I used to watch an awful lot of local morning TV news. I also used to be a LOT heavier and had a spouse who was absolutely addicted to it–not to mention a few other far less healthy foods and substances. Some habits die harder than others, I suppose.
Fact is, like so many of those whose opinions I’ve heard in countless focus groups about the topic over the years, it’s the perceived relationship one has with the talent that tends to be the reason that the first thing so many do upon awakening– even before brushing their teeth or moving their bowels is reach for the remote and turn on their show of choice. When the Rupert Murdoch regime at FOX decided that the stranglehold that the Big Three network affiliates (well, two of them at least) had in the 7-9 am daypart was worth challenging with a pacing and style that they had developed in Australia and launched GOOD DAY, NEW YORK as the first direct local competition of consequence I was front and center in finding out what white area voids existed and exploited the heck out of them. The WNYW effort took a while to settle in but once it found its sea legs with stabilzing and very New York-centric personalities like Jim Ryan and the wacky Gordon Elliott it began to eat away at the core demographics that THE TODAY SHOW and GOOD MORNING, AMERICA had tp themselves–not to mention the revenue upside it produces. A more news-centric version in Washington, D.C. quickly found similar success with the Beltway crowd.
It was therefore surprising knowing what we learned about the even greater void that existed on the West Coast with morning shows given that those network staples mostly aired on a three-hour delay that FOX was initially reluctant to roll out this format to Los Angeles, hence allowing its Tribune competition KTLA to draw first blood 35 years ago with its KTLA MORNING NEWS. They struck ratings gold when they found an anchor quartet that played off each others’ strengths as well as their ample cadre of field reporters. The afterthought and reactive launch of GOOD DAY LA that created the first five-way battle for the morning news crowd was initially even more haphazard and problematic than the New York effort. It wasn’t until what was internally referenced as the “Three’s Company” approach was recruited that the show jelled and, for a period in the mid-oughts, actually eclipsed KTLA in ratings and revenue.
That team had as its captain the venerable and auspiced Steve Edwards, once the heir apparent to Regis Philbin and the predecessor to Oprah Winfrey in successful stints at the ABC owned-and-operated stations in Chicago and Los Angeles, as its “Jack Tripper” and was flanked by two striking and bubbly yet distinctly different female co-hosts. Dorothy Lucey, a bubbly and petite “good girl” who helmed an ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT clone on the CBS O and O was “Janet Wood” and the blonde/brunette bombshell Jillian Barberie was most definitely “Chrissy Snow”. Barberie had caught the attention of FOX station management years earlier as the most popular reason that the desk-less and breakneck format that WSVN Miami evolved its morning news into when it lost its NBC affiliation was successful. Seeing who was then Jillian Warry in a very short skirt was reason enough to stick with a weather report than nine days out of ten would be redundant. As so many hot Florida women do–especially when they marry a Florida Marlin with USC roots–a move to Los Angeles was inevitable. And when Barberie and her beau eventually split–as is so often the case with Florida women and professional athletes–viewers lived vicariously through her wilder child evolution.
As veteran LOS ANGELES TIMES entertainment reporter Greg Braxton recently observed, it was that perpetually desired yet rarely achieved chemistry that made this work:
The trio’s freewheeling banter spiced with humorous mayhem and mischief enchanted legions of viewers while bringing freshness to the familiar formula of news, weather and sports. The distinct personalities meshed effortlessly — veteran newsman Edwards, relentlessly upbeat co-host Lucey and fiery weather reporter Barberie, who injected the proceedings with outrageous, at times crass comments along with declarations that “my breasts are real”. An undercurrent of friction brought an edge to the breezy vibe, with Edwards often acting as the awkward buffer between Lucey and Barberie, who did little to disguise their dislike of each other. Barberie would go on to bash Lucey on Howard Stern’s radio show, calling her “very Christian and Bible-thumpy.” Lucey was frequently distraught by Barberie’s “mean.”
There’s nothing like the perception a catfight and an overlay of sexual tension to create urgency, and it worked well enough for FOX to eventually try and syndicate the trio with a third hour aimed at an appropriately attitudinal counter to Kelly Ripa and her co-hosts. That didn’t quite translate as well outside SoCal as hoped, and when Barberie eventually settled down with her hunky second hubby Grant Reynolds and began a family her softened demeanor didn’t play quite as well. Eventually when new management from places like Seattle and Louisville came in the party ended, Lucey and Barberie/Reynolds gone within four months of each other and Edwards left to play ringleader with a vertiable harem of central casting babes seemingly representing a United Nations of backgrounds, each dressed in a different color mini-dress so as to somehow stand out from each other. When he eventually left the station a few years later after reports of sexual harassment emerged as the MeToo movement was mushrooming the whispers and “could you blame him?” allegations were as frequent as they were unproven.
Without these three, the GOOD DAY LA that exists today, like so many other local newscasts, has devolved into into a marathon of mediocrity and repetitiveness. Including encores on KTTV Plus, the show takes up TEN hours of daily real estate, none of it all that compelling. I no longer regularly watch and when I do I found myself pining for the days when the Three’s Company gang held court. Hence I was overjoyed to recently learn that, now older, wiser and more battle-scarred, they have (sort of) returned, as Braxton cotninued:
The trio has reunited for “So Unanchored,” a weekly podcast fueled by spontaneous riffs on their years together, pop culture and their deep friendship. As they did on “Good Day L.A.,” they consistently interrupt one another and the chatter careens from one topic to the next without a breath. Complete sentences are rare. “We have not missed a beat,” Edwards said as he, Lucey and Barberie relaxed in an office lounge after a recent taping. “It’s the most effortless thing. It makes us very happy when we get together. There’s an endorphin thing going on”.
It’s Barberie’s journey that is especially captivating and at times uncomfortably relatable. Her marriage to Reynolds ended with an apparently bitter divorce, and then took an even darker turn:
(S)he was later sideswiped by financial woes and a devastating health scare…“I lost my job, got divorced and got cancer all at the same time,” said Barberie, her voice cracking as she sat near Edwards and Lucey in the lounge. “The fact that these two were a constant in my life during those 12 years when I was going through all those things is everything. I’m so grateful.”
She’s unapologetically less runway-ready than she once was, though her smouldering eyes and frankness still make her as magnetic as ever. Lucey, still happily married to fellow Los Angeles telejourno David Goldstein as she has been for more than three decades, looks years younger than her actual age and still retains her uncanny appeal to wink at the camera and toss out asides that make you rewind and wonder if she indeed meant what had just said. It’s that combination that makes this revelation and evolution the real allure of SO UNANCHORED, as this example that Braxton supplied proves:
“Dorothy and I love each other now,” Barberie said on one episode. Lucey: “We do. Because the last time you saw us, we really didn’t like each other.” Barberie: “And Steve has never been happier.”… Barberie: “And then something happened between the three of us that got her and I close, and then I got cancer. She took me to all of my surgeries and took care of me. I’m telling you, it’s a beautiful thing…”Edwards: “You two are like sisters. You used to be like brothers — Cain and Abel.” Lucey: “We still hate Steve, though.”
Judging by what I’ve seen so far, I’m calling BS on that one. Lucey’s the one of the trio I have less personal knowledge of, so it’s only an educated guess. I’ve had the chance to know Jillian when she branched out as host for an otherwise forgettable BLIND DATE ripoff called EX-TREME DATING and when she fronted a short-lived “shoulder” companion for AMERICAN IDOL that attempted to make the late FOX REALITY relevant. I know her well enough to know she wears her heart on her sleeve, even when she’s rocking a sleeveless look. I’ve followed Edwards’ career since the days when he sported a “Jew-fro” and fronted three different game show pilots that deservedly never got picked up to series. But those pilots indeed exist and I’ve educated his cadre of co-hosts with their existence. Ironically, when I recently collaborated with the one other survivor from his first, a word game called GET RICH QUICK from PYRAMID creator Bob Stewart, we both realized that Ritter was front and center as a guest celebrity. Maybe that’s where the seeds were first planted?
Regardless, while I might not choose to watch local morning TV and I have no idea what my own ex is doing these days (thank G-d), I’ve subscribed to SO UNANCHORED and henceforth making it part of my reguka rotation. I love comeback stories, and I love honesty and integrity. And yeah, I especially love Florida women who relocate to the West Coast. Some habits are actually worth having.
Until next time…