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Robin and Michael were both off this morning, so Amy was once again in his chair while Ceclia Vega sat in the center. Personally, I think the remaining regular anchor (George in this situation) should be seated in the middle, but that's just me.

A couple Chicago clips from the late 70's... The early Saturday morning WGN Newsbreak, as read by...Ron Rolland? Part of a 1976 WLS newscast. Joel and Fahey broke out the tuxes for their 8th anniversary on-air together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=EF9Q-VIl7U8;m=1;s=27

I don't know, I only really saw the beginning, but she did do a VO during the open, so she was an active third anchor.

Another thing that I believe is a first. I can't recall any time during his tenure where someone has formally filled in for Michael, instead of opting for just George and Robin as a duo.

I'm just messing around.

Yay! We're all friends again! [crickets chirping] I'll show myself out.

I found a screen cap that I took from last year's show because I couldn't remember when WNT aired, and it was an hour later at 5:30/4:30. It was moved so the local newscasts could remain at the same 5/4 time.

I think he was referring to the celebrities and the journalists, not you.

There are criticisms to be had, for sure, it's just that this one really isn't the one to base your greater argument on. GMA is definitely in worse shape, content-wise, but I just can't agree that World News Tonight and the rest of the network can be generalized as some kind of complete dumpster fire. Heck, I think a debate can be had that WNT has come back to earth a little and is putting out a superior product now than it did in the last years of Diane's and into David's tenure. Oh, and you're right. The program is not bringing in 6-8 million viewers a night. They've averaged 9-10 million, this year, and lead by 200-500 thousand viewers.

Then I don't want to see any flagship newscasts peddling the network product from the site of the Olympics or the Super Bowl or whatever. I didn't see it, but unless Llamas turned around and started interviewing stars during the show, then it's the same damn thing. Can't have it both ways.

Not necessarily the hosts, but the set has aged terribly and should be blown up. It's not always for me, but I like and respect what they're trying to do with the show, but even I am really distracted by how the set pieces are cheapening the whole vibe of show. At least a coat of paint, or something. They redid the kitchen a couple of years ago, and looks so much more modern and upscale, but it only accentuates the tattered carpet, and the shiny golds that are turning to a drab peach color. As for Ji, if she put in for the Chicago's Best vacancy, she'd have a shot, for sure.

That's always rough, but it's nice that they allowed her to say goodbye on-air. That puts her in way too small of a group. Best of luck to her.

The Cheryl and Larry promo went live yesterday. [MEDIA=vimeo]258293308[/MEDIA]

Everyone rejoice! I had a fear that they'd go too simplistic with the logo, just dropping the '9' and replacing 'news' with 'sports', like they did with the old look. Glad they played around with it, a little.

20 years ago...yesterday.

Ah, I listened to it again. I should've recognized the quality difference. It threw me since they must've dropped that cut fairly quickly.

When you're part owner of the paper... #TheReturn https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1926111181037042

Okay, I first saw this video months ago, but I don't know how I didn't notice how rare it was til now. It's the 'On Your Side'-era graphics and the new O&O set. That's nothing super crazy, but note that the beginning of the clip includes a few bars of 'The Tar Sequence', which means they went back to the classic theme for a few months, before adopting 'News Series 2000'. I don't know if the new theme wasn't ready or they hadn't yet decided a long-term option (returning to the old to try and recapture some old glory). By the way, this would be from January of '84. [MEDIA=vimeo]231104065[/MEDIA]

The 'Sports Briefs' are officially going commando...

If WGN is ever going to debut new sports graphics and update the logo, it's not going to be this preseason. They're still on the old look for today's season debut featuring the Cubs and White Sox. Sidenote: they're using the CHW and CHC abbreviations on the scoreboard, and that looks so weird for a local telecast. Update: they restored the team names later in the broadcast.

Maybe? He was at WABC for a dozen years before the last 5 at WTVJ in Miami. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-matthews-9174a720/

They've had the 8am audience for a couple of years now. As for the old flag (most memorable to me as being there at the beginning of the 9/11 breaking news), that set was redone for HD in 2005. With that, a new wooden flag was mounted behind the secondary anchor desk, but that backdrop was completely redone when Diane and Robin shifted away from the window in 2007. I mentioned it way earlier in this thread, with this exact picture, but *THIS* was peak GMA. *(November 2005-June 2006) Gibson, Sawyer, Roberts, HD, graphics, that set. The best combo of all factors on the show in my lifetime.

Someone else can answer for Pete (I think he taught, at least at some point), but Mark BISHOP was a professor down at Olivet Nazarene University, leaving for a position elsewhere. I do believe, though, that he's since returned. Mark MCGINNIS has a private consulting business, in addition to his frequent duties at WLS and (less frequently at) WTMJ.

It seems like a solid bet that new graphics are coming, sooner rather than later, too. Helvetica remains the primary font, and the newscast logo receives the updated Circle 7, but I think it's a safe bet that they'll fall in line with the sister stations in debuting a flatter look. This slick new promo started running Wednesday, and based on some social media posts, a version with Cheryl and Larry should be coming soon. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1166142700088874

It's B.S. to think that everyone's required to have 2 days off each week. Heck, even at the local level, I've seen sports and weather anchors work 10+ days straight.