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Chicago Tonight: Zzzzzzz
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Well…Bob Sirott certainly didn't remake "Chicago Tonight" into the WTTW Evening Zoo. He decided to go safe. Very safe. Oh, and boring. Quite boring.
Wow.
I can't emphasize enough how underwhelmed I am with the show. The only segment that's worth anything - the news topic discussion with Phil Ponce-has been inexplicably shortened to make way for what appears to be a heaping helping of Tripe ™, courtesy a grant from the National Tripe Council and Clifford the Big Red Dog's Law Office.
I had feared that the news discussion part of the show would be trimmed, and sure enough it happened. Previously, 25 minutes was just enough time to get in-depth into a subject, but avoid stagnation. Chicago Tonight's signature move was the panel continuing discussion over the credits because, hey, they might have run out of time but they hadn't run out of things to talk about. Totally ignoring the suck-job that Chicago Tonight became whenever it was split in half with 2 topics / 2 panels, someone has decided that 15 minutes is enough time to adequately cover the topic of the day. This, dear reader, is commercial news mentality at its worst. When your (alleged) public TV station has a smart show, decides to give it a new coat of paint while doubling the length-you don't expect it to cut back on the meat of the show and fill in the rest of the time with fluffiness. That's what's happened.
Following the conventional "wisdom" of broadcast news, Chicago Tonight now has many short segments to appeal to many people. This, of course, runs counter to what public TV professes to be and this, of course, is why many people say that public TV is obsolete. Rather than keep it's upscale, intelligent audience from turning to the Discovery Channel, Bravo and A&E, Public TV stations have decided that going after the lowest common denominator isn't such a bad thing. Chicago Tonight is just the latest, and most local, public TV offering to cross over to the dark side. How's that Fortune magazine show doing anyway? I suppose we should expect that someone at PBS will soon get the bright idea of forcing a studio audience, band & sidekick on Charlie Rose.
Look, the new Chicago Tonight isn't that bad. It's most definitely not an improvement on the Chicago Tonight of last month, but it's watchable-provided something better (like, say, a Charles in Charge rerun) isn't on another station. The slow, sleepy pace of the program is a bit surprising to me. Sirott talks in such a soft, deliberate manner that I have to ask if someone is spiking his water with sleeping pills. Perhaps they have a carbon monoxide leak in the studio? It's hard to believe that the same station that produces "Wild Chicago" also produces "Chicago Tonight". I mean, what butt-head mandated classical music throughout the show? I like classical as much as the next guy, but just because WFMT is part of Network Chicago doesn't mean it's the best music for this show. It only helps to slow things down. If you're trying to attract a wider audience, I fail to see the logic in copying C-SPAN as a means to that end.
On Friday, I was looking forward to "Chicago Tonight Week in Review" and, thankfully, it's remained intact. In the new hour-long format, I had hoped Joel Weisman's show would be expanded to 45 minutes, if not the whole hour because it always moves very fast and doesn't touch on some topics long enough. Rather than give us more of a good thing, Sirott has decided to replicate "The Cheap Show" minus any entertainment. "The Friday Night Show" would be considered the most inane, useless half-hour of talk except for the fact that NBC is still running the Carson Daly show. Many of you know that I've got major problems with blatant nepotism on-air, mostly because it tends to result in people on the air who are more suited for Peoria rather than Chicago. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I kinda don't have appreciation for people who get a position based on who they know rather than merit. As I watched "The Friday Night Show," I tried desperately to put that out of my mind--with no luck. I mean, what's the deal with Bob and Marianne anyway? Why is it that once they started liking each other ,their on-air chemistry evaporated? Oh, well. I'm not sticking with this show anyway…after the filet mignon of "Chicago Tonight Week in Review," I'll be changing channels before I'm served the e-coli that is "Chicago Tonight: The Friday Night Show."
Before those of you in the know start quoting ratings-yes, the ratings for CT:TFS were better than CTWIR, but let's just wait and see if it was an aberration based on the guests that night.
As for week 2, it looks like someone has finally realized that discussion is the heart of the show. Okay, so the show is still being fine-tuned. I guess it's not fair to judge it so soon...give the hour another few weeks to find its way before totally ditching it. I'd be interested to hear what the folks who say Phil Ponce's interviewing skills are weak think of Bob Sirott's interviewing skills. He's not making ME forget John Callaway.
Reporting vs. Informing
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
As the odd story of Safeway vs. the Dominicks union played out the past couple weeks, I was struck by just how little information was reported. TV news jumped on the live shot in front of Dominicks, a few comments from some workers and smarmy speeches from the union boss. Yet I had no idea what the core issues were.
David Greising to the rescue.
Once I read his November 13th article in the Tribune (registration/urine sample required) about the whole situation, things became clear. Except for one thing…WHY DIDN'T ANYONE IN TV NEWS TELL US ABOUT THIS????
While reporters stood in the parking lots warning us about possible pickets lines and store closings, Greising put the facts on the table. Then he went on the new Chicago Tonight and told Phil Ponce the same things. Including: Dominicks employees make $3 more per hour than Jewel employees, Dominicks employees pay nothing to their health-care premiums, and they have a costly seniority system. Oh, by the way, this contract that Safeway is complaining about today…Safeway willingly signed it 3 years ago. That's just a few of the points Greising brought up - if you only saw the reporting on TV, check out his piece for some real information.
Sweep This!
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
One more week until the November rating sweep ends, and as far as Special Reports go, it's been quite lackluster.
Channel 32 largely gave up and put its faith in the "Experiment in Gay & Straight," not that there's anything wrong with that. Although one thing about it does nag at me. The original Experiment (Black & White) was hosted by Mark Saxenmeyer & Darlene Hill. Whether it was a conscious decision or not, I assumed that one reason for the pairing was that one was black & one was white. So, with Mark & Darlene hosting "Gay & Straight," I just wonder if any viewers are unconsciously wondering which one is which--not that there's anything wrong with that.
Channel 5 has had a nice mix of useful stories, though they succumbed to idiocy this past Sunday. During Mary Ann Ahern's piece on Getting along with the family during the holidays, unrelated clips of Dr. Phil were lifted from his talk show and inserted into the piece. The promotion gave the impression that Dr. Phil was offering advice on the topic. Well, he had advice, but it was through out-of-context clips rather than exclusive advice to the piece. Argh. Another brain fart at NBC Tower?
Musings
By JOHN F. KUCZAJ
Kudos to Channel 5 and Mark Suppelsa (why is this guy always around the quality stuff?) for the occasional "Showdown with Iraq" segments during the 10pm news. Each 90-second segment is chock-filled with Iraq / terrorism-related information. It's brief, yet comprehensive-exactly what TV news should be. Last Thursday's capsule included a report on the UN Inspectors going back to Iraq, the goofy hospital alerts, the Pakistani executed for killing a CIA worker, an incident at Miami's airport and one at a border checkpoint in Michigan. Whew! All that in 90 seconds? Color me informed (well, at least until the newspaper comes out).
I want to point out Marcia Froelke Coburn's excellent article on WSCR's Julie Sweica in the November Chicago Magazine. The only thing disappointing about the article is not enough photos of Julie appear with it. I want more. Lots more. Oh, well. You know, Julie's got all the tools to be the #1 sportscaster on one of our stations. She's one of the smartest sportscasters in town, thinks fast on her feet, has a fairly loyal following and an infectious enthusiasm. Oh, when it comes to TV, it doesn't hurt that she's extremely easy-on-the-eyes (drop-dead gorgeous, IMHO). Though sports department vacancies are few and far-between in this town, a station that can grab Julie Sweica is a station that makes an upgrade.
The Chicago Red Face is now published on a weekly basis. Get a fresh dose of humor every Thursday evening.
Have you heard/seen the J. Lo flub by Shepard Smith of Fox News Channel? Hilarious! Check out the video link at Salon.com.
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