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A bit of a rarity tonight, as the southern edge of the Chicago viewing area is under a tornado warning. Despite it coming at a weird time of day, Cheryl Scott and Larry Mowry have been on the air since about 12:20am. WGN went on with Mike Hamernik a long while later, and Mary Kay Kleist did a quick update at 1 on CBS2. NBC5 and FOX32 have not broken in.

New member of the Eyewitness News team. Get that baby a Circle 7 microphone!

Wow. https://6abc.com/5312963/

In a tough blow for enthusiasts like us, The Museum of Classic Chicago Television's (FuzzyMemories.TV) YouTube channel has been removed on copyright strikes. Their website is still active, but several of the pieces in their archives were YouTube-exclusive.

Considering the current landscape of news (aka the polar opposite of 40 years ago), I'm not sure how a male fill-in anchor is going to play a major role in the upcoming absence of a female anchor.

In other fill-in news...TV is a hard thing to give up.

And to complete the Chicago trifecta... No joke, there are some 90's clips in the WLS montage that I have on my own personal VHS tapes, and were prepared to post at some point in the future. What are the chances?

Yeah, the promotions department is always playing around, trying stuff, with no great effect on the broadcast. Just because there's been an injection of humor, personality, and playfulness, doesn't mean they're abandoning the hard news M.O. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's trying to look like a GMA promo from a couple years ago, but not executed as well. Jazzy music, shots of the anchors, but not hardly as slick, and that's its biggest flaw, in my eyes.

Rob Elgas has filled in on like a Monday when Ravi or others weren't available, but I think it would be a really slim chance of Judy doing so. Summer schedules will certainly complicate things, so with a long-term need on the morning shift, be prepared for nights where Judy and Cheryl carry all 5 newscasts when the other is off. I realize it's the longest of long shots, but I'd be curious to see Liz Nagy fill in for Tanja. She's done a ton of weekend mornings, and even some evening slots, so it's not anything really new. It wouldn't really disrupt anyone's schedules (outside of hers), and having a stable fill-in would be less chaotic than 3 ladies cycling through. That said, the reporting core is going to be thinner for the next month, as Michelle Gallardo is currently running a month-long marathon through the Himalayan Mountains.

This is uncharted territory for the morning news, as Sylvia Perez was the regular maternity fill-in when Judy had her pregnancies last decade.

My thoughts exactly, especially after she filled in in New York. It would certainly make sense.

Something something modern workplace...something something millennials...something something avocado toast.

Can't speak for Philly, but Chicago was generally behind on the morning news trend. Updates in and around the network programs had been standard since the 60s, but no stations aired formal programs until WMAQ and WLS debuted in 1989. That said, there were unsuccessful efforts over the decade to expand. WLS, for example, was toying the idea of a full hour at 6am, but it never debuted. (Chicago Tribune, 3/29/82)

Nope, it's the existing video wall. They're following a trend of other NBC O&O's. Most are ditching the stylized loop it for the normal live feed when it gets to be light enough outside.

Before we had to suffer through the likes of "Teen Kids News," Chicago's WMAQ subjected its viewers to "Bubble Gum Digest."

Charlie and Joan were still the anchors, when the news division took over.

Brad Edwards comes from the investigative core. I can't say I've seen Irika do any long-form reporting in 4 years here. That's about the only thing about the promo that doesnt sit well with me. Otherwise, I get the point, even if the execution isn't 100%. Won't change anyone's viewing habits, either way.

Adair nearly made the jump to market #3 in 1967. Management at Chicago's WBKB (a year away from becoming WLS) attempted to lure the pair of Doug Adair and Joel Daly. Daly took the bait, developing a 50-year bond with ABC, while Adair stayed put, and became a legend in Ohio.

I'm okay with the lack of movement. Booger in the booth will be better than on that silly sideline rig, and is an improvement on Jason Witten.

When I saw the name and the face, I did some digging, and honestly, the only confirmation I got was a mention of both father and son on Mrs. Miller's business bio. It says he graduated from Purdue with a degree in meteorology, so i doubt he's an intern. If I were to guess, he's probably a weather producer. https://www.millerbroadcast.com/lisa-miller/ (last paragraph)

I know, right? Maybe. Possibly. Such an odd arrangement.

Just when you thought the era of nepotism in Chicago TV was simmering down, I just discovered that NBC 5 has hired a new, web-only (for now) meteorologist in the last several months. His name is Joey MILLER. Like father, like son. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-weather-snapshot-showers-storms_Chicago-508907222.html

Nah, I'm thinking more around this time, when they pulled a 180 image-wise. I don't recall when their morning news began. That said, they weren't relevant in the morning realm until this pairing in the latter part of the decade. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq2AE5n41N8

Meanwhile, in this weird, alternate universe, WGN Morning News was a calm, sophisticated hour of serious news. And still, no one watched WBBM.

A few months after the fact, but I know this is the first time I've seen the full expanse (and bottom) of the new video wall. I'm no expert, but it seems unnecessarily huge. Considering how they use it, does it have to be so tall and wide, or does it just come that way? The black on top and bottom makes it look almost temporary, disjointed from the rest of the set. lexisutter_58594286_408679286347627_6082097823950674866_n.mp4