Megan Kelly’s ‘Today’ shows there’s no line between news, entertainment
A week into the revival of “Will and Grace,” Debra Messing, who plays Grace, received a reprimand from its presenting network, NBC.
Messing had apparently strayed from the realm of good graces by saying she regretted doing a promotional appearance with the nuclear “W&G” cast on Megyn Kelly’s initial broadcast as an NBC talk host.
The Peacock invested a lot of money in Kelly, more even than it invested in faith that “Will and Grace” might provide a keystone that could restore the network’s reputation as a producer of worthy comedies. Kelly’s first week was rocky, Messing wasn’t alone in complaining about her and publicly belittling her interview skills.
Jane Fonda, age 80, expressed immediate irritation when Kelly asked her about cosmetic surgery.
Fonda came to Kelly’s show with friend and frequent costar, Robert Redford, to discuss a film the pair made, “Our Souls at Night,” which debuted on Netflix, and at some theaters, on Friday.
“Do you really want to talk about this now?” Fonda asked. “I thought we were going to talk about out movie.”
Jane has a point. She and Redford are two of the most enduring starts in Hollywood. Each has achievements many can only envy. They received early critical attention by starring together in 1967’s “Barefoot in the Park.” It seems more fitting Kelly should honor career and physical longevity instead of diving right into how one preserves youth. Especially on a 50th anniversary of first FondaRedford pairing.
Fonda confronted Kelly on the spot. Messing did not. She expressed her disappointment later. Her issue was Kelly pandering by bringing a “W&G” fan from the audience to mention how he modelled his life after successful gay lawyer, with a great apartment, Will Truman.
One could argue the spot was cute. It certainly showed one influence of the “W&G” series. But it was a cheap set-up and not fitting for Kelly’s show, “Megan Kelly Today,” which airs locally at 9 a.m. weekdays on Channel 10.
That 9 a.m. start means Kelly’s program abuts NBC’s “Today Show,” on which she is one of the hosts. Until last week, the 9 to 10 a.m. hour on NBC was part of “Today.” Jane Fonda said she thought it was on “Today” that she was appearing.
In addition to Messing and Fonda being dismayed by their experiences with Kelly, the blurring of Kelly’s show with the actual “Today” provokes another subject.
The line between news and entertainment. I say it’s been obliterated. Oh, others have been on both sides of the aisle. As early as the 1950s, John Daly was the anchor of ABC’s evening newscast and host of CBS’s game show, “What’s My Line.” Barbara Walters, Anderson Cooper, and other broadcasters primarily associates with news, have done talk shows that include talking to celebrities. Kelly is no different in that. It’s the times that have changed.
Daly, Walters, and Cooper were decidedly news people first. When Daly took breaks from “What’s My Line,” it was to interview European leaders for ABC News. Walters and Cooper have major stories to their credit and would be considered journalists as well as TV personalities.
Kelly is in a more modern league. She is a personality first. Of course she has news credentials from Fox. But tell me where she ever made an extraordinary contribution to that station. And tell me how committed she is to attitudes she expressed on Fox now that she’s at a network that puts an entirely different slant on news.
You can see the difference between current times and the first 70 years of TV news operation right there.
News is slanted. News organizations present stories with a point of view, a practice that is anti-journalistic.
At Fox, Kelly was popular, but how did she really distinguish herself? How does anyone? Messages today are skewed. The distinction between news and editorialization does not exist.
Presented facts are often what’s missing in today’s newscasts. The story and how to milk it for overemotion and to suit a political ideology is the key.
Journalists, such as Bill O’Reilly, may appear on the news (although O’Reilly currently doesn’t). For the most part, partisan pundits and celebrity hosts are who we see.
Kelly comes from the school that is a TV entity first and a journalist second. If at all.
When NBC hired her, with fanfare and at a salary rate that recalled an earlier time. I though the network made a mistake.
High salaries were necessary when Diane Sawyer, a genuine journalist, or Katie Couric, who straddles Sawyer’s gravitas and Kelly’sd glitz only, were desired by network new organizations.
They were one of a kind, so the economy of supply and demand was in order, One individual commands a price when she, or he, separates from a mob doing the same work and achieves a reputation for being special.
The sad news for NBC, and Kelly, is the “news star” is bygone. There is no one today you would put into the class of the three people who helmed network newscasts 30 years ago — Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, or Dan Rather.
Those anchors could delve into a story. They had background. They had sources. They, with Ted Koppel and Sawyer could rekindle the broadcast news tradition begun by Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow, and others who would probably not be hired by current networks because, Sawyer and Jennings excepted, they couldn’t pass for movie stars.
Kelly is one among a dozen. In an era of no “news stars,” she’s the person NBC thought could be one.
That ship has passed. The average person could not tell you an anchor on Fox, MSNBC, or CNN. They all have their fan bases, but few cling to them or depend of them like they the Pantheon newscasters from the 40s through the early 90s.
Proliferation of news via cable and other outlets, beating stories to death instead of providing depth or variety, and putting argument above civilized discussion crushed the life out of news.
So did the number of people who went into TV journalism because of news instead of glamor. Among the anchors of local newscasts, I can think of maybe three I’d consider a journalist, and one of them seems to have given up on being a newsie first.
Megyn Kelly is not in the class of people who rate high pay and high regard for doing news. She is that latest fashion in an environment what would be thrilled if a news anchor could get the attention of a Kardashian. She relied on a gimmick because she lacked the interest or knowledge to easily talk to the cast of “Will and Grace.” She went to the gossipy because she didn’t appreciate who Jane Fonda or Robert Redford was in a way Dick Cavett or Charlie Rose would have.
NBC made a mistake because frankly, Megyn Kelly isn’t insightful, curious or incisive for me to watch her. I’d rather wait for the fun of Hoda and Kathie Lee.
Comcast changes to NBC
We have a name-changer, if not a game-changer at the local Comcast outlets.
Just as most brides take their husband’s family name after marriage, Comcast stations are shedding their monikers to take that of the network Comcast bought a few years back, NBC.
As of today, Comcast SportsNet changes its name to NBC Sports Philadelphia. Its companion station, The Comcast Network, will be NBC Sports Philadelphia+, as in NBC Sports Philadelphia plus.
In future stories, the station I once called CSN will be NBCSP while the one I would abbreviate as TCN will be NBCSP+.
To recap, Comcast SportsNet is now NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Comcast Network is not NBC Sports Philadelphia+. Both stations remain exactly where they are on your dial or cable roster.
The website for the renamed entities is www,nbcsportsphilly.com. The social media handle is @nbcsportsphilly. While Philly is used to shorten electronic names, it will never be used in formal reference to the stations.
Get it? Got it? Good.