Glenn Beck Talks About His New Show

Glenn Beck made his debut appearance on Imus in the Morning today and was grateful, to hear the I-Man sing his praises.

"Don, I feel like I've been on death row," he admitted. "It could go either way: you could put me down quietly and easily, or it could be long and agonizing."

Confused, Imus protested that he was a fan of Beck's, specifically of the new FOX News show Glenn Beck, which airs weekdays at 5 p.m.

"You just never know with you!" Beck exclaimed. "I've listened to you for years-you can like somebody and kill them!"

Beck feels fortunate for his new television show on FOX, which in its first few weeks has become the third-most watched show on the network with 2.3 million viewers. Imus attributed Beck's success to his likeability, regardless of the fact that Beck appears "wound tighter than Van Halen's drum kit."

"When you look away from the camera and then your hand goes to your forehead," Imus told Beck, "I'm thinking, here it goes-he's going to take people in the studio hostage!"

Beck also hosts the nationally syndicated radio show The Glenn Beck Program, which is heard in more than 300 cities. A longtime I-Fan, Beck was outraged when Imus asked him about a video he made in the hospital last year.

"I was an eight year-old kid and all I wanted to do was radio," Beck said. "Now I'm on with Don Imus and he brings up my butt surgery? Do we have to dwell on my butt, Don?"

Asked about his political persuasion, Beck said he's "becoming more and more libertarian everyday."

"If you want to do heroine, fine, but I'm going to walk over your dead body in the street," he said, adding that our country is out of control. "Nobody takes responsibility for anything anymore!"

Beck, however, was willing to take responsibility when asked him about a comment he made on his show the other night. Following part one of an interview with now former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Beck encouraged viewers to tune in for part two because, he said, "In all my years of interviewing thousands of people, I've never had an interview end like this."

"I said I've never had anybody get up as fast as he did," Beck argued.

Imus gently informed his guest that those were not the words he used to promote the second part of the interview.

"Well that's what I was thinking," Beck said. "Don, 2.3 million people are watching the show. You don't think it's because of quality, do you?"

-Julie Kanfer