|
Published 2/20/03 in The Post-Star newspaper Feeling queasy in the morning Commentary By STACEY MORRIS Two hours of well-paced portions of breaking news and weather reports balanced with attention given to current events and issues and a little entertainment. This was in the era before the morning shows were overrun with a circus atmosphere of screaming tourists thrusting signs painted with the name of their hometown into the camera. Some of them even loiter stalkerishly on the sidewalk in order to press their noses against the glass window of the studio while the hosts attempt a dignified delivery of the day's headlines. NBC started the trend, with the other two major networks quickly following suit: morning news studios strategically reshuffled to street level for optimum mayhem, I mean excitement. It all pointed to what the reality shows would later prove without a shadow of a doubt: people love being in front of the camera, no matter for how brief an interval. I didn't find the crowd shots that bothersome; it was even endearing at times, a jolt of cheer from ecstatic Midwesterners, who screamed with delight when they received their millisecond of fame. It was a welcome respite from the gloomy news coming from Wall Street, Washington and the Middle East and the shots were brief enough that they didn't really infringe on the show's content. It's not exactly a revelation that the morning news shows have been teetering dangerously close to the brink of vacuousness, but last week the Today Show pushed itself over the edge. I did a double-take when I turned on NBC at 8:30 a.m. and saw Katie Couric reporting from surroundings that looked suspiciously similar to the set of The Dating Game, circa 1975. Herb Alpert's theme song and game show host Jim Lange had even been taken out of the vault for the occasion. It was all part of The Today Show's "Special Segment," titled Getting Personal, the Today Show's unsparing investigation into the world of how singles look for love. The special segment revolved around a Virgo bachelorette who works in financial sales and enjoys reading mystery novels and singing in her car. The bachelor, a Scorpio from Brooklyn, likes crossword puzzles, watching C-Span and playing the harmonica. Does this sound like a bad personal ad? It's not. It's worse than a bad personal ad. This was a SWF seeks SWM scenario played out in living color on what was once a respected news program. Why, the Today Show was even kind enough to let the audience participate by casting votes on the show's Web site for who the bachelor and bachelorette should have invited on a date. I felt the faint rumblings of nausea as Couric, Lange and their trained seals flung their arms in synch toward the camera to close out the segment with a great big smooch. It all made me pine for Barbara Walters' I-mean-business demeanor, the composure of weatherman Frank Blair and the unparalleled class of Betty Furness. Back in the day, when Hugh Downs or Jane Pauley looked us in the eye, nine times out of 10, they didn't waste our time. I do get the idea behind morning news programming: it has to please a variety of tastes and do so in a way that's as palatable as that first morning cup of coffee. But have we become so voyeuristic that prime-time reality shows aren't enough...we now feel the need to peer through the parted veil of privacy into a complete stranger's personal life? Maybe as a whole, we have. And if that's true, then take note of what's coming up on Monday on Today. The producers are dangling the prospect of a "Hollywood Makeover" to the home audience, which means that you too can be a participant on The Today Show. All you have to do is show up before dawn at Rockefeller Plaza, take your place among the herd of hopefuls and wait for your big break. |