“The Fox News Specialists”: Really?

Five O’Clock Somewhere might strike a more resonant chord with long-time Five fans whose show has moved to prime time (9 p.m. ET). The Five‘s replacement show as of Monday (May 1), “Fox News Specialists,” sounds somewhat supercilious at best and downright condescending to faithful, informed FNC viewers who probably know almost as much or possibly even more than the newly named co-hosts Eric Bolling, Eboni Williams, and Katherine Timpf.

Eric deserves the five o’clock slot if anyone does: Eric has held the Five center seat with distinction and promoted The Five diurnally by pointing to his left hand with all five “fingers” (including his thumb) extended at the end of virtually every show–not to mention, he’s a smart cookie who also anchors Cashin’ In on Saturday mornings (11:30 a.m. ET). As for Eboni, she’s has been a regular on Outnumbered who has a sharp legal mind, good common sense, and distinct feminine pulchritude. As to Katherine, she is smart and sexy, too, but she can be annoying with her millennial snark as she frequently has evidenced on Red Eye and the Greg Gutfeld Show.

“News Specialists” sounds more like an obnoxious MSNBC show that might be hosted by Mika Brzezenski  of Morning Joe who infamously said, “[Trump] is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own facts. He could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think. That is our job.”

Eric, Eboni, and Katherine, it’s not Mika’s job, and it’s not your job. As you all well know, your job is to report and to let your audience decide. And, when you and your colleagues do it well, every viewer is a “Fox News Specialist.”

Break a leg! Hopefully, it’s “five o’clock somewhere”!

F&FW’s Juliet Huddy: Mika in the Mirror?

Vanity, vanity, all is vanity! Former Fox & Friends Weekend anchor Juliet Huddy returned to the curvy couch this past weekend looking as if she were ready to retake her throne. With notably no mention of F&FW‘s new co-host “for now” Anna Koiman, Juliet welcomed her fans back to a four-hour session as the mistress du jour of the house. Taking a page out of Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski’s sexy feature in Vanity Fair, a freshly shorn, plump-lipped Juliet sported a sassy new do that actually mirrored Mika’s short puffy blond coif (i.e., swept to the left side of her face) and swathed herself in a similar sexy sleeveless, short dress tailor-made for a saucy table dance.

“New and improved”: Juliet Huddy 4.0. Trying to pull off a second F&FW run? Juliet, it ain’t easy being Aly!

[Author’s aside: Juliet flashed her connubial bling anew this past weekend: Apparently, her fortunes have recently improved.]

“New Day”: New Dawn or New Dud?

Chris, Kate, and Michaela: CNN’s New Day morning team brings a brighter dawn to their viewers–at least, for now. Gone are the too oft surly Soledad O’Brien and her Starting Point panel of milquetoast toadies (and the subsequent SP fill-ins): And, in their place are three sunnier replacements, alpha male Chris Cuomo, tomboy beauty Kate Bolduan, and the engaging BBBW Michaela Pereira. And, thankfully, for three full hours for those sick and tired of the schizophrenic Early Start/Starting Point (two hour/two hour) start to their CNN day.

For early morn viewers wondering who in the world the new CNN honcho Jeff Zucker’s tyro trio were, they introduced themselves to each other and to viewers in their respective profile segments (vids): Chris’s “Poseidon Adventure”; Kate’s “Skeet’r Shoot”; and Michaela’s “Soccer Mom.” It was almost an homage to FNC’s Fox & Friends: i.e., an acknowledgment that morning news TV should be informative, informal, and personal if it is truly to resonate with its audience.

However, the personal chemistry among Kate, Chris, and Michaela does seem somewhat forced at times, e.g., Chris requesting and receiving a kiss from Michaela and their subsequent group hug at the end of Michaela’s “Soccer Mom” segment. Nevertheless, the three seem to genuinely like other.

Still, Chris seems to be the wild card: He’s the baritone Cuomo scion that sometimes seems somewhat solipsist but is trying hard to mingle with the masses. Hopefully, he can. But, for future reference, as Kate seemed to sense, he probably should not tell aurally challenged, camera-curious three-year-olds–even if in jest–that he won’t abide their stealing “[his] camera” or his “single.”* [Video.]

As Ad Age noted, the results for a New Day were mixed in its debut week (June 17-21). It did edge out its HLN sibling in the ratings and was leaps and bounds above Soledad’s cellar status in the same time period in 2012: However, New Day was trounced by FNC’s Fox & Friends and lost to MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

A New Day: a new dud? It could yet be: But, CNN fans are hoping New Day is truly a new dawn. Leading that chorus, former American Morning co-host Kiran Chetry wished her a.m. “successors” well, saying, “Good luck guys!! The hours are a bear… But the experience is priceless. Godspeed!!!”

*New Day – 06/21/13 (@ 5:28/5:49)

American Morning Toast?

Kiran Chetry out & Soledad O’Brien back in–for good? CNN appears to have bared its future plans for American Morning two months ago: on the day after AM announced that Kiran was leaving the show, it brought Soledad O’Brien in to fill in for her. At the time, the author surmised that the substitution seemed to be a strange and sadistic slap at Kiran who had replaced Soledad herself almost four years earlier–perhaps, from the very AM insider who had told Page 6 that “Kiran [was] dumb as a rock.” In hindsight, it appears that CNN may also have been showing its cards.

According to TVNewser, American Morning may be ending it current incarnation and transmogrifying into two shows (a two-hour one from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. ET and another from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.). Furthermore, TVNewser reported that the former American Morning anchor Soledad was being considered to host the second show and that TruTV anchor Ashleigh Banfield has been mentioned for the first one. Apparently, CNN is hoping that a mix of its old blood and new blood can jumpstart its program that has lagged behind as of August not only juggernaut FNC’s Fox & Friends but also MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” for five consecutive months.

Hopefully, the lovely ladies Soledad and Ashleigh can resurrect a moribund AM. Ever since the gorgeous, engaging Kiran Chetry left the show on July 29th on an awkward note, the show has gone from must-see HD to quick-scan low-def. Without her at the helm, AM‘s relatively plain and prosaic temporary co-hosts, Ali Velshi, Christine Romans, and Carol Costello, have gallantly tried to keep the listing ship afloat–to little avail.

Good luck, Soledad and Ashleigh!

Pink: Kiran’s “New Obsession”

Has American Morning co-host Kiran Chetry found a new way to arouse the flaccid ratings of her slumping program? As producers began the second half of the show early today to the lurid lilt of Aerosmith’s “Pink,” co-anchor John Roberts pointed to Kiran’s pink open sweater  and deadpanned, “My favorite color.”* Smiling knowingly, Kiran risquely remarked, “It’s my new obsession.”

When Michael Calderone asked about a possible “radical re-thinking” of Jon Klein’s news network in his “How to Fix CNN” Politico article, who knew that Kiran might be thinking proactively outside the box? In the past, Kiran has said that pink is one of her favorite colors. And, with her major in broadcast journalism and minor in women’s studies (at the University of Maryland), the Nepalese beauty may have discovered a winning formula at last.

Watch out, Fox & Friends and Morning Joe. Today may well mark the dawning of a new American Morning. Rise and shine!

*American Morning – 04/01/10 (@7:27 a.m. ET)

Wallace: Morning Joe Blow

Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace hit back hard at Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough today in an interview with Megyn Kelly on America Live. Responding to Scarborough’s claim that Wallace “roll[ed] his eyes, embarrassed” after the Palin interview to signal to his friends that “yes, I know [that] she is not a serious thinker,” Wallace asserted, “‘No’ is the quick answer to that.”* Then, scornfully, he added, “Secondly, let me just say that Joe Scarborough lives out where the trolleys don’t run at night.”

Eager to pummel Scarborough further, Wallace continued, “The last time I heard of somebody getting that kind of a secret message, it was Son of Sam hearing from a Labrador retriever that he should go out and shoot people….I think that Morning Joe definitely needs to switch to decaf.” Later, in the interview when Megyn asked whether he was offended by Scarborough comment, Wallace snidely stated, “I’m offended that people watch him on MSNBC.”

For Wallace, apparently, there is little love left for that former Fox News contributor.

*America Live – 02/11/10 (@2:36 p.m. ET).

Update: Cf. Mediaite‘s vid of segment including footage of Wallace’s “eye roll” and Scarborough’s analysis.