RIP Greg Gumbel, whose route to becoming a national sports broadcaster came about because his boss didn't think he was any good, and should be inspiration for all of us.
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I knew this was out there somewhere! Here's Greg Gumbel calling the highlights of what was intended to be a doubleheader on the infamous 'Disco Demolition Night' in Comiskey Park, followed by excerpts from an interview with its mastermind, Steve Dahl. https://youtu.be/MpQfCcsqQ0E?feature=shared&t=122
Wild... I worked with Mike Leiderman in the early 2000s. His daughter was a producer for Jon Stewart and Letterman then led Kimmel's show for 14 years.
I recall Oprah once telling a story about a similar experience. One of her first jobs in TV was doing local news in (I think) Baltimore. She and her co-anchor (an older man) didn't mesh well, and she was moved (demoted, essentially) to the station's morning talk show. She discovered...
...that she was more comfortable in that format, and after hosting that morning show in Baltimore for 6 years, she was recruited by WLS in Chicago to take over its morning talk show. She turned it into the best-rated morning show in Chicago (beating Donahue!), then...
He had a unique style and delivery. I can see where that would have been seen as a negative initially. "Different" always takes time to be appreciated. RIP Mr Gumbel. I always enjoyed your broadcasting. 😊
I absolutely LOVE Gould in Capricorn One! It’s like Peter Hyams got on an epic roll writing rat-a-tat dialogue for him, then decided who got what scene with him (Telly Savalas here, Karen Black there, David Doyle over here). Glorious stuff.
Smartest move he did after leaving WMAQ was going to New York and doing their regional sports networks and TV/radio stations. You can handle that, you're ready for national.
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