort of admits to being part of the problem at the end of the interview—in a Bill O’Reilly way (he’s always on brand). A deflated Billy is sublime.