March-ing Into Spring!

Greetings TV Garth readers! This is a very brief entry to highlight some of the March tropo I’ve picked up! Returning guests were stations from Utica, NY, Rochester, NY and Erie, PA!

On Rochester, NY’s WROC, Brian Neudorff perfectly summed up how great this month’s weather has been in the second picture below! The sun really has been amazing, and the Spring-like weather has helped Rochester, NY pop up many times!

Seeing Utica’s WKTV again in the early part of the month was the Wright way to start off the Spring tropo season!

It was Reale exciting to see WKTV again, since I hadn’t received it since November last year!

Utica’s WUTR also had a spanking new logo that I had not seen previously!

As I said in my Year In Review, Sun car dealerships OWN Central New York. Now they have a perky new co-host assisting in the infomericials!

This was just a quick recap, but full recap and some vacation surprises are coming soon!

TV Garth Presents: An Interview with WKTV’s Don Shipman!

Greetings TV Garth readers! Don Shipman from WKTV in Utica, New York graciously agreed to do an interview with me for this blog! Shipman joined WKTV in 2004, and has covered many stories important to Central New Yorkers. He currently anchors WKTV’s morning and noon newscasts, and what follows are some interesting insights into his work at the station!

(Photo credit: Don Shipman / WKTV)

Garth Jensen: Can you tell me a bit about how you got started in broadcasting?

Don Shipman: I kind of fell into broadcasting. Originally I was going to go to college for Design. I majored in Art in high school. I applied to several colleges and got into all of them. Then at the last minute decided I didn't I want to go away to college. I ended up applying to a local community college (Herkimer County Community College) at the last minute. The only major still open was broadcasting. I said, “What the heck, why not?” And here I am today. While at HCCC and at a four-year college two years later, I did mostly radio, but I also got an internship at a local TV station. And that's how I got into the business.

GJ: You currently anchor the morning and noon newscasts for WKTV. What is it like to put on those two shows?

DS: They're both very different shows. The morning show is two hours long. The concept - get the viewers the weather they need to know to get them out the door, the latest news from overnight, news that's happening right now and news that's happening in the day ahead. And since it's morning, we try to have some fun too. I usually get to the station around 4am. We have a producer who works the overnight preparing the show. My co-anchor Megan [Koskovich] arrives a short time before me. When we first get in, we go over the show, pre-read scripts and help to update the rundown.

The noon is an hour long. Longer than most noon broadcasts throughout the country. This show has two Newstalk segments (basically interview segments). We have a mix of regular guests and topical guests (depending on the news of day). I like the noon simply because it's different from the morning show. We also have a producer for that show who prepares the scripts.

GJ: Do you feel any added pressure being the only local broadcast station doing news in Utica?

DS: Yes! But not because I feel like we have to cover more news. The pressure for me lies with ensuring that we all stay on top of our game. For example, when I cover a story, I don't get to see another perspective…meaning there's not another reporter at a competing station doing the same story, like in other markets.

GJ: I loved the "Winter Blast" segments you did leading up to the Olympics. (Especially the "wine break" during the snowshoeing, and your great sense of humour during the snowmobiling.) Can you describe what it's like putting together pieces like that?

DS: Segments like those are tons of fun. It reminds me of why I love my job. And they're so easy. All I have to do is have fun and tell a story at the same time. It's also a great way to learn more about the local area. I had never been snowshoeing before, and I got paid to do so.

GJ: The morning news team seems to have a lot of fun, and it shows on camera. How do you balance that fun with the stresses of putting on a daily program?

DS: I think the fun aspects of the show help to balance the stresses. On any given day there are several stresses, but the fun helps to ease that. It's also important to remember it's not brain surgery. No one will die in the making of the show…haha. I sometimes have to remind new co-workers that.

GJ: What would you say have been some personal highlights while working at WKTV?

DS: If you mean the stories I've covered, there have been several. We had two deadly cop shootings since I've been here at this station. I remember working nearly 20 hours on those days. Anchoring the morning show, then reporting for the later shows. And it wasn't just me, our entire station pulled together to cover this breaking story. I covered every aspect of the story. And while it was sad, it was also inspiring because we learned so much about both men killed - and their lives and their families were truly inspirational.

On a lighter note, I really enjoy covering all the live events like the Heart Run Walk and Boilermaker Road Race. There's nothing better than live.

GJ: If you could name three of your favourite places to go in Utica, where would they be and why?

DS: For me and my partner, our favorite place to be is at our summer camp in the Adirondacks. It's on a small lake. Our cell phones don't even work up there. The great thing about Utica is that it's so close to everything. A 45-minute drive and we're in the Adirondack Park on a lake -- relaxing.

In the city - there's tons to do nightlife wise. We have a great little downtown area with spectacular restaurants and bars. In the Summer there's an event called Saranac Thursdays. It takes place at the FX Matt Brewery every Thursday. It's essentially a huge keg party.

Third - I love to ski. We have a number of ski resorts just outside the city, but we also have one within city limits. It's small, but there's a ski lift and everything. It's kind of nice...and certainly unique.

A big thank you to Don Shipman for taking part in this interview with TV Garth! Check out Don’s Facebook Fan Page, as well as his Twitter! You can also visit Don’s official bio at the WKTV website!

TV Garth Is Now 1 Year Old!

Greetings TV Garth readers! This is just a quick posting to mark the one year anniversary of this blog! I may go back and edit this entry to be a bit more festive looking, but I couldn't let the day pass without posting something. One year ago my first post was about receiving Erie, PA's WICU in analog and lamenting the fact that I would probably never receive it digitally. How wrong I turned out to be!

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog, and I have some exciting surprises coming soon!

TV Garth: Olympic Wrap Up!

Greetings TV Garth readers! The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are over, but I still wanted to do a wrap up of some of the highlights! The following report is culled from both CTV and NBC coverage! So without further ado, here is What TV Garth Observed About The Olympics:

• Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue did an incredible job in the Ice Dancing competition. Their routine was flawless and jaw droppingly smooth! (Plus I love that if you drop the “a” from Tessa, she’d sound like a Dick Tracy character!)

• CTV personality Lisa LaFlamme needs to start a recording career so that she can have albums with names like Flammeboyant or Highly Flammeable. (Or those could be the names of her edgy electronic rock bands!)

• It was wonderful to see Joannie Rochette triumph over personal tragedy to win a Bronze medal in the Women’s skating.

• It would be even more wonderful if Joannie Rochette joined forces with South Korea's Kim Yuna and Japan’s Mao Asada to create The Triple Axels! It would be an animated kids series where they each get special powers by wearing the flags of their respective countries as capes! They’d get to shout sassy phrases at criminals like “You’re on thin ice, buddy!” or “You can’t skate by us!” Each episode would have a short appearance by the real life women to teach kids a valuable lesson about eating vegetables or something.

• Canadian institution Lloyd Robertson did the CTV news from Vancouver’s Olympic set!

• Canadian fast food chain Harvey’s advertised heavily during the American coverage of the games! Their commercials popped up frequently on Buffalo’s WGRZ during their local ad breaks. I know some Canadian chains have made their way to Western New York (like Swiss Chalet and Tim Horton’s.) But these were definitely the Canadian ads, as they started off with “You asked for it Canada!”

• This was NBC’s main Olympic set with Bob Costas interviewing Linsday Vonn!

• Canadian Men’s Hockey WIN featuring Sidney Crosby during NBC’s coverage of the game!

• All together for a group shot! The Canadian Men’s Hockey Team get together and pose on CTV!

• I bet these players have really big sticks….to play a rousing game of hockey, of course!

• I was switching between CTV and NBC’s coverage of the big hockey game, and was surprised that NBC seemed quicker to pounce on our guys for interviews.

• Crowds were going crazy for the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team. Check out Robson Square in Vancouver below! (This also doubles a shout out to my friend Felix, who lives in Vancouver!)

• There’s a Brian Williams on CTV (pictured below) and a Brian Williams on NBC. Both networks got together and produced a really cute segment about the meeting of the two personalities.

• CTV’s Brian Williams owns the main Olympic set used by the network during the Games!

• I Believe there were times that Nikki Yanofsky looked like she wanted to stab Annie Villeneuve with a rusty hanger during their joint performance before the closing ceremonies. J’Imagine all the drama that would cause!

• I was surprised to see the cast of Glee come out to perform “O Canada” at the closing ceremonies! (Then I found out it was actually a group called Inward Eye with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra.)

• Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila popped up at the closing ceremonies, reminding me how great she is. That made me think about how it’s a shame that most of the Canadian Idol winners have never been as “big” as they should be. (Maybe it was PETA that sabotaged her career because her skirt looked like it was made from the feathers of a dead bird.)

• Michael Bublé can have his Mountie outfit ripped off in front of me anytime he wishes!

• Alanis Morissette = awesome!

• WGRZ chose the week of the Olympics to debut their news in 16x9 widescreen SD. It now looks much more dynamic than their competitors. Also of note is Matt Granite, a solid reporter (pictured below) who does the “Ways 2 Save” segments in addition to co-producing WGRZ’s Daybreak! During one recent newscast, the news team revealed he was a “proud Canadian” after the Olympic hockey win and joked that he gave up a career in the NHL to deliver savings tips to Western New Yorkers. In one of his blog entries he wrote: “I am so unbelievably psyched to [be] in Buffalo and working at the same channel I grew up watching (even though I'm from Toronto), I'd do my job at any hour.” He also has an Honors B.A. from University of Toronto! Go Matt Granite! Whoo!

• The Olympics may be over, but the flame lives on in our hearts! (Or in TV Garth’s case, the flames never really stopped!)

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more TV treats, including an update on the March tropo situation! (It will herald the return of Rochester! Utica! Erie! And more wacky commercials!)

TV Garth: Year In Review Part 4 – TV Shows I Liked!

Greetings TV Garth readers! Yes, it’s still going. My Year In Review continues well into the new year! (March 15th is the official one year anniversary of this blog, so I’ll use that as the excuse for stretching out these entries.)

This entry will cover some of the shows that stood out to me throughout 2009. (My list consists of fifteen shows that appealed to me in various ways!)

1. The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien (NBC, A Channel)

I had Conan on my list well before the debacle that pushed him out the door from NBC. Therefore, it’s bittersweet writing about him after seeing the mess that took place. Conan’s off the wall humour is hilarious, and I’ve followed him off and on since his original Late Night show. There was a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation knowing that he was finally “graduating” to the Tonight Show in 2009. Perhaps like many, I fell out of watching regularly because I took it for granted that he would be the Tonight Show’s host for a lengthy period of time. I was shocked this past January when NBC’s actions quickly led to O’Brien’s departure from the program. As depressing as it was to see his time as host come to an end, the final weeks of shows perfectly displayed O’Brien’s razor sharp wit at play.

2. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC, A Channel)

Jimmy Fallon took over hosting duties for NBC’s Late Night program when Conan O’Brien left for the Tonight Show. Fallon is funny and personable which make him entertaining to watch. As well, recurring bits like “Head Swap” (pictured above) are absolutely hilarious!

3. ABC World News Now (ABC)

Jeremy Hubbard and Vinita Nair make a great team on ABC’s World News Now. What I like about watching them is their comfortable rapport and chemistry. In fact, many viewers have mentioned online that it feels “off” when either of them is not present on the show. World News Now also features some great segments, including a celebrity gossip report called The Skinny.

4. Modern Family (ABC, CityTV)

Modern Family is my favourite new sitcom! The show is well written and clever, featuring a great ensemble cast. I love the way that the episodes often build up to a “block comedy” bit where everything falls apart hilariously. (This is how classic comedies like I Love Lucy were structured – build up a realistic scenario logically so that the outrageous climax is all the more humourous.) The show also doesn’t shy away from showing a wide variety of romantic pairings including gay, straight, young and old!

5. Half and Half (Syndicated)

Half and Half felt like a great late night “secret” discovery for me! I stumbled onto an episode the first time I picked up Buffalo’s WNYO digitally in March 2009. The show feels like a “lost” sitcom from ABC’s TGIF comedy line-up. It’s very funny and has a good ensemble cast including Essence Atkins, Rachel True, Alec Mapa and Telma Hopkins. It aired on UPN from 2002-2006, and proves the network was able to come with decent comedy shows after questionable 90s fare like Homeboys In Outer Space.

I’ve loved Alec Mapa (pictured above) since the short lived CBS sitcom Some Of My Best Friends back in 2001. (He’s also great on Ugly Betty too!) I still kick myself for missing his appearance in Toronto in 2007 for the We’re Funny That Way comedy showcase.

Add some Diva sass from Telma Hopkins, and Half and Half is a frothy comedy treat! It’s also become one of my favourite “tropo” shows, as I seem to stumble across it whenever I pick up Rochester, NY’s WUHF!

6. The Office (NBC, Global)

Almost everyone has worked with annoying or clueless co-workers. The Office captures this everyday phenomenon with deadpan hilarity, and has a likeable ensemble that brings it to life. I work in retail, and at times feel like I’m in a real life version of The Office. (Which is probably more sad than funny….but then watching the show makes it all come full circle and I laugh about it again!)

7. Dancing With The Stars (ABC, CTV)

Dancing With The Stars is a great showcase for celebrities who might need a little help getting back into the spotlight. The dancing itself can be amazing, and often times I find myself rooting for celebs I never really noticed or cared about until I saw them on the show.

In my opinion, it has been difficult to top the free dance performed by Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey in Season 2 of the show. But one of the best dances from the last season involved Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough doing a futuristic paso doble, and it was spectacular!

8. American Idol (FOX, CTV)

American Idol is one of my favourite and most frustrating shows simultaneously. The talent varies wildly, but the 2009 season was one of the better ones. My favourite contestants appear below:

Anoop Desai! Smooth soulful voice, and one of the few  South Asian contestants to get into the show’s Top 10! (It doesn’t hurt that he’s a handsome fellow, either!)

Allison Iraheta! Powerhouse pipes that can do Heart songs justice!

And then came ADAM! Adam Lambert shook up the competition with standout performances, rock star swagger, and flamboyant makeup. He came out in a Rolling Stone cover story soon after the finale, and delivered an even more outrageous appearance at the American Music Awards. Side rant: it always frustrates me that American Idol has never and probably will never have an openly gay contestant on the show. We get to see almost every possible American narrative on screen, including but not limited to:

- I’m a hard working single Mom looking for a break!

- I once had [insert terrible ailment here] but battled through because singing is my passion!

- My [insert relative] was once [insert ailment or tragedy here] and I’m entering the competition for them!

- My parents were once gang members, I’m adopted, my pet turtle rolled over and….yada, yada, yada!

So with any combination of those above scenarios being milked, it’s the openly gay contestant that’s too radical for audiences to handle??? The show has no problem exploiting flamboyant gays for laughs during the audition rounds, but to have a serious competitor identify as gay is apparently too much to ask for. Sigh…

On a happier note, I loved capturing this shot of Adam being profiled on a Barbara Walters special! I had the closed captioning on, and the phrase is perfect combined with the picture! (Complete with Winter storm information from Buffalo’s WKBW surrounding the screen!)

9. V (ABC, CTV)

When I was a kid, I saw the original V series with my parents. It scared me so much that I pinched their cheeks to make sure they weren’t aliens! This new version of the show is a nice update of the sci-fi series about Earth-conquering lizard people masquerading as humans. Morena Baccerin shines as Anna, and Scott Wolf does well as the harried reporter trying to maintain his integrity, while getting the inside scoop on the “visitors.”

10. Bonnie Hunt (Syndicated)

I’ve always liked Bonnie Hunt, though her shows often get canceled very quickly. It’s a shame that her talk show is the most recent offering from her to get the axe, as it’s a breezy, enjoyable daytime chatfest. Plus, any show that has the gall to dress kids up as “Jon and Kate” as well as the “Real Housewives” for Halloween gets major points from me!

11. Wendy Williams (Syndicated)

Wendy Williams is another daytime talker, with a very fun and campy sensibility. (Love her catchphrase “How you doin’?”) Williams is engaging and totally works the crowd with her outrageous personality. Bonus points for the Wonder Woman mug she’s holding in the pic above! It’s no Wonder I like her show!

12. Judge Pirro (Syndicated)

Judge Pirro is one of the better court shows on TV, as Pirro is warm, personable, and can be tough without going over the line. She appears totally willing to hear people out before making any judgments against them. (Compare that with Judge Judy who seems sour from the get go.) I especially enjoyed a recent episode that involved a stepfather and daughter suing each other. Pirro ended the stressful case by saying something along the lines of “Life is too short! We need to laugh at ourselves!” Wise advice, indeed. Bonus points for her “eagle” pin that reminds me of the Golden Age Wonder Woman!

13. Street Court (Syndicated)

When I wake up bright and early at 1pm, I enjoy working through my grogginess with a Diet Coke and Street Court (which I usually catch via Buffalo’s WUTV.) Judge Mazz literally tries his cases on the street (usually near the scene of the dispute.) Sometimes he can be a tad cantankerous, but it’s fun to watch him just stand there and work through a case outside of the traditional courtroom setting. Bonus points for his Diva-tastic bailiff Monifa!

14. TIE: That ‘70s Show (Syndicated) & Jersey Shore (MTV, CTV)

Back in March 2009, I was excited to be getting CIII-DT (Global) digitally for the first time. But I was even more excited to see them showing a rerun of That ‘70s Show exposing the talents of Wilmer Valderrama! (This came only days after I wondered why there didn’t seem to be any shirtless pics of Wilmer floating around!)

This past Winter, I also discovered that CFTO (CTV) was running episodes of trashtastic MTV reality series late on Saturday nights. (CTV owns the Canadian rights to MTV programming, and repeats the most popular shows OTA on CFTO.) I must say these Jersey boys Shore look good to me! Besides getting sucked into watching the beefcake of Jersey Shore, there was the added hilarity of CFTO running an ad for the Jersey Boys musical during a commercial break. You know, because sharing “Jersey” in the title must mean the two things have a lot in common, right?

This concludes Part 4 of TV Garth’s 2009 Year In Review! Stay tuned to see if we make it to Part 5!