OK, so it's been a couple of weeks since Katie Couric took over The CBS Evening News. My first impression was that she's doing pretty well, not reinventing anything but not a failure either. After watching her for a while now, let me make some quick observations:
- Katie asked viewers for their ideas on how she should sign off, but maybe she should have asked them for greetings instead. I mean, "Hi everybody?" What kind of a greeting is that?
- The "News In Brief" section: what's that all about? Is it really the "News We Don't Want To Spend Too Much Time On But Let's Add It So It Looks Like We Cover A Lot Of Stories" section?
- The "Snapshots" and "FreeSpeech" sections: is this what they came up with after all those meetings, focus groups, and research? People wanted to see a hybrid news show/morning show/cable show, only in 30 minutes?
- She's now doing something called "Notebook," which is airing on local newscasts and on the web. She's hitting some really hard targets: being a skinny model is unhealthy! Those new elevators are cool! Andre Agassi played tennis! Next up: Death is really sad.
- If Katie (and her fans) want people to stop talking about her legs and take her more seriously, maybe she should stop ending each newscast sitting on top of her desk like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys.
But, hey, it's only been a couple of weeks. I'm sure things will be tweaked...right?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-22-2006 @ 3:52PM
erroneous_nick said...
How about TVSquad has a greetings contest now? And be sure to underline and bold the text where it explains that it's just for fun since that seemed to be missed by a lot of people during the sign-off contest.
I have a few suggestions for Katie's softnews show:
Regarding her "News In Brief"; I think viewership would skyrocket with the addition of one letter to that, calling it "News In Briefs". I believe people would tune in to see her doing news in underwear...I really do.
Get rid of "Snapshots" and "Free Speech" and bring in "Free Slapshots". A man-on-the-street segment where passers-by are asked a simple question about current events, you know, like Leno, et al do to show how clueless some people can be. The only difference with "Free Slapshots" is whenever someone gives a completely clueless, inane answer, the interviewer slaps the crap out of them. I'd watch.
Rename "Notebook" to "Duh!". 'Nuf said there.
I think Katie could continue to sit on top of her desk for the sign-off, but should remain in her briefs while doing it and have most of the crew join her, also in their briefs. Oh, and have the set near a window like Today so pedestrians could gawk, too.
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9-22-2006 @ 5:34PM
Gig said...
I've got a unique idea she could try.
REPORTING THE NEWS
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9-22-2006 @ 11:45PM
Charmqn said...
who would you guys rather have Bob Scheiffer back( hope I spelled his last name right) or Katie Couric?
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9-22-2006 @ 8:12PM
Joel Keller said...
Erroneous, both posts about the sign-off contest said that stars were going to be awarded for the best entries. I gave no indication or inference that there was anything else at stake but stars. Not sure how I could have been any clearer on that point.
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9-24-2006 @ 11:53PM
erroneous_nick said...
Joel,
I thought it was abundantly clear, but my point was that several people seemed to miss the fact that it was a fun contest. Some complained that others's suggestions were silly, etc. and you had to point out that it was only for fun (I believe mention was made that you weren't trying to cure cancer, etc). I was just making mention that you might want to textually hit people over the head about the point since some seemed to need more "clarification".
Sorry if you misunderstood my comment about some people misunderstanding. I didn't mean to be misunderstood. :o)
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