Eliot Spitzer Signs Off Final CNN Show (Video)

Eliot Spitzer signed off his final CNN show on Wednesday night with a quote from a former U.S. president.

“I thought the best way to sign off was with a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt,” he told viewers of In the Arena, noting that it was his final show. “It is in fact the passage from which we took the title of the program.”

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The quote reads: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings, who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Spitzer then added: “Thanks for watching. Good night from New York.”

CNN announced Wednesday that it was canceling the show five months after it replaced Parker/Spitzer, which launched in the fall with Kathleen Parker as Spitzer’s co-host. 

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The show has struggled in its 8 p.m. hour opposite Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, MSNBC’s Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell and HLN’s Nancy Grace. It also has new competition from Keith Olbermann, who recently launched a program on Current TV.

Spitzer was informed of the cancellation this week, CNN/U.S. executive vp Ken Jautz told The Hollywood Reporter.

The show will continue with rotating anchors until Anderson Cooper 360 moves into the 8 p.m. time slot Aug. 8. 

Meanwhile, Spitzer is said to be still mulling an offer to continue on the network as a commentator.

Spitzer segued into a TV career after resigning as governor of New York on the heels of a scandal involving prostitution.