I just can’t wait to find out who hit that pole on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. As of this moment, the road is still closed in both directions. Don’t go there.
Yesterday I visited the new set of Great Day Live!, the new 9 a.m. show premiering on WHAS-TV August 22. Kirk Szesny, the show’s E.P., walked me through (but not letting me take pictures). The set has all sorts of bells and whistles, mostly designed to create a flexible environment so what the talent on the show can do everything from cooking demonstrations to “The View” – like couch discussions.
The couch, which looked like it could sit 3 or 4 in the middle of the set, looked a little funny, like it sat way too low. Szesny explained it was a mistake, that a couch tall enough for grownups is on the way.
He said the show will open with Terry Meiners and Rachel Platt talking about the news of the day, and feature Angie Fenton from a remote location each day. Holly Rudolph, who’s been brought back to WHAS for a third time as producer (she was part of the original Louisville Tonight show), is lining up a series of guests, but says she’s trying not to over-commit for the one-hour daily broadcast. Laura Rogers, from Bowling Green, has also been brought on board.
Szesny, who’s been around local TV for a long time, said he thinks locally-produced TV has come back in vogue. He said local TV stations began by having all of their programming produced locally, before syndicated shows and national networks took over. It’s like some bad fashion trend that if you keep in your closet long enough, eventually comes back in style (which is why I’m hanging on to those disco shirts).
There’s no doubt it’s a trend in local TV, if you consider that WDRB-TV (no, not Fox41 any longer) added a newscast at 6:30, WAVE’s experiment with its 12:30 725 Live show seems to be sticking around, and this fall’s changes in programming at WHAS.
