Idol: A dark and stormy night for two lesser dudes
05/02/07 10:11 PM
By ED BARK
Well, you didn't think they were going to preempt Wednesday's two-pronged American Idol results show, did you?
Serious rain and winds played around with D-FW's prime-time entertainment schedules for the fourth time in 30 days. But Fox4 anchor Steve Eagar began reassuring viewers at 7:47 p.m. that Idol definitely would air at its appointed 8 p.m. hour. You don't mess with Mother Nature -- or America's most popular show. And luckily for Fox4, lethal, official tornado warnings were never in play.
Lesser mortals felt the sting of rejection, though. Fox4 punched out a new episode of Bones from 7 to 8 p.m. NBC5 sacked the improvisational Thank God You're Here and ABC bailed on According to Jim and Notes from the Underbelly. The 6:30 p.m. syndicated entertainment shows -- Wheel of Fortune and three entertainment rag mags -- also took knockout punches.
CBS11 had the luxury of throwing weather coverage to sister station TXA21 and its regularly scheduled 7 to 9 p.m. local newscast. That allowed CBS' Jericho to proceed as scheduled while the other stations went with wall-to-wall storm coverage.
Order had been restored by 8 p.m. NBC5 went to Crossing Jordan, Belo8 succumbed to a Lost repeat and Idol eventually got around to kicking off Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson, neither a surprise. Now it's down to three dreamgirls -- Melinda Doolittle, LaKisha Jones, Jordin Sparks -- and B-b-b-beatbox Blake Lewis.
OK, was all that weather coverage justified? Not entirely. And had any really popular programs been in the 7 p.m. mix, one or more of the stations likely would have punted earlier than they did. Heavy winds and rains definitely whipped through the viewing area. But the coverage gets to be kind of a whip, too, with more than one TV reporter urging motorists to pull over until the rain subsided. Um, how were they supposed to get that message?
Our better-natured cat, Snickers, certainly got scared, though. Heeding Belo8 weatherman Pete Delkus' dire warnings to take cover, she disappeared and didn't re-emerge until two-thirds of the way through Idol. Even then she was still wide-eyed.
Snickers has been asked to try the more soothing tones of NBC5's David Finfrock or Fox4's Dan Henry. But she's hooked on Pete to the point where she doesn't even listen anymore to Belo8's generally calmer Troy Dungan. The bow-tied old-timer chimed in during Wednesday's prime-time coverage, but Pete's clearly the headmaster now.
Belo8 this time had the most storm-drenched reporters in the field and on-camera while NBC5 again hardly had any.
Gary Reaves, the Belo8 veteran, was stationed just outside the station's new studios, where the rain poured down on him for a few minutes.
"The American flag's just barely hangin' on in Victory Park," he said somewhat comically. And minutes later: "The American flag still holdin' on."
On TXA21, former Belo8 personality Scott Sams phoned in from Plano.
"Welcome to the madness," the new CBS11 morning man was told before he reported a house fire about three doors down from his Plano residence.
"Scott, so nice to hear from you," chirped anchor Tracy Kornet, who quickly noted the "unfortunate" circumstances.
As of this late night writing, the storms are pretty much over and TV reporters once again have hung up their funny-looking rain gear.
Snickers seems to be her old self again, too. Now she's wondering if Pete might be able to persuade Belo8 management to replay the preempted Notes From the Underbelly. She really likes that show.
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