Remembering Sue Simmons: The Fuck Is She Doing?

Scissoring some hot young thing on Martha’s Vineyard I imagine.

I love Sue! My earliest memories are watching her and Jack Cafferty on Live at Five. The fact she has no media presence these days makes me very, very sad. How do you rule the NYC local news market for 32 years and then just get dropped? She's long overdue for some type of media vehicle.

She’s in her 70s. She should just live out her final years as a full-time Lesbian at some fabulous coastal resort.

WHET the insouciant and delightfully gamine Miss Penny Crone?

Sue did NOT want to go, they done her wrong. And no other station scooped her up? The mind reels.

LOVED Sue Simmons! I remember this time she got into it with Cindy Adams live on tv. It was short, but amazing and proved what a phoney cunt Cindy was.

The fuck are you doing?

Also there was another time when Sue had just gotten back from her facelift and Cindy made "kind" remarks about how "fresh" Sue looked. Obvi not kind at all, Cindy just wanted to call attention to the fact that Sue had just had work done. Sue played it off well. Those two HATED each other.

Sue stated at Ch 4 when I was in high school and I had an immediate crush - got to see her on the sidewalk near 30 Rock around ‘81 - she was even prettier in person. At the time I had no idea that both of us were gay. Lol.

Sue was making 5 million a year when they let her go. Six short years later, that doesn't seem like much.

I loved her.

Remember the parody song sung to "Bette Davis Eyes" called "Sue Simmons Hair"?

R11, What's this about a parody song, I don't know about this.

I loved Sue!

And yes! Thanks for remembering Penny Crone! I too wondered what happened to her.

The erasing of Sue Simmons is just another brick in the wall of the New New York, sanitized, without any flair, color or personality, and meant only for the rich. Sue Simmons WAS New York. But New York hasn't existed for almost 20 years.

I was listening to Len Berman's radio show on WOR to hear how his new co-host Michael Riedel, the reviled theater critic, is doing. They were talking about how hard it was to go from working late nights to having to get to work at 4 am. Mike asked Len if he ever hit the bars after the 11:00 news and Len said rarely, but Sue Simmons certainly did. He didn't say it with any malice, just like it was a fact that Sue was known to party every night after work (and apparently got a head start earlier in the evenings before the broadcast).

SHE should be a DL icon!

She replaced Melba Tolliver who was even better. Melba didn't give a fuck, and I missed her when they got rid of her and hired Sue. My greatest memory about Sue was when she was interviewing Jennifer Holiday. She asked Jennifer who she looked up to, and then, before she could answer, relayed the story of her asking the same question of Leontyne Price. Leontyne replied: "There's Aretha...and there's ME!"

Penny Crone worked for Howard Stern's news team for a while and her frequent breakdowns were lovingly documented by the camera crew. You can see some of them on YouTube.

I moved to NYC in the eighties, from the Caribbean. Sue Simmons and Sam Champion is, was and always will be, my definition of that time. Loved that team.

Yes, Melba Tolliver, I forgot about her, good one r17.

Stew Klein was the arts critic for WNEW channel 5 and my parents let me stay up for his 10 o'clock broadcast, which meant alot to this artsy gayling. I wrote him a fan letter in 1979 and he wrote back within a week, I couldn't believe it. I treasured that letter for years until it was lost to a flood.

I miss that mischievous devil Sue Simmons, too. Wish she'd return. Would love to see her crack some heads like the old days. You could never guess where she'd take the show each night.

WHy did Melba Tolliver get canned?

LOVE Sue, we really need her back on NYC news or at least a segment on NY1!

Sue was the ultimate professional. I recall Sue talking with Chuck Scarborough about how she prepared for her Live at Five interviews. Sue told Chuck, "I might not know everything about the person I have to interview, I'm sure not a fan of everyone I have to talk with, that's why I go home at night and thoroughly read their bios!"

Now, if the current talk show knuckleheads, such as Kelly Ripa, did that, they'd actually earn their $20+ million a year salaries!

Loved Sue Simmons. One time Len Berman visited the Howard Stern show and they basically outed her.

Here is a link to “Sue Simmons Hair”.

Sue Simmons was everything!

R24 you made my night.

Do I want to, r18? Sounds.....angsty. I have no memory of this Melba gal, but she sounds fun.

R13 Penny's a real estate agent. And when Sue and that desiccated husk Cindy Adams were on the air at the same time, it was hair-raising!

Dessicated husk, lmao. Spit cough snort.

For those not in NY, sorry for the OP"s rudeness, but Sue Simmons was a long time newscaster at WNBC the local NBC affiliate. The studios are in 30 Rock with the National News and SNL. She hosted the 5:00pm broadcast called "Live At 5 , the 6:00 show and the 11:00 show with long time host Chuck Scarborough.

Babies

Funny, I don't remember Cindy on Live at 5 but I do remember the great Liz Smith and Katy Kelly the bow-tied film critic. It was a barely-disguised cabal of lesbians back then.

Time marches on....

She explains why here.

Funny.

I remember Melba. I was a kid, but I recall my parents watching Eyewitness New every night after they go home from work. Melba was first on the local ABC NY affiliate around the same time Geraldo Rivera exposed the Willbrook mental home scandal. She then went on to NBC. Melba then dropped off the face of the earth. I don't remember her News 12 Long Island stint listed below.

Form Wiki: "Melba Tolliver (born 1939) is an American journalist and former New York City news anchor and reporter. She is best remembered for her defiant stance against ABC owned WABC-TV when she refused to don a wig or scarf to cover up her Afro in order to cover the White House wedding of President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia Nixon in 1971.

Tolliver was born in Rome, Georgia. She worked at WABC as a reporter and anchor from 1967 to 1976. She then went to WNBC where she remained until 1980. She also worked at News 12 Long Island from 1986 to 1994.

Tolliver has co-hosted, with Gil Noble, ABC's Like It Is series which focused upon the Black Community. Melba Tolliver has a blog on her website and is working on a book about her experiences in the media. She is also featured in the documentary, "In Our Heads About Our Hair." In 2015 Tolliver received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Empire State College."

There's nothing about her personal life at her Wiki page and for some reason she's listed an an actress at IMDb, possibly because she was in the film "Summer of Sam". IIRC, she played a reporter, basically playing herself.

What about Rolonda Watts and Roseanne Scamardella? WEHT?

For non-New Yorkers, Sue Simmons did her groundhog impression every Groundhog Day.

And then there's Ernie Anastos of WNEW, who would like you to keep fuckin' that chicken.

Seeing all these names brings me back. When I was very small I always got confused between Sue and Carol Jenkins.

Here's another one, Jim Jensen and the abortion question to Bree Walker, the girl with the lobster claw hands.

Linda Ellerbee and Bill Schechner at NBC News Overnight. That was some fine television right there.

There was also another great overnight show on CBS, CBS New Nightwatch with Charlie Rose, Felicia Jeter, the late Harold Dow, the late Christopher Glenn and Karen Stone.

My parents couldn't wait for Chuck & Sue at 11:00. They started with John Roland at 10:00 pm

How many facelifts has Ernie Anastos had?

Sue would bring her little white dog to work. One day the pooch started barking under the anchor desk in Studio 6B while she was on-air. He was never seen in the building again.

R47 John Roland opened a restaurant. Refused to hire actors. Said he wanted "professional waiters." When he left TV there were ads in the subway for a law firm with John as their representative.

......

Betty Buckley is shrill and strident! -- Stewart Klein

Really, Stew? Betty?

Ahhh, r11 and r24 beat me to it!

Also on Live at Five: Chauncey Howell

Is anyone old enough to remember Roger Grimsby on ABC NY's 7 pm news? He was one hot daddy.

Tex Antoine and Uncle Weathbee. He was before my time, but his rape comment is fodder amongst the older tri-state area people.

And Storm Fields the hot Weatherman son of Elder Weatherman Frank Fields.

ABC (or was it CBS?) eventually promoted him from Weatherman to News Anchor but he reported Tennessee Williams' death as Tennessee Ernie Williams and they fired him.

Storm Field and Bill Evans were hot!

And then Lloyd Lindsey Young on Channel 9. HELLLLLOOO SADDLE RIVER!!!!

Shelley Winters, Sue Simmons, Jack Cafferty, Live at 5, 1981

(note the number of viewers)

I only vaguely remember Jack Cafferty. Was he a good guy or a bad guy?

Thank you so much for this thread! I love Sue Simmons, love to talk about her was a giant fan of hers. I hated local news until I found Sue Simmons. Also Rolanda Watts certainly deserves a shout out.

Too few people are aware that Sue really has an iconic position in the history of US broadcast news - she was the 1st African American Woman in the US to dominate a major/ the major market for local news coverage. She was arguably the most popular local news broadcaster in the United States. That is how GREAT she was.

Her “Live at 5” interviews were legendary in NY - celebs would sit for Sue and say no to anyone else. (I second the Liz Smith part of the show too - wow LESBIAN CENTRAL!) . Sue was one of the 1st to interview Whitney Houston - and man Sue was Gobsmacked. No other word, i remember that interview very well. There is also a fantastic photo of women in broadcasting @ Houston’s home including Rolanda Watts, Sue Simmons, maybe Deborah Roberts or Carole Simpson? Havent seen this pic for years - but it is out there.

A little known fact is that Sue was once roommates with the late broadcaster Jessica Savitch - Savitch was rocketing to the top of the network news when she had a tragic, awful, bizarre fatal accident. I believe she and Simmons were very close - Sue took time off during this news cycle.

The young white bean counters that sacked Sue saw the ratings tank after they didnt renew her contract. There was a huge blow back from viewers. Even now i wont watch local NBC - just utterly mediocre after watching Sue for 2 decades plus. Yes it was infuriating to see her male cohost live on to work another 10 years. (Chuck Scarborough was/is a total drip - nothing but a cipher compared to her.) Sue was brilliantly funny, smart, knowledgeable and always on top of the game.

It was a terrible loss, all due to the piggery of smarmy clueless nitwits. They never had any idea nor respect for this legendary women.

My earliest memory of Sue was an interview she did with Bananarama!

It used to be on YouTube but it’s not there anymore

Roger Grimsby was not "hot".

He reminded me of Grandpa Al Lewis!

"desiccated husk"

Aren't all husks desiccated?

I'm the one who loved Melba, but I definitely had a crush on Tony Guida!

Sue Simmons and Jessica Savitch lived together openly as a couple back in the early 80s

I like the 70s people. Real, but intelligent; ugly clothes, yet dressed professionally. Adults, not kidults.

The idea of Simmons and Savitch together as a couple, wow. The energy must have melted the brick in their brownstone, I'd have loved to be a fly on that wall, and I'm a gay guy. Two perfect storms.

R64 Thank you for that, I could not remember specifically if that was the case. That was a LOT of brains and beauty under one roof. It was pretty clear to me that Simmons clearly had the hots for Houston - who wouldnt?

Still trying to find out WEHT Roz Abrams from WABC. I know Michelle Marsh from WCBS passed away.

Through the entire 80's NYC had the best and most memorable news teams.

IIRC, Sue had the hots for Lena Horne.

R66, I loved Roz. Last I saw she was on CBS, but that didn't last long and she seemed to disappear.

How about Steve Bartelstein?

Roz Abrams is happily retired and does charity work and public speaking.

Suck and Chew.

[quote]I know Michelle Marsh from WCBS passed away.

Im sorry to read that — news to me, pardon the expression.

I knew a guy who had worked at WCBS before he worked for me and he would tell stories about Michelle. He said she was very haughty and snippy with the crew. He also said she had a huge ass — that you’d see her sitting there on tv and she looked so pretty but then she would get up from her seat and it looked like she had the Goodyear blimp in her pants.

He said she would chew you out about something and then turn and storm off without letting you get in a response. She’s just yell at you and then you’d just see those giant buttocks as she flounced off.

Like I said I’m very sorry to read of her passing.

Sue and Whitney were rumored to have had a romance as well.

Sue hated Matt Lauer and used to shade him all the time when they did Live at Five back in the 90's.

Sue and Whitney? I too had heard that, but Whitney was kickin it with Robyn i believe, until Whitney was finally willing to make it legal with Brown. Do understand that Whit and Robyn did periodically breakup to make up..

I do not doubt that Sue had Lauers number extremely early on, she would never have been vulnerable to his ambitious comeons. One can only imagine her opinion on Lauers downfall.

Sorry to learn about Michelle Marshes passing., sometimes I did watch her. She must have felt a lot of heat being up against the remarkable, brilliant Sue Simmons. Could not have been fun.

Anyone remember Rolland Smith?

😂😂😂 r72 for bringing it full circle!

I loved channel 4 news as a kid. I watched Live at 5 everyday.

As I remember it Chuck was the 5 o'clock guy then Tom Snyder was at 6.

Then Snyder left and Chuck moved to six. Pia Linstrom and Melba Toliver did the 5 o'clock broadcast together for a while. Two women was pretty revolutionary back then. Then the brought in Jack Cafferty somewhere along the way and he did 5 with Pia and Melba was dropped. Then suddenly one day they debuted this hot young talent Sue Simmons and pushed Pia to film and theater critic. I remember the firings being kind of shocking to me as a kid. These people were like my friends. (obviously I was a lonely kid.)

My favorite Sue Simmons memory was they showed some clip montage of with stirring music like You're a Grand Old Flag or something like that. It may have been the fourth of July. Anyway, the video ended early and right as the music reached its crescendo they cut to Sue Simmons. She ad libbed "TA Dah!!!" and threw her hands up in the air. Well as a little kid I thought this was so funny.

Melba Tolliver was fired in 1980 because Jessica Savitch's abusive ex-boyfriend Ron Kershaw took over WNBC's news and fired a ton of people just to fire a ton of people: Melba, Mary Alice Williams, Pia Lindstrom (demoted from main anchor to theater critic), Carl Stokes ... there were more.

And Sue was Ron Kershaw's protégé in Baltimore, so he brought her in.

"She spends each night with Chuck, they make a handsome pair. She never jive and shuck. She got Sue Simmons hair"

From about 1981 to 1985, Live at Five was the best. Maybe the greatest local news program in history. Sue Simmons was so cool, a cosmopolitan black lady in the ci-tay. Jack Cafferty was old school, like Edward R., Murrow, and square, but somehow it just worked.

Liz Smith would come on and gossip, sometimes I think just reading her Daily News column, other times she'd have real scoops, and often she was part of the story like when she was feuding with Frank Sinatra. Beautiful, classy Pia Lindstrom did theater reviews, Katy Kelly did movies, and this fop named Chauncey Howell would report on society/parties. Frank Field did the weather, later replaced by Al Roker.

It was a hot. They got A list guests every day. If you were home at 5pm, you watched it.

Liz Smith was kind of like the internet before the internet on Live at Five.

She would break big gossip news. Either a follow-up to her print column that morning or something that happened that afternoon, and she would scoop the next morning's papers.

One example: Grace Mirabella found out she officially out at Vogue and replaced by Anna Wintour from Liz's report on Live at Five.

I wonder what happened to Laurie Stokes, the morning anchor of Eyewitness News on ABC in NYC? She left abruptly. I enjoyed her on the morning news, and her banter with the other people.

[quote]I wonder what happened to Laurie Stokes, the morning anchor of Eyewitness News on ABC in NYC? She left abruptly. I enjoyed her on the morning news, and her banter with the other people.

Lori Stokes is the niece of Carl Stokes. Carl became the 51st Mayor of Cleveland, he passed away in 1996.

Lori looks great for 55!

Lori is now the co-anchor of Good Day New York on Fox 5 NY. Joining her is that former WPIX Morning News loudmouth Suki Krishnan. Suki got fired because she didn't want to promote the then incoming co-ancher Betty Nguyen.

liz smith, Jessica savitch, sue simmons, ... god dam they were fun.

love the anecdotes in this thread.

as a kid, I remember thinkin how purdy and smart Jessica was, very hurt when she died, it seemd .... like murder.

R84... Thank you. It's Lori, not Laurie.. my bad.. lol. She was always classy and had a dry wit. She is beautiful, and I'm glad she found a new job and is doing well.

Wait, Sue Simmons was with Jane Dornacker? Damn, she has had a lot of loss in her life.

Jane was killed ON AIR in a helicopter crash while doing her traffic report, it was horrific. One minute she was reporting the usual delays, the next she was crying out to hit the water, hit the water. I was a kid then, too. I don't remember if I heard that live or repeated later, but I do remember it was the first time I ever saw my mother cry.

Pia Lindstrom was a very good anchor and should have gone further with it.

She had gravitas and class, and that Jessica Savitch quality of just being magnetic to watch. And she was basically NYC royalty, being Ingrid Bergman's daughter.

I wonder why she just accepted the lesser role and faded away over two decades, doing less and less.

I love the way she speaks, r88, her tone and diction are superb. You never hear anyone speaking in that manner anymore, very theatah, very uptown New York. Love love love.

John Roland was one of my first crushes. As a boy, I never missed a broadcast, sharing the sofa with my father and shooshing him every time John Roland had something to say. Looking back, I would love to know my father's inner monologue at the time.

Kershaw hated Mary Alice Williams. He thought her eyes were freaky and told her, outright, that he was firing her because he didn't like her face and that her eyes "belonged in a Dracula movie."

She then became a vice president of CNN and a major part of NBC in the '90s, anchoring Today and Nightly News.

There was a very cool clip of her anchoring at WNBC circa 1979 on TVArk, but they're down at the moment, otherwise I'd post it.

R88 I agree with you and share similar thoughts. PIa was clearly in a class of her own and could have anchored any broadcast, I can't imagine why she never did. She had the pedigree.

A friend was introduced to Sue who in turn introduced her companion saying "This is my girlfriend, Pussy."

The idea that anyone would have a girlfriend named Pussy kept us laughing for years.

God only knows whet Steve Bartelstein.

Notable, too, about Live at Five interviews were their lengthy duration.

Here's Sue interviewing Etta James back in 1995 for a solid and satisfying seven minutes.

These days, there would have to be a national emergency to get seven minutes.

Final note, the more I look at Sue Simmons clips, the angrier I become again that they let her go. What a stupid, stupid thing to do.

Indeed, r94........

[quote]Final note, the more I look at Sue Simmons clips, the angrier I become again that they let her go. What a stupid, stupid thing to do.

But weren't her interviews done in the 5 or 6 o'clock hour, which had a different format than the nightly news? They were basically filler because the "real" news wasn't broadcast until 11:00 pm when all "facts" of a story could be ascertained. I remember watching several "breaking news" stories where they would say "facts are still coming in."

Hey Simmons fans,

Sue went back to WNBC just last June to deliver a tribute to Gabe Pressman, who had just died.

She looks fantastic. So glad to have found this.

I love that "fuck" sequence. Chuck is just too stunned to read his copy. They don't show his face, but you can imagine him staring at her in horror and mouthing, "We're live, ya know?"

I'd like to give an honorable mention to the chemistry between Al Roker and Sue on 'Live At 5.'

I can't find any decent clips of their entertaining banter, but some of you will remember once they got going, they were thick as thieves. Roker was the master of clever retorts and Sue held court on every broadcast. I remember they would have the entire studio laughing. Here's a clip with appearances from most of the lineup -digging that over the shoulder scarf look on Sue.

Thanks for posting that r100. I didn't realize as late as the 1980s that they were still showing the voice over announcer at a microphone.

R68, it was the other way around.

I would LOVE Sue to write her autobiography and tell us how she "let" Lena Horne lure her into her suite at the Wyndham Hotel circa 1982...among so many other things.

You're a tease, r102, a vicious rotten tease.

That was Don Pardo, r101! Best voice in the industry, evah.

Wasn't there a swishy queen with a bowtie named Chauncy Something the third. He'd do flower shows and events. And there was also a dramarama melodramatic reporter covered the Jean Harris case - Jim Van Sickle.

OP - I laughed til I cried when I made the connection with the title of this thread. Brilliant.

[quote]The idea that anyone would have a girlfriend named Pussy kept us laughing for years.

Oh, shut up!

[quote]Anyone remember Rolland Smith?

Yes he was so handsome and had aged well too.

Who was the black guy on channel 9 and channel 2 who died on the treadmill? He was handsome.

Chauncey HOWELL - no doubt a nephew of Lovey Howell

Chaunce......

Hmm. There is a resemblance to Thurston.

Op she's still on the air- I just saw her the other day giving the news.. The dyke is still working DL so take a breather.

R100 She always wore a fuckin scarf

Jack Cafferty gawd I remember him- the old fart is still alive.

I feel sorry for younger viewers who never got a chance to know how good television could be.

Oh please OP, the only thing she had going for her were those eyes, She always striked me as an A CLASS BITCH~ she was always to hard around the edges, gave the impression she walked like a man.

Here's a Christmas video from WABC in 1989 with the whole on air personalities including, CHAUNCEY HOWELL!

Also, Greg Hurst and Marc Stevens were HOT.

Damn op you're down right ancient aren't you? Waiting for you to start a thread on Gene Shalit next.

R119 Speaking of -

I saw Sue in person pretty early in her WNBC tenure - Michelle Marsh wasn’t the only beautiful anchor who was hiding an ample caboose behind the anchor desk. But I loved her - she was one of the wonderful constants in a city that has changed so much over the last 30 odd years.

ROZ ABRAMS!! Thank you so much for posting R100. My god I loved that news with Sue, Liz and yes Cafferty. IT absolutely was as great as I remember.

Sue was stunning, smart.I BET Whitney liked her, LOL. That clip had a shot of the WTC, a Marblehead commercial with “Kramer” from Seinfeld before he was well known, DOn Pardo and Liz Smith in her late 50’s early 60”s. The lesbians are positively inspiring! I cherish Sue and Liz, ROZ, Carol Jenkins... what we lost.

[quote]Pia Lindstrom was a very good anchor and should have gone further with it.

There was a rumor that many actors, actresses and directors hated the negative reviews she gave of their work, that's why she left or was fired from NBC. I also remember her sarcastic banter with one of the co-anchors, Pia always came across as entitled and superior. I was a teen when she was on, but I remember not enjoying her and her attitude with the others, she came across as a socialite who was so above the rest of the newscasters.

Loved Sue and Chuck together, what a great team.

I'm trying to remember the other dark haired male anchor from NBC, it's not Jack Cafferty.

Shocked to hear Michelle Marsh died.

Anyone remember the on air argument between Jim Ryan and Dick Oliver, it was brutal. They started together on the local NY FOX morning news in the 1980s. Jim was in the studio and Dick was out in the field reporting. Here's the argument! It's hilarious! This is from July 19, 2001.

Great stuff, r123, thanks. I love a good argument between New Yorkers.

R109, that was Reggie Harris. Once Sue what's-her-name who did a news show with Maurice DuBois on WNBC called him Reggie Jackson by accident. He was NOT amused.

^ That would be Jane Hanson not Sue whats-her-name.

[quote]I'm trying to remember the other dark haired male anchor from NBC, it's not Jack Cafferty.

John Hambrick?

I remember Diane Ladd came on Live at Five and lambasted Pia Lindstrom for giving a play or hers a bad review and also mentioned how mad she was at her mother Ingrid Bergman for saying in her Oscar speech that Valentina Cortese should have won. Ladd I guess felt she deserved it.

R125, Reggie Harris, that's it.

Yikes!

Jesus, r130, wtf???

Sue Simmons would have crushed Jim Jensen's head in one fist.

Soon after that Jim Jensen was canned and went into rehab for a coke problem, R131.

Bree Walker had a rough life. Google it. Alcoholism. Arrests. All sorts of stuff.

Jim Cafferty was a raging alcoholic but I never heard him ask a colleague if it would have been better if they'd been aborted.

I miss her! I stopped watching after she left, the women who replaced her were shit

Here's another one from CBS.

[quote]John Hambrick?

I remember John but I was thinking about an anchor from WNBC, around the time Sue was on. I mostly remember John from Eyewitness News.

I had no idea John appeared on Friday Night Lights! He was also a country singer, who knew?!

Tony Guida?

WNBC news anchors of that time.

Sue Simmons

Carol Jenkins

Chuck Scarborough

Tony Guida

Jack Cafferty

Pat Harper

Pia Lindstrom

Ralph Penza

OMG Jim Jensen with Bree - I forgot how horrible that was. YES Sue Simmons would have cut him to shreds on air - in one sentence. Then she would have apologized to Bree.

Funny, stupid Jim reminds me of Bill OReally. Bookend ham fisted fools.

I remember Elizabeth Ashley being coked out of her mind on Live at Five once. She kept putting on chapstick and when they showed a film clip she put her face like an inch a way from the monitor to watch it.

Cafferty started chuckling eventually and asked if she had dry lips.

THEMS WERE THE FUN DAYS

SECONALS !

So shocked to hear about Reggie Harris, I just thought he left NYC news and moved to another state. He was only 46, he died while home on his treadmill!

Here's a tribute from WOR, where he was working at the time.

OMG you guys! These people have Google alerts and will see this! Be careful what you write!

r145 must be new in town

Any Joe Franklin fans? He was the original Larry King.

Loved Joe Franklin, to me he was the genial king of New York. Someone wrote that Dave Letterman's original late show, with its wacky cast of guests and characters, was heavily inspired by Joe Franklin's show. It was a gleeful showcase of the best and weirdest New York. His broadcasts went on for more than 40 years. Thanks, r147.

I'm in a Live at Five rabbit hole, DL, and I don't want to leave. Had this video on airplay this morning as I woke up. They're broadcasting from the Jersey shore in Point Pleasant.

Someone upthread mentioned how they liked the banter between Al Roker and Sue Simmons, have a look here.

In r149's video, at the 34:19 mark, Matt interviews a hot Jersey lifeguard. I wonder if Matt tried to interfere with him like he did with the ladies on staff?

Bumping for more.

A very very young Whitney Houston at 8:28. I believe she did Sue Simmon’s iconic interviews a few times. There is a delightful breezy quality to those few seconds of conversation.

Goes to show Matt Lauer abusive white man would meet a well deserved humiliation, but Sue talented beloved, known for smarts and kindness Well regarded by peers would be hustled off the side by bean counters.

Ha, Matt Lauer playing volleyball while wearing mom-jeans at the very end of r149's video.

R152, you're missing a link.