22 Comments Add your own

• 1. Susan O. Nishida M.D.  |  August 22nd, 2007 at 11:35 pm

  I felt extremely insulted by “Anchorwoman” .
  It is amazing that woman have come so far , and yet allow a show like this to be allowed on prime time television.
  I think the “bikini model” does have a “stereotype” to work against, however, this particular example has no other qualification for an anchor job. She is not a journalist, communication specialist, she can barely read. etc.. The current program director is attractive and educated, and I do not blame her for feeling resentful of such a poor choice by management. The bosses are men. They hire a blond bimbo I would be so embarrassed to even admit to such a poor business decision, let alone put it on national television.
  After getting a BS in nursing, then returning to school to become a physician, internal medicine residency
  board certification, raising three children, running a private practice, and being married for 20 years…
  FOX , has sent women back to just being a “pretty face”
  I will personally boycott this show.
  If I were a professional journalist/newcaster, I would be furious.
  Is FOX that DESPERATE for ratings?

  please forward this letter to FOX public relations department.

• 2. Anonymous  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 1:52 am

  Susan’s comment tipped me off: LR is getting Google traffic. It’s the 10th main entry for “Anchorwoman” and 3rd for “Anchorwoman model.”

• 3. Chris  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 4:37 am

  I caught the last twenty minutes of AnchorWoman last night.

  Honestly, i didn’t find it very shocking at all.

  I work in small-market television. I’ve seen young reporters get hired (some attractive, some not) with no “journalism experience”. They’re excited about their new “TV job” for the fist couple of days (just like Lauren), they make mistakes, they learn along the way, and eventually, they turn a decent package (or not, and they wash out).

  Lauren is just as “qualified” as any other reporter/anchor who gets their first job. It’s not like there is a “certification” for this job. Who can define the “qualifications” for an entry-level reporter/anchor anyway?

  I found it interesting that Lauren’s photojournalist was really the one mentoring her. I think all young reporters owe a lot to the usually more exprienced photogs they get to work with.

• 4. Michael Gay  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 5:16 am

  The producers/editors of the series sure managed to make every other woman in the newsroom seem quite jealous and catty. So, not only do they have to work under the observation of a reality show, but now they are going to have a hard time finding their next jobs because of the way they are portrayed.

  BTW - Love Stormy. It’s hard to believe Stormy was already there before FOX came in. That’s real, not staged!

• 5. Jason  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 6:19 am

  Sometimes in this business, the breaks go to the people who don’t “deserve” them. Pretty faces get put on the anchor desk. The people working really hard are jealous because “it’s not fair.”

  Such is TV (and life, for that matter).

  The photographer/mentor point is a great one — I learned how to be a reporter from three photographers in Davenport, Iowa: Bob Palmer, Hank Strunk, and Mike Ortiz.

• 6. Darrien  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 6:30 am

  Fox is desperate for ratings. Always has been, always will be.

• 7. Safran  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 6:40 am

  Missed it. The Sox were on. My life went on as usual.

• 8. tdc  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 am

  how long till stormy gets his own show?

• 9. joe  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 7:19 am

  F is for Fake. I don’t care if she actually was on TV in Texas. Total promo stunt. That show is fake. It looks like The Office and sounds like “The Simple Life”. Ask your self this question. How many people are that well spoken and photogenic in your news room? How perfect is the cat fight between the main anchor and our bimbo reporter? Total Fake.

• 10. joe  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 7:23 am

  What I’m trying to say is that they are all actors.

• 11. Rob  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 7:43 am

  I flipped back and forth between the show and a rerun of Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi Network. Typical Fox Reality stuff.

  The show is about Lauren, so you know she’s won the immunity challenge. Weather dogs are also impervious to ratings and social commentary so Stormy will survive this tempest as well.

  I can’t see how anyone else who agreed to this farce didn’t know the show was being produced by Fox, and it was a reality show, which meant reality would be totally twisted and distorted to fit Fox’s agenda. So good luck to everyone else wanting to advance their careers who Fox might have portrayed as back stabbing, arrogant and catty.

  Oh, and on Ghost Hunters they didn’t find any ghosts at either site they investigated last night.

• 12. Anon  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 8:02 am

  I refused to watch - as I said before its total garbage. I just hope it didn’t get good ratings.

• 13. Dave  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 8:33 am

  Now journalists know what it’s like to be portrayed in a way they don’t want to be.

  Welcome to being black, gay, Christian, Muslim, asian, female, Jewish, a lawyer, a doctor, wasp, fat, blonde, young, old, redneck, rich, poor, hip hop, conservative, liberal, etc etc.

  IE - Welcome to life.

• 14. Alyssa  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 9:01 am

  I wonder if she’s really that simple. Sometimes during the show Lauren seemed to be playing to the stereotype she’s assigned by the powers that be. So did everyone else - like the bitchy and resentful female staffers. The photog seems to be the only one who isn’t condescending or something. He seems like a good teacher.

• 15. Screamerina  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 9:18 am

  “Holy cannolli…we eat those in NY, they’re Jewish” and “WASP? I’m not Jewish”. Are we supposed to believe she’s that idiotic, or is that part of her “charm”?

• 16. Gerald  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am

  I thought it was entertaining. We all know that it is not real and most of TV is not supposed to be real. So I was entertained and thought that it had a very creative twist on reality shows that we have not seen yet. Conflict sells.

• 17. Marty/Chickaboomer  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 9:31 am

  Read Chickaboomer for the scoop on “Anchorwoman.” I’ve posted ad infinitum on this. I’m a former network radio and TV news anchor with a master’s in journalism. A female. And I see the disturbing trend.

  Pulitizer Prize-winning Newsday columnist Ellis Henican calls Chickaboomer “bold, funny, and subversive.”

  I’m so ticked off about the crotch-baring TV anchorbabes on Fox News and other networks encouraged by male TV suits. Why not just run Toronto’s “Naked News?” We’re getting closer. Tops are lower. Bottoms skim butts.
  Marty

• 18. Mike  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 9:35 am

  As I predicted, local TV news didn’t look bad at all. The GM, the news director, the photogs, and others all looked like hard working people with tough jobs, who honor the integrity of their crafts. The blonde looked ditzy and it was clearly evident to anybody watching that it does take skill and hard work to anchor and report, once again making local TV look good, not bad.

  The only surprise is how catty the brunette was. She was right to fight for journalistic integrity but she lost all of hers when she argued that looks don’t matter and then told the anchor who was replaced on the 5pm show that she fought hard for her because she’s better… and ended with “and you’re pretty.” Notice how she also said “I fought for every woman in this newsroom”. Oh, so you didn’t fight for the journalistic integrity of men?

  The blonde just made herself look ditzy and incompetent but the brunette is the one who made all women (especiallyt in tv news) look bad.

• 19. Robert  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 10:24 am

  I was once told by a CBS producer that only two types of people make it to the top in TV news; bullies and work-a-holics. Being none of the above, I’m out (6 years).

  The FOX show reminded me of a LOT that I disliked about the business… from the inside out it looked like we were all just playing grown-up. In other words: like kids on a playground fighting for informational turf and boob-tube face-ready real estate that will shame their cohorts and impress the playground monitors.

• 20. discreet_chaos  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 11:01 am

  I didn’t watch because 7pm is just so darn early in my part of the world. I had hoped there would be a full episode available via Fox, but all I’m seeing on the show’s official site is a collection of clips.

  (Click my name for a sortcut to the official site)

• 21. Safran  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 11:55 am

  With all the buzz, how does Fox not make this available on iTunes?

• 22. FoxInsider  |  August 23rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm

  It’s been cancelled!

  FEA#8.56

  To: GENERAL MANAGERS
  GENERAL SALES MANAGERS
  PROGRAM DIRECTORS
  PROMOTION MANAGERS
  TRAFFIC MANAGERS

  Fr: ANNE SCHWARZ, SCHEDULING

  Da: AUGUST 23, 2007

  Re: ‘TIL DEATH TO REPLACE ANCHORWOMAN

  FOX will run back-to-back episodes of ‘TIL DEATH on Wednesdays for the next three weeks, and the remaining episodes of ANCHORWOMAN will not air.

  o On THREE WEDNESDAYS, AUGUST 29, SEPTEMBER 5 and SEPTEMBER 12, 2007, from 8:00-9:00pm (ET/PT), FOX will air back-to-back encore episodes of ‘TIL DEATH!

  *********
  RECAP
  *********
  Three Wednesdays, 8/29, 9/5 and 9/12
  *8:00pm ‘TIL DEATH (R) (OTO)
  8:30pm ‘TIL DEATH (R)
  9:00pm BONES (R) (OTO)

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