#phyllis george

Crafts make us feel rooted, give us a sense of belonging and connect us with our history. Our ancestors used to create these crafts out of necessity, and now we do them for fun, to make money and to express ourselves.

There were about ten times people have been pied in the face over the run of The Muppet Show. Three of those occasions were Kermit, and two were Fozzie.

Sources:

The Muppet Show. Episode 114: Sandy Duncan.

The Muppet Show. Episode 115: Candice Bergen.

The Muppet Show. Episode 119: Vincent Price.

The Muppet Show. Episode 202: Zero Mostel.

The Muppet Show. Episode 324: Cheryl Ladd.

The Muppet Show. Episode 412: Phyllis George.

The Muppet Show. Episode 511: Paul Simon.

Cover: Princess Diana’s Last Day Alive 

Page 2: Secrets of The Bridges of Madison County -- turmoil over directors, writers and casting led to a romance favorite 

Page 4: Duchess Kate Middleton’s health and beauty secrets can work for you -- how the royal mom takes charge of her family’s diet and fitness 

Page 7: How to be your own handyman -- 8 repairs anyone can do 

Page 8: Busy cats gets the job done 

Page 9: Creatures can crack us up 

Page 10: A Florida couple has a grand and coronavirus-free turnout for their 73rd wedding anniversary -- their friends and family threw them a parade on their front lawn 

Page 12: Shocking secrets of Hollywood’s Golden Age Heartthrobs -- Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable 

Page 13: Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton 

Page 14: Dear Tony -- Pain is often rooted in the past -- forgiveness is essential, Tony predicts a major American Humanitarian award being presented to Dr. Deborah Birx for her work with the virus COVID-19 

Page 15: Colombian Edward Nino Hernandez who is 2 feet 4 inches tall has once again been named the world’s shortest man 

Page 16: Phyllis George’s amazing life 

Page 18: The delicious sweet potato is a starchy sweet-tasting root vegetable that’s rich in fibers, vitamins and minerals 

Page 19: An obese Wisconsin woman who was mortified when her middle-aged mom outpaced her on a hike went on to lose 150 pounds 

Page 20: Cover Story -- Princess Diana’s last day alive: A timeline to tragedy -- how she and Dodi Fayed went from breakfast on yacht to fatal midnight crash 

Page 22: An Alabama schoolteacher knew just what to do with his $1200 federal stimulus payment -- he used it to pay off his students’ utility bills 

Page 25: If you’re dreaming of a White Christmas your wish is about to come true because beloved TV legend Betty White is starring in a new holiday movie to air on the Lifetime network 

Page 26: The Hometown Katharine Hepburn -- the Hollywood great was just a local girl made good to her old pals and neighbors 

Page 28: A New Mexico teenager who dreamed of becoming a crime scene investigator got to clear up a mystery when he discovered a bag stuffed with $135,000 and made sure it got back to its owner, two Arkansas teens found something that wasn’t on their shopping list in the aisle of a grocery store -- a wad of hundreds of dollars but thanks to the honest high schoolers an elderly man who came running back to the store was reunited with his lost cash 

Page 30: The Good Doctor -- fiber fights off breast cancer 

Page 32: Tony’s Mystic World -- Everyone can be lucky 

Page 34: J.Lo and Behold -- whatever Jennifer Lopez wears is a fashion statement 

Page 38: They’re Super at 70 -- stars hitting the milestone in 2020 -- Richard Dean Anderson, Martin Short, Joan Lunden, Jay Leno, Cybill Shepherd, Christine Lahti, Morgan Fairchild, Bill Murray, William H. Macy, Victoria Principal 

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Mel Gibson and son Lars Gerard (picture), Jerry Seinfeld says the late Jerry Stiller’s work as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld was so perfect he never gave the comedy veteran a single note to change his delivery, Sofia Richie was spotted hanging out at the Malibu house of a male pal with longtime boyfriend Scott Disick nowhere in sight, the grieving mom of teen star Logan Williams has revealed The Flash actor’s death was the result of a fentanyl overdose, though the lights are still dark on Broadway because of the coronavirus theater folks continue to cook up new shows like a musical inspired by the classic movie Some Like It Hot, Jonah Hill has sworn onscreen more than any other contemporary actor, Ariana Grande appeared to confirm her rumored romance with real estate agent Dalton Gomez by giving him a peck on the lips in the video for Stuck with U

Page 45: Terri Irwin and son Robert Irwin step out in Australia (picture), Patrick Schwarzenegger on an elliptical bike (picture), Blake Shelton has been filming The Voice from home and he’s spruced up his onscreen look with the help of girlfriend Gwen Stefani, Fred Willard R.I.P.

Page 46: Max the cocker spaniel has a neat new trick -- he has been teaching his owners to give him a hug every time they go out the door 

So you know the morning show on CBS is mostly drama free, save for when Charlie Rose was fired for being a perv a while back. It’s been pretty consistent with (aunt) Gayle King hosting. This is the first time in 30+ years that the show has been consistent. 

Way back in the early 1980s, the morning show as hosted by Diane Sawyer and Bill Kurtis. (clip from 1981/1982-ish -- I’m living for that intro) Bill Kurtis is the guy who did the voiceovers for those crime shows that A&E used to show at nauseam in the mornings back in the late 2000s. What was the show, American Justice? If you’re into crime programming, you know him from that. If you live in Chicago, you know him as the long time newscaster for the CBS station there. In 1984, Diane grew tired of the morning beat and moved to 60 Minutes. Bill stayed, thinking that Meredith Viera or Jane Wallace was going to be the next host. 

Nop. Former Miss America, former first lady of Kentucky, and former NFL Today co host, Phyllis George. She was chosen by CBS Executives with a leader who was in the advertising business, and not in the journalism business. 1 Drama instantly began. Richard Salant, former President of CBS News said upon her hiring, “I am heartbroken. [...] put the show in the Entertainment Division, or the Record or the Toy Division, but get it out of news.” 2 He had a point, the lady had no journalism experience. 

(this is a clip from October of 1984--when CBS was trying out several women to to see who would replace Diane Sawyer, as you can see, Phyllis was one of the women who auditioned. This was in the old ‘newsy” format.) 

The new show began in January of 1985, during the soft chit-chat at the beginning of the show, Phyllis asked Bill if he wanted to hear about her troubles moving to New York. He said no. Dang. 3

Things didn’t improve. One time Phyllis wanted John Candy on the show: 

3

Welp, it all came crashing down come May. In Illinois, Gary Dotson had been released from prison, after being there for eight years for a rape he did not commit. The accuser, Cathleen Mae Webb had become a born again Christian and had recanted her accusation from 1977.  The press had a field day with this and the big three networks were all trying to chase the two down in New York City for an interview during their morning shows. 4 On May 15, 1985 the two sat down to all three shows i one morning, Today first, second rated Good Morning America second and scrappy ass CBS Morning News was third. Seriously, Cathleen and Gary’s interview was around the final 10.15 minutes of the show. So, they’re siting down with Phyllis, the interview starts:

...a track meet? 

I don’t have a transcript, the interview is not online anywhere, but I’ve read in articles that she also said this:

"I read this morning that you've had 41 television offers to put this into a movie. Is that right? Do you feel like a celebrity?" [She had a big grin on her face through all of this.] When Dotson said he'd had "offers" of jobs, now that he is out of prison, George jovially asked, "Starring in your own movie?", apparently thinking he meant that kind of offer. Said Dotson, "No." 5

  ....HOWBOUTTAHUG?!

The switchboards lit up with complaints. I know it was a stupid choice of words, but I can’t believe that people called in, but 20 people in the Washington D.C. area did. 5 I don’t see anywhere where she apologized on the show the next day.

By June 7th, Bill Kurtis had left the show, to return to Chicago. Bob Schieffer was recruited in to help the show. At first, he didn’t want to do it. He thought, “Oh shit, not the morning news again.”  He only took the job because his pay doubled, and he was just going to be the temporary guy. Bob mentioned in his book This Just in: what I couldn’t tell you on TV  that Phyllis seemed to make less mistakes through the Summer. Bob also mentions that since he didn’t want the job, he would waltz into work calm around 6am. 6 My boy Bob didn’t give a...

However, on her days off, Maria Shriver filled in. That was probably the next to last nail in the coffin for her days at CBS. Maria was so much better. Here’s a clip of Bob and Maria when Bob spills coffee on her foot. See, I told you he didn’t care. 

The ultimate nail, however was the realization that celebrities wouldn’t come on the show because they didn’t want Phyllis interviewing them. 3 On the Friday before labor day, calls were made, deals were made and Phyllis was off the air. Of course, the press release said that she decided to leave the show because she was tired and wanted to return to Kentucky. 7 Upon learning of her departure, someone who worked on the show ceremoniously threw away a set of tapes of “famous couples” interviews that Phyllis had done that had not aired yet, and said, “they’ll never run.” 3

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Related Links: 

@BillKurtis : Grim and tragic quotes from A&E television host Bill Kurtis. (not Bill’s real twitter, twitter has’t been updated in nearly 10 years). I believe Bill’s real twitter is @BillKurtis1. 

@bobschieffer hasn’t updated his twitter since 2017 when his newest book came out. John McCain was his last retweet :/. 

Bob Schieffer retires Sunday after 46 years at CBS News

Bob Schieffer signs off

There’s an episode of American Justice about Dotson -- guess who narrates it. Yup, Bill Kurtis. Phyllis was actually mentioned in the pilot episode of Growing Pains. 

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1. Wittebols, James H., The Soap Opera Paradigm (Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004), 71. 

2. Issacs, Norman E., Untended Gates: the mismanaged press (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), 197. 

3. McCabe, Peter, Bad News at Black Rock: the sell-out of CBS News (New York: Arbor House), 191, 102, 123, 186, 193. 

4. McDowell, Edwin, “KEY FIGURES IN ILLINOIS RAPE CASE APPEAR ON TV,” New York Times, May 16, 1985. 

5. Shales, Tom, “Invitation to a Hug Phyllis George's Gaffe With Dotson & - The Washington Post,” Washington Post, May 16, 1985. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/05/16/invitation-to-a-hug-phyllis-georges-gaffe-with-dotson-38/abd90ef2-c53a-4785-947a-56709e47d0b5/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.acc74e109e91

6. Schieffer, Bob, This just In: what I couldn’t tell you on TV (New York: Berkley), 302-305.