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Last week was busy, dominated by a single story, but the week before Labor Day is likely one of the lowest-rated of the year. The cold open probably wasn't worth the time and effort spent (whether or not it's worth it the rest of the year is debatable), but it's back tonight.

WLS had that set from like '79 to '81, with a handful of modifications. , but it was in place during their worst years. They went through sets and desks like water for a half dozen years in the late 70's and early 80's, so neither the WXYZ set or the KABC looks lasted long.

Speaking of that design, I didn't realize how many tweaks that KABC set got over time (the second picture best representing what spread to WABC and WLS), and that it lasted for about a dozen years.

Phil did the 4 and 5, and the 10 on both Thursday and Friday. As far as I know, those are his usual off days, but he (and Larry, for that matter) had been off for like a week and a half before that, post-eclipse.

I liked the regular commercial bumper with the cold open better, like they do at 4.

Happy Independence Day, everyone! Please rise, and remove your hats for the playing of the station's anthem...

Liz Nagy has been sent to report from Houston. Also, the local phone banks have been extended til the end of the 10 o'clock news, as they are on pace to smash $4 million in Chicago area donations.

Um, yeah. Thanks.

Jerry's done more 10pm newscasts in the last month than he did in the 12 months before (since the shift swap). He's filling in tonight as I'd expect Cheryl to helm the Red Cross drive tomorrow.

Some have wondered why no David, and that whole thing about Tom and grocery store looters. Criticism from people looking for something to criticize. As for Tom succeeding David, I don't know why, barring the unexpected. David is at the helm of a program that's about to win the season for the first time in 2 decades.

Corey McPherrin has been named to the 5 and 9pm newscasts. Fantastic move. According to the latest ratings, FOX32 only brings in two-thirds of the audience of WGN at 9, but is just a half a point behind in the demo. http://www.robertfeder.com/2017/08/30/fox-32-promotes-corey-mcpherrin-top-news-anchor/

Tonight is Jeff's final night.

Larry and Phil are off this weekend, so Mark did both mornings and Cheryl was on last night.

The legend of the superstition lives on in America's youth. For real, though, is this someone from here? [MEDIA=twitter]901239477221437440[/MEDIA]

Psssssst... https://forums.tvnewstalk.net/index.php?threads/wbbm-new-set-the-secret-is-out.16155/

I don't recall if the article mentioned it, but Allison's interview with Rob airs tonight.

If I recall, some CBS stations (maybe even WCBS) debuted the 2013 graphics right around the Emmy Awards. CBS has the show again this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if the set shows up then.

I'm apparently one of the few people that actually likes Rafer, so I'll say good for him. That said, I'm curious as to what that means for Scott Schneider. I rarely saw, but I got the impression that he filled in on GDC during Corey's absence, and I'd imagine he's going to fill in for whichever one of the early morning Bobbsey twins is going on maternity leave soon. I thought he had the best chance to be named to weeknights, but not doing so tells me that they're either still debating internal candidates or looking elsewhere (which doesn't make sense since Weigel could've filled that qualification WITH name recognition).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only parade WGN has is Thanksgiving, while WLS has everything else? In other weird anchor combo news... [MEDIA=instagram]BX82kJbFB5QqzP2Q1QLOMv6pdXvttfZLNtO5Sk0[/MEDIA]

There was a point after her return that they had anchored more together filling in on weeknights than their normal shift (still might be that way). True story, I swear. I won't disclose how I've kept track, because all y'all would think I was nuts. Oddly enough, I don't recall Karen ever getting a co-anchor during this pregnancy, though I know Ben sat alongside her during her first. Since the new set debuted, Hosea once co-anchored with her, and Judy and Tanja each filled in alongside Ravi, but those were rare one-offs.

First time in a long time, anyway. They opted to spread out like a dozen reports across the newscasts all week, plus doing the Friday morning show from the beach. I miss the nostalgia of the special, but I think they assembled more viewer-friendly content than the (dare I say) repetitive plane descriptions every year. Tracy and Jerry contributed to these reports, and watching all the segments back to back on the designated webpage is likely more than they'd fit into the 30 minute special.

If your scorecard predicted Liz Nagy solo anchoring this evening, you win!

He's 55, so no.

Holy shit. The exodus begins? [MEDIA=twitter]898292453895270402[/MEDIA]

Micah Materre on a Sunday night. That's a first.