Oh what a year it’s been… in television that is. Some of your favorite shows may still be on (“Desperate Housewives”) while others may have bit the dust (“Will and Grace”), but look back at 2006 and you’ll see definite trends existed in the world of make believe.
More Dramas
Taking a cue from hits like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” the networks debuted one drama after another – too many, in fact, according to media analysts, for busy viewers to keep up with. The winners: NBC’s “Heroes” and “Medium.” The losers: Fox’s “Vanished” and the CW’s “Runaway.”
Nightly News
ABC—-Tragedy struck ABC News again in 2006 (the year before anchorman Peter Jennings died). In January, Bob Woodruff, just a month into his tenure as Jennings’ successor (with co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas), was seriously injured in Iraq while covering the war. Months later Vargas announced she was pregnant and stepping down from her anchor post. In May, ABC announced that Charles Gibson instead would anchor “World News” and, in June, he ended his nearly 19 years hosting “Good Morning America.”
NBC and CBS—-This year both networks were joined by a common force—Katie Couric. In April Couric announced she planned to leave NBC’s “Today” show to anchor “The CBS Evening News.” The next day, Meredith Vieira (who was co-hosting ABC’s daytime talk show, “The View”) was named as Couric’s successor. Three short weeks later, Rosie O’Donnell was offered Vieira’s seat at “The View’s” table.
Couric’s new job meant the end of the Dan Rather-era at CBS News. In June after 44 years – the legendary journalist bid farewell to fans. Within weeks, the veteran newsman sealed a deal with cable’s HDNet channel to create a weekly newsmagazine, which premiered in November.
On September 5th, Rosie O’Donnell joined “The View.” That evening, Couric began her reign as the first woman hired as solo anchor for any of the three network nightly newscasts. A week later, Vieira snuggled up alongside Matt Lauer at the “Today” anchor desk, declaring she felt “like it’s the first day of school and I’m sitting next to the cutest guy.”
Meanwhile her old show has been making headlines (albeit not for all the best reasons) on a weekly basis.
Oh yes, what a year it’s been.