THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602090073
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
LOCAL TV NEWS and views to ponder while you wait for your lucky number to come up at 6 p.m. on WTKR:
Good morning, Norfolk - In about two weeks, ABC's ``Good Morning America'' drops in on the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in downtown Norfolk.
``GMA'' will do an hour on infertility and how to beat it.
Also in town working on stories: NBC News and ``American Journal.'' We're hot.
Now cut that out - Am I the only one annoyed by WAVY sports director Bruce Rader's habit of waving his arms like a windmill and pointing his finger at the camera?
She knows why they told her to pack her boots - What impressed WVEC weekend anchor Regina Mobley about her recent visit to the Adriatic and Tuzla, where U.S. troops help keep the peace in Bosnia?
Mud and makeup.
Mobley, along with reporters from WTKR (Bruce Barry) and WAVY (Cy Bolton), spent about two weeks overseas to report on the Navy's Bosnian support mission. The locally based Wasp amphibious ready group and the America battle group are involved. Dressed in cold-weather gear and boots, she also visited troops in the U.S. sector of Bosnia.
The mud is all but overwhelming. So is the drudgery. Mobley says the troops call their assignment ``Groundhog Day,'' a reference to the Bill Murray film in which each day is exactly like the day before.
Bosnian women live in a war zone, but that hasn't stopped them from looking good, said Mobley. Stylish hair. Nice makeup.
They shampoo early. The running water cuts off daily at 3:30 p.m.
It's like having Hollywood next door - With gobs of TV shows and features being filmed in Wilmington, N.C., local actors continue to find work down the road. Look at Tanya Rollins of Norfolk.
The 14-year-old Maury High student recently worked in an episode of the CBS drama, ``American Gothic.'' According to Mimi Eisman of the Talent Connection Inc. agency, the pay for speaking parts starts at $515 a day with extras or background players making $99 a day in Wilmington.
Now her hair looks almost as good as Ben Kinchlow's - Am I the only one to notice that Terry Meeuwsen of ``The 700 Club,'' which is taped in Virginia Beach, showed up on camera recently with a hip, new spiky 'do?
I couldn't have said it better myself - Of the 700-plus calls and letters I've received about the firing of meteorologist Duane Harding at WTKR - first they put him on the roof, then tossed him off - I liked this one from George Harrison in Norfolk best:
``While he may have been dull, boring and dry as dust, Harding was wronged for sure by WTKR's management. He should have learned by now that television is a cruel and heartless business. Nobody's job is sacred.
``He could go to The Weather Channel, where it's OK to be dull. As for the threats by angry viewers to boycott Channel 3, it will all blow over. People who now say they'll never watch the channel again will give up and tune in.''
She could have used Mobley's boots - Of all the images that flashed across the TV screen during local coverage of The Big Freeze last weekend, the one that sticks with me is WVEC reporter Priscilla Monti climbing aboard a truck on its way to plow streets in Virginia Beach.
Some streets. No way the crews covered all of the city's 4,000 miles of roadways. Am I the only one who wished that good ol' dull, boring, dry-as-dust, dependable Harding was still on the air when the weather turned nasty?
They'll do almost anything to keep you watching - During the ratings sweeps, WTKR has lucky numbers. WVEC has sex - the ``Test Your Love Skills'' extra. by CNB