It seemed like a respectful decision, but it felt a bit wrong to me. The voice over was a simple sentence: "This is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." That's it. It felt like a good way to pay tribute to his immense contributions to television news and to bridge the years between his era and the current one. And, shockingly enough, it wouldn't have felt creepy at all, just comforting.
Cronkite's family must have felt the same way, as they've given CBS permission to keep using his voice at the top of the broadcast. How long CBS will keep doing it is anyone's guess. But if Billy Mays can keep selling Oxi Clean from the Great Beyond, why can't Uncle Walter keep introducing the news?
Sometimes, when I'm bored and my WiFi router is broken, I like to play "guess the celebrity commercial voice over." Most of the time, I usually get things right, as advertisers are using more familiar voices than ever before. But sometimes I wonder if a company uses a particular voice for more reasons than they're available, recognizable, and like cashing large checks for very little work.
Case in point is a recent set of Hyundai ads starring the voice of Kelsey Grammer. In the ads, Grammer compares the attributes of the Korean car company's Santa Fe SUV with a much more expensive Land Rover. Of course, this being a Hyundai ad, the Santa Fe comes out favorably, matching the Land Rover in every category except cup holders.
And all through the house, a heck of a lot of voice talent was stirring ... even the ones who have a voice like a mouse. When was the last time you saw Eddie Deezen? It's probably been awhile, however he's been heard a lot -- most recently in Kim Possible. As far as all of the other voice over actors in this piece? Legendary. You've got everyone from The Unit's Dennis Haysbert to SpongeBob's Tom Kenny to Don LaFontaine, trailer announcer extraordinaire reading you this classic tale.
Gather around your computer, and warm everyone with this holiday classic. I can't imagine all of this VO talent assembling again, so enjoy it while you can.
Kelsey Grammer has won a voice-over Emmy for his work on The Simpsons episode "The Italian Bob." The voice-over Emmy is a tad different than other categories since winners are determined by a jury rather than a nomination process. Either way, I'd say the award is richly deserved, since I really couldn't imagine anyone else playing Bart's poofy-haired nemesis, Sideshow Bob. That particular episode was also a great showcase of his voice talent, since he got to not only speak but also perform opera. Other cartoons also received awards, including Robot Chicken and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Right after Walter Cronkite died, CBS decided to stop using his voice over in the intro of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, mainly figuring it was inappropriate to have a ghostly voice introduce their current anchor.
Sometimes, when I'm bored and my WiFi router is broken, I like to play "guess the celebrity commercial voice over." Most of the time, I usually get things right, as advertisers are using more familiar voices than ever before. But sometimes I wonder if a company uses a particular voice for more reasons than they're available, recognizable, and like cashing large checks for very little work.
Kelsey Grammer has won a voice-over Emmy for his work on The Simpsons episode "
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