Riddle

Q: What's more painful than listening to a dietician? A: Listening to WOWT's Andrea McMaster interview two of them. Such was our misfortune Saturday afternoon when we stumbled onto Channel 6's "Heartland Focus" public service program. Apparently recorded before she went on maternity leave, McMaster's little show focused on eating disorders and allowed the vacuuous anchor/reporter to ask two

Brummed Out

Cross-eyed afternoon anchor Sheila Brummer is no longer a Sux News employee. She was let go late last week.Well, it's a start. However, until the boneheads running that station stop hiring the inept, nothing will change.Look at Six's recent hires: over-inflated KM3 retread Jodi Baker, E.T. lookalike Justin Joseph, blissfully ignorant Brian Latham, mop-headed weathergirl Andrea Rich, congenitally

Unchanging

KETVNewswatchSeven's gaffe-master Fubar Fazal was at her usual level of excellence on Tuesday's 10 p.m. newscast, delivering an unnecessary live report on Omaha's efforts to lure a second minor league team to the area.When anchor Brandi Peterson threw it to her, Fubar was standing in front of a big earth-mover of some sort, which was fine...until she had to speak."Workers have already started

Dumb

If there were Laws of Omaha Television, one would be "John Knicely + Unscripted Live TV = Unspeakably Bizarre Conversation."God help poor Jim Flowers. As if it hadn't been a bad enough week already. He's two weatherguessers short of his usual contingent (and the one that's left considers sun-glare a weather event), and then he had to simultaneously keep tabs on a horrendous outbreak of tornadoes

On the Take

What was once called "The Tiffany Network" is trying to figure out a way to charge cable operators for carrying its signal.CBS May Seek Signal Fee [LA Times]

Stretching for a Local Angle

Thank God for Joe Jordan. Were it not for the KMTV reporter's amazing investigative skills, no one would have known the awful truth: OMAHA DOES NOT HAVE AN EVACUATION PLAN!Honest-to-God, this was his story at 5 p.m. today.Yeah, Joe. When we're hit by that Category 4 hurricane, our elevation inexplicably drops to 20 feet below sea-level, and the storm surge causes levees to fail and flood the

They're BAAAAAAAAACK: Sweeps Start Next Week

We approach each sweeps period as one might a train derailment: with a mix of dread and excitement: dread at the horrors we expect to witness and excitement from the adrenaline rush that accompanies moments of tremendous stress.What might we get from consultants' local puppets this time around? More giant vegetables? Carol Kloss interviewing yet another senior citizen who has been conned into

Knicely Extends String of Idiotic Remarks

Perhaps enjoying seeing his name mentioned in these posts and oblivious to the uncomplimentary remarks, WOWT anchor John Knicely on Wednesday's 5 p.m. newscast followed up yet another live report with a totally imbecillic comment.After Gary Johnson and Rebecca Kleeman rolled tape of remarks by several of the Lincoln factory workers who won the Powerball jackpot, the two veteran reporters threw

Scott Fired in KC and Speculation Abounds

Former KETV and KMTV anchor Michael Scott, who had spent the past four years anchoring at KCTV in Kansas City, was abruptly dismissed this week. TV critic Aaron Barnhart delves into the rumors surrounding Scott's departure in this posting.

"People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks."

Alert reader Bandit75 sent us the following email this morning regarding a Channel 6 "Live at Daybreak" moment we're sorry to have missed:"Something I witnessed this morning needs to be addressed . . . . While getting my daily Malorie [Maddox]-fix, they cut to Scott "No Bantering Skills" Akin for our morning forecast. I think he used fifteen different colors on the screen to illustrate how awful