By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — It doesn't look like Bill Clinton should be handing over the 'Comeback Kid' crown just yet.
Once disgraced former Governor Eliot Spitzer made his prime-time debut as co-host of CNN's high-stakes "Parker Spitzer" Monday night, but the pair-up with Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative commentator Kathleen Parker earned less-than-stellar reviews its first night out of the gate.
The New York Times slammed the at-times awkward duo as "hard to watch," while Daily News TV critic David Hinckley described Spitzer's style as "annoying" and concluded the show was "was unlikely to quicken viewer pulses, Spitzer's likability numbers or CNN's stagnant ratings."
The New York Post, on the other hand, focused on Spitzer's guest, writer Aaron Sorkin — and their shared "passion" for call girls.
Since he resigned in 2008 in the wake of revelations that he had been a frequent client in a high-end prostitution ring, Spitzer has been inching his way back into the spotlight as a media columnist, professor, and the subject of a tell-all book and movie.
Monday's frenzied show ran the gamut from Bill-Maher-style monologues to a View-like round-table discussion, including a fluffy segment asking guests to name their guilty pleasures. (Spitzer's? He said NASCAR.)
Throughout Monday's show, Spitzer tried to paint himself as a tough-as-nails Democrat fighting for the middle class.
His began by calling on Pres. Barack Obama to fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, slamming him for putting Wall Street interests ahead of the middle class.
"Please do yourself a favor," he told Obama smugly. "Do us all a favor. Fire Tim Geithner."
Spitzer, onced dubbed the sheriff of Wall Street, said he had some suggestions for who could take over in the role of U.S. Treasurer
"I've got some names," he said. "Give me a call."
The guests on the crowded program included a host of writers and thinkers, including "Social Network" and "West Wing" writer Sorkin, Obama consumer finance advisor Elizabeth Warren, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" author Thomas Franks and conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart
Spitzer also capitalized on his previous post as New York's attorney general, sitting down for a one-on-one with Henry Blodget, a Merrill Lynch stock analyst whom Spitzer prosecuted in his days in the office.
In a strange exchange, Blodget, who was barred from the industry and now runs the Business Insider, praised Spitzer's record.
"You had huge balls," he said, before adding: "I applaud you for your own comeback."
On Larry King last week, Spitzer acknowledged that many viewers outside New York may only know him for the scandal. Still, he said he hopes they will be able to look past it.
"I will say very forthrightly, as I have, I did something egregiously wrong to my family," he said. "I apologized. I resigned. And now I am ready to move forward, and I hope people will accept that."
