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Is This Worse Than Spelling ‘Minnelli’ Wrong? So Far, Not So Good for ABC’s Experiment With Expanded ‘GMA’

Jul 10, 2012  •  Post A Comment

ABC is trying an afternoon expansion of its morning show "Good Morning America," with a nine-week trial that might become more permanent if it performs well, reports the Associated Press.

But the Monday debut of “Good Afternoon America” didn’t exactly come off without a hitch. The broadcast ended abruptly in the middle of an anecdote from singer Liza Minnelli, the story notes. Minnelli was interviewed after singing "New York, New York" in the show’s Manhattan studio, the piece adds.

"The show began at 2 p.m. ET and was blessed on its first day with legitimate pop culture news: the rapid divorce settlement between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes," the article points out.

Hosted by Lara Spencer and Josh Elliott, who are both featured on the morning show, the afternoon program kept to the early show’s mixture of light topics and pop culture, the story adds.

The report by AP television writer David Bauder gives this account of the Minnelli appearance: “Minnelli, backed by a band and dancers, performed to tout a new live disc of a 1974 recording. In the interview following, Elliott asked her, ‘What was it like watching Liza Minnelli back then?’

“A slightly bewildered Minnelli replied: ‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen her.’

“She then launched into an anecdote about the old days before being stopped cold by Spencer. They’d run out of time on Day One.”

5 Comments

  1. Hosting and producing, producing and hosting…I, and many others, can do this in our sleep.
    It pisses me off to see tens of thousands being paid to people who can’t do either.
    http://www.peterbrightproductions.com

  2. Hey, Peter. They look good and we know THAT IS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS.

  3. Those days in this tune-out TV Age are over.
    Many are waking up and wanting SUBSTANCE in their daily TV gruel.
    Your point is valid, but, thankfully for many, the trim-tab is working.

  4. Well, Peter it is better to give one person the salary of 4 or 5 people or more rather than doing it properly and employ more people. Much like being a CEO of a large company these days. Flash is much better than substance. Isn’t that why Ann was shown the door? She could only handle the substance and the news suits cannot.

  5. While I agree with you in general about the status of American Media today, I will take issue with the Ann-TODAY Show debacle.
    I like and admire Curry’s talent and ability. In my opinion, the (so-called) execs at NBC who took this top-notch reporter off the report beat and threw her in to follow Meredith, (a consumate host), should have been shown the door.
    Hopefully her strong spirit will carry her over this hitch-in-her-get-a-long and she will be triumphant in her return to good researching, writing and reporting.

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