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WTAE celebrates local memories with 40th anniversary special
Thursday, September 10, 1998 By Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV Critic
It's a week of new beginnings, memories of the old days and a few foul-ups, bleeps and blunders at WTAE-TV.
The station kicked off its new evening news anchor configuration Tuesday, with Scott Baker and Michelle Wright anchoring from the newsroom set at 5 p.m. and Mike Clark joining Sally Wiggin in the studio at 6 and 11 p.m.
The format of the evening newscasts hasn't really changed (weather, sports, health and consumer news all air at approximately the same times as before), only the anchors are different.
But it appears not everyone got the memo on the changes. Tuesday during the 6 p.m. news the old opening credits touting Wiggin and Baker aired. Even stranger, during Monday's 5 p.m. opening, credits for Wiggin and the departed Andy Pearson aired. Pearson hasn't anchored an evening newscast since early this year.
Sharp-eyed viewers have noticed Wiggin has switched seats, placing her next to the meteorologist chair. Perhaps this was devised to put her closer to longtime chief meteorologist Joe DeNardo, who is expected to return in a few weeks (he's at home recovering from surgery for lung cancer). Wiggin and DeNardo are the station's most familiar faces, and placing them next to each other makes sense.
Yesterday, Baker began co-anchoring the noon newscast with Melanie Shafer, which he will continue to do as part of his new assignment. In that role Baker replaces Pearson, who left the station last month.
Tonight at 8, WTAE celebrates its 40 years on the air with a one-hour special about the history of the station, star news personalities and a behind-the-scenes look at the news operation. Wiggin hosts the special, which was produced by Debbi Casini Klein.
As anniversary celebrations go, this one is pretty decent. I've seen stations that go totally overboard (e.g. putting news anchors in a Winnebago and sending them out to be cheerleaders for communities in the viewing area). In comparison, a one-hour special outside the news seems tame.
"Forty Years: Here 4 You" also benefits from a sense of humor, including bloopers and a tour of the newsroom in which Wiggin shows off fake control panel backdrops.
Familiar faces from the station's past appear, including Jean Connelly, Eleanor Schano and Adam Lynch. And there's plenty of footage of children's shows from the 1950s, "Pittsburgh's Talking" from more recent times and promotional spots that have aired over the years (easily the best part of the hour), including the Don Cannon-Paul Long flying coffee spots.
Even a recovering DeNardo makes an appearance.
One recent WTAE anchor isn't mentioned, but it's not a surprise - Sheila Hyland began as co-anchor on WPGH's "10 O'Clock News" Monday.
GET READY: "Temptations" director Allan Arkush will be in Pittsburgh this weekend, missing the Emmy awards, where he's nominated for outstanding directing in a comedy series for the dancing baby episode of "Ally McBeal."
Arkush's episode is up against the "Ally McBeal" pilot, the "Dharma & Greg" pilot, an episode of "3rd Rock from the Sun" and the finale of "The Larry Sanders Show."
In a recent interview on the set of "The Temptations" mini-series that's filming here, Arkush said he was surprised about the hoopla over Baby Cha-Cha.
"I thought it was OK, it worked well, but that wasn't what the show was all about," Arkush said.
He said his biggest concern was that the baby exemplify Ally's inner feelings about having children. He didn't want it to look like Chucky, the maniacal doll from the "Child's Play" movies.
Arkush said he'd like to get back for the Emmys, but "The Temptations" is on such a tight deadline (it airs Nov. 1 and 2 and won't be finished filming until the end of this month) that even the earliest flight out of L.A. Monday morning wouldn't get him back to the 'Burgh in time to put in a full day on the NBC mini-series.
'PARTY' ON: Good news for viewers of "Party of Five." After a lackluster fourth season, the show returns at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Fox with a fifth season premiere that gets back to the show's roots: family relations and a healthy mix of emotions.
Sure, there's the depressing story of Charlie and his pregnant stripper girlfriend to contend with, but the scenes of Bailey saying goodbye to Claudia at boarding school, Julia's reaction to her first days at college and 20-year-old Bailey's dread of aging offer a welcome mix of laughs, tears and genuine emotions other than despair.
SAVE OUR SHOWS (SOS): Get ready to put pen to paper and beg two networks to bring back two critically-acclaimed programs.
AMC's "Remember WENN" concludes its fourth season with the onset of World War II at 10 p.m. tomorrow and ABC's "Maximum Bob" metes out his last sentence at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Neither show has been renewed for an additional season. Although Pittsburgh-set "Remember WENN" has a small but loyal following, rumors on the Internet have indicated that the show may not return. That would be a shame. On last week's episode, the WENN staff learned about the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and another season would immerse the show in World War II.
"Maximum Bob" debuted to decent ratings last month, but those numbers dipped in recent weeks. Still, the show remains surprising, original and full of kooky characters that have not yet worn out their welcome. Come on ABC, give "Bob" a stay of execution.
For "Remember WENN," write: AMC Viewer Mail, 150 Crossways Park West, Woodbury, NY, 11797.
For "Maximum Bob" write to: Audience Information, ABC Television, 77 W. 66th St., 11th Floor, New York, NY 10023, ATTN: "Save Maximum Bob."
Rob Owen can be reached at (412) 263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com
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