The demure and attractive Ainsley Earhardt returned to Fox & Friends’ curvy couch today as guest host and reminded the author of the sine qua non of a successful F&F, an alpha bitch. The sweet Southern belle does not quite fit the bill. E.g., when co-anchor Dave Briggs questioned who was still stirring and who had just awakened, Ainsley replied that she had been working all night and was still awake: no response from Dave. Also, when Ainsley queried who Clayton Morris and Dave had kissed at midnight, they answered but did not inquire the same of her. Nothing big but Alisyn Camerota would not have been so lightly regarded.
An essential element of F&F has been a strong woman who can stand up to the boys and put them in their place. On F&FW, a jaunty Juliet Huddy kept her salty pal Mike Jerrick corralled and third wheel Julian Phillips cowed; luscious lovelies Kiran Chetry and Alisyn Camerota ran the show as Julian watched from the sidelines; and siren Page Hopkins kept her uncertain colleagues Greg Kelly and Kelly Wright on a slow burn. On F&F, cowgirl E.D. Hill held Four-H’r Steve Doocy and city slicker Brian Kilmeade firmly in her riata.
Now Fox & Friends Weekend has returned to its formula for success. F&FW took the reins from a diffident, callow Ainsley and handed them to a confident, veteran Aly. Aly took charge of the show and Clayton and Dave fell in line.
On the other hand, Fox & Friends weekday has not quite regained its moorings since E.D. left. Gretchen seems to try to ape her predecesssor in her diurnal diatribes but receives less deference from her colleagues than did E.D. Steve and Brian are the alpha males, and they know it. However, Gretch is not the alpha bitch, and she knows it. Whether she can grow into the position is yet to be seen.
Tags: ainsley earhardt, alisyn camerota, Brian Kilmeade, Clayton Morris, Dave Briggs, David Briggs, E.D. Hill, FNC, Fox & Friends, Fox and Friends, Fox News, Greg Kelly, Gretchen Carlson, Julian Phillips, Juliet Huddy, Kelly Wright, Kiran Chetry, Mike Jerrick, Page Hopkins, Steve Doocy
Carpe Diem 
January 1, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Hmmm….Bold, politically incorrect…great post, Jake. Did you start the new year with a little hair of the bitch?
January 1, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Jake, with all due respect, you really need to get your head out of Butterface’s cleavage. Demure? That woman is a shallow narcissist. When we awoke this morning and turned on the TV, we quickly went to Good Day NY, in order to avoid the 1-2 punch of Butterface and Claytoon. Unfortunately, we once again turned the tv back to Fox News close to 10 a.m., and she was still there, running her mouth and interrupting a guest.
Sorry to inject some reality into your Gretchen hate fantasy, but rating for F&F (weekday) have never been better than they are with Gretchen in the center seat.
Maybe one day you’ll grow up enough to realize that a woman doesn’t need to be a bitch to get the respect of the men around her. Things like competence, brains, decency and not an overt skank go a long way toward commanding respect.
January 1, 2009 at 9:41 pm
ratings, not rating
January 2, 2009 at 9:45 am
BW, if you weren’t so busy bashing Ainsley, Clayton, and the author, perhaps, you could actually realize that Gretchen is not a flawless Miss America nor are strong beautiful women “skanks.”
January 2, 2009 at 9:55 am
Thank you, Jake.
One disagreement, though.
I don’t think it is Ainsley’s job, nor Aly’s, to be babysitter or schoolteacher for Clayton and Dave.
January 2, 2009 at 1:08 pm
When did either of us ever say that Gretchen is flawless? We also never referred to any “strong beautiful women” as skanks. In fact, we haven’t specifically named any women as skanks. A little projection on your part?
As for Butterface, it’s not her alleged sweetness or demureness that is the problem when she hosts, but that she’s inept at thinking fast on her feet. Some people just can’t do it, and need to carve out career niches that don’t highlight weaknesses. Mr. BW is another who isn’t quick on his feet, but he is a phenomenal analytical thinker and can both learn and explain things in-depth, so that is how he has made a successful career for himself. If he had tried to do something that required skills that he just doesn’t have, he would have flailed and failed.
January 2, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Boogie, You can stand watching GDNY? I only occasionally watched when Jodi was there but only when she was showing cleavage lol. I couldn’t stand watching her co-anchor Ron Corning and is it a coincidence that Corning and Clayton both worked together?
The show was real fun to watch when Mike Jerrick would sub co-host with her. Jodi Applegate would make a great FNF co-host. I would get rid of Gretchen for her or Clayton on weekends.
As far as Gretchen goes, I didn’t like her when she 1st came to FNC but she has settled in nicely on FNF. She owes alot to Doocy and Kilmeade for making her look good. I love that laugh of her’s plus she’s not a liberal so extra bonus points for that.
Really no complaints from me but there are tons of other people I would tryout for the spot before deciding whether to keep Gretchen or not. That would be Jodi Applegate, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Shandi Finnessy and Janice Dean.
January 2, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Thanks, Tom B. As to the hair of the dog, it is a LA staple on NYD.
January 3, 2009 at 7:50 am
Lou, we find GDNY preferable when Butterface or Britney is on, and when Claytoon is also on, then it’s a no-brainer for us to switch.
Neither of us particularly like Mike Jerrick. One of finds him smarmy and the other thinks he comes off as a jerk. We weren’t initially big Gretchen fans (ED had some big shoes to fill), but she grew on us and has found her niche on the show. She has a certain warmth that took a bit to come through for us. That’s why we think Kiran never had a shot at the center seat on the weekday show, beside the fact that she’s too liberal – she comes off as cold and haughty.
December 27, 2010 at 2:29 am
[…] weekend appearances almost made this viewer wonder what might have been if she had been more of the indispensable Fox & Friends “alpha bitch”? Who knows? Perhaps, Ainsley shall reign anew if and when Aly rightly succeeds Gretchen Carlson as […]
December 27, 2010 at 2:33 am
[…] weekend appearances almost made this viewer wonder what might have been if she had been more of the indispensable Fox & Friends “alpha bitch”? Who knows? Perhaps, Ainsley shall reign anew if and when Aly rightly succeeds Gretchen Carlson as […]
October 22, 2012 at 12:36 am
[…] or not, the girl still ruled the roost almost like a young E.D. Hill. Playing the needed F&FW “alpha bitch,” Heather had her boys going through their paces. Rarely stopping for breath, she was subtly hushing […]
October 22, 2012 at 12:41 am
[…] or not, the girl still ruled the roost almost like a young E.D. Hill. Playing the needed F&FW “alpha bitch,” Heather had her boys going through their paces. Rarely stopping for breath, she was subtly hushing […]
October 26, 2013 at 2:31 pm
[…] playful yellow lab Baxter–always eager to please. She would do well to remember the success of past F&FW “alpha bitches” (e.g., Juliet Huddy, Alisyn Camerota (thrice), Kiran Chetry, and Page Hopkins) and the failure of […]
November 2, 2013 at 12:58 pm
[…] the reins from the too oft diffident current co-anchor Anna Kooiman for the weekend, the former F&FW “alpha bitch” proudly introduced her appearance as a” blast from the past.”* And, so, it […]
November 25, 2013 at 12:01 am
[…] envision replacing her in the future, temporarily or permanently, you may want to keep in mind that being an alpha bitch is one thing–but being a real bitch is another thing […]
January 22, 2014 at 12:34 pm
[…] so does the author. Even though Ainsley may not have that “alpha bitch” prerequisite a la Lis to co-host F&F with Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade, the South Carolina belle does […]