No one can accuse Fox4's Dan Godwin of coasting -- not even on the new Texas Giant
04/22/11 12:30 PM
By ED BARK
Fox4's Dan Godwin is starting to grow on me -- and not like a wart anymore.
Yeah, he can be kind of vain, sometimes a little goofy and demonstrably determined to protect the turf his station gives him. But he's a survivor who comes to play, whether it's anchoring the Dallas-based station's noon newscasts, filling in on the early morning Good Day as Tim Ryan's desk replacement, presiding over Saturday morning's Good Day or reporting live in the early mornings from a wide variety of locales.
Godwin took two spins this week on the newly refurbished Texas Giant rollercoaster at Six Flags while Ryan and traffic reporter Chip Waggoner chortled from the safety of Fox4's downtown studios. He's clearly more than a little scared of such ups and downs. But Godwin is also a gamer who took his second ride in daylight hours while the live cameras rolled.
"The greater visibility doesn't really enhance the enjoyment for me," Godwin noted while in the front row seat with a coaster enthusiast.
He survived both rides without any live vomit comet mishaps. Both trips were captured in their entirety, with Godwin choosing to keep a firm grip on the safety bar rather than raise his arms at the goading of Ryan and Waggoner.
Below is video of the second daylight ride. It qualifies as "good television," even if it likely won't be part of any Lone Star Emmy package. So we salute Godwin for hanging in there at Fox4. Every TV station needs people who enjoy what they do, are good at what they do and are willing to mostly be second bananas. Godwin certainly wouldn't mind a bigger spotlight at Fox4. But he's assumed the position and made himself a valuable utility player at a station where middle-agers are ever threatened by youth movements. The kids will have a tough time displacing this guy, though. He'll see to that.