Dueling Diva Deja Vu

#305 Dueling Diva Déjà vu

It was kind of like old home week. There were Ann Curry and Katie Couric on the same screen at the same time. Just not on the same network.

Brought back memories of working on the “Today” show and the early newscast, called “Sunrise,” which actually had news in it.

But here it is 2007. And these two women have gone their separate ways. Well, not exactly. Curry didn’t go anywhere.

But now, beside “Today News” she’s doing “Nightly News.” And they really shouldn’t let her. She makes everyone else who does it look worse than they are. And she makes Couric, now with CBS, look like a lightweight.

Two things about Curry that have always come out of this corner: (1) She has the best voice in broadcasting, period. (2) The camera loves her. Even if the staff doesn’t always. And that hasn’t changed.

Difficult as she could be on deadline, she was a completely different person after the program ended for the day.

Flipping back and forth between channels to watch both networks’ news is no easy trick. Not only do they do the same stories in close to the same order, but their commercial breaks seem to come at about the same time.

And if the stories have slight variation, the ads sure don’t. Stuff to use if you have: erectile dysfunction, nasal congestion, elimination problems, heart burn, headache, arthritis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sleeplessness.

Are these programs watched exclusively in nursing homes?

It’s been that way for years. The ads keep up with the graying audience for the Nightly News, or the Evening News or the News Tonight. But the news doesn’t.

All the interview subjects are either young or old, but so well known that you can’t not interview them when their area of expertise is in the news.

If they could find someone with Colin Powell’s credentials, but no grey hair, you’d better believe they would.

So, even if listening to Curry is like a lullaby, and listening to Couric makes you think of her previous job as the Perky One (she hates the term,) what did you learn from the news?

Well, the government spends (wastes) a lot of money on broadcasts that are supposed to be viewed and heard in Cuba, but aren’t. And traffic is awful, everywhere. And Kangaroos sometimes get on auto race tracks in Australia. And, oh, by the way, a lot more dead guys in Iraq, including two people who died in the Ultimate Traffic Stop. That’s where some mercenaries working for a company based in Dubai tried to pull over a car, and the car wouldn’t pull, so they shot it up and left two dead and no one to call 9-1-1.

Also, if you take Levitra and it works for four hours in a row, see your doctor.

It’s a shame to waste Curry’s talent on such cotton candy.

As for Couric? As we’ve said before, makes you long for them to bring back Dan Rather.

I'm Wes Richards, my opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.

(c) 2007 WJR