bill tush.com

CNN 25th & Other Stuff

CNN CELEBRATES 25

One June 1st. 1980 I was on the front lawn of what at the time was the building that housed WTBS and the about to launch CNN. I was hosting a live broadcast on WTBS telling our cable viewers about CNN and what was about to go on satellite. The show was called quite pompously "Birth of a Network." Seems funny today that cable networks come and go.

During the official dedication ceremony Ted Turner the new networks founder told the audience, "Cable News Network is about to go on the air and it will not go off until the end of the world." Well, it's made it 25 years and still going strong. Even if Fox News is beating them in the ratings game.

Two weeks after CNN's launch a Georgia Power worker was on a pole up the street from CNN and pulled a cable that shut CNN down. The engineers installed generators shortly after that.

The WTBS studios were directly upstairs of the CNN studios and on Saturday mornings when the Professional Wrestling show was being taped you could actually hear the wrestlers hitting the mat on CNN. Occasionally the anchors would flinch when the sound was heard, fearing I guess that the wrestlers might fall through the ceiling.

It was during the first year of CNN that we were doing the "Tush" show. We shared a make up room with CNN and it was pretty funny to see all the stiff news people react to us when we would show up in our costumes. Especially Jan Hooks as Tammy Jean or all of us in our Captain Space suits.

About a year into things Ted assigned me to anchor a show called "Real Pictures" that aired in the middle of the night on CNN. It was made up of all the feature stories that came in during the day. "Fluff, that is." CNN wanted no part of the guy who was known for doing the news with a dog. Ted owned the joint so that was the end of that. There was a cute young lady that was sort of the shows associate producer. She at one point was the shows anchor but was pulled off the air by some executive who said she did not belong on the air. That girl was Katie Curic.

Oh! There are a million of those stories. At any rate in the early days of TBS then Atlanta's WTCG a local paper did a story on me and my middle of the night newscast. In it I was quoted as saying, "I'm having a ball but who knows I could be on the street tomorrow." Ted came into my office one morning with a copy. He had circled that quote and wrote underneath it, "not unless I am first." In 2001 both Ted and I left the company.

He always was a visionary.

Former CBS Corespondent Daniel Schoor was CNN's first on camera talent hired. This photo was taken at a cable convention in Des Moine Iowa. Since I was the most well known face of Turner Broadcasting I would be sent out as part of the dog and pony show. CNN wasn't even on the air at this time. It was great fun to deal people what CNN was going to be. Sort of like saying, "You know how great it is to have sex with me?"

This photo is of Liz Wickersham and I. We were the original anchors of CNN's "ShowBiz Today" Our show replaced Daniel Shorr's question and answer show. He quit CNN in protest saying doing a show on entertainment was a sign CNN was going soft. I have no further comment on that.

By the way, CNN has announced that Bob Costas will be filling in for the aging Larry King whose ratings are down the drain. Johnathon Klien, CNN current president said this is in no way an indication that King is being replaced. Ya sure!

Movie wise, "Mr.& Mrs. Smith" the Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie comedy thriller is a must see. They plat two assisans and neither one knows what the other one does. The fun starts and continues when they are hired to kill each other. A great ride with a lot of comedy and action. You can also see the chemistry that caught on off screen as well. My wife calls is "The War of Guns and Roses."

Speaking of her. Here is a photo of Lisa lounging in one of her many Cynthia Steffe outfits.

This photo of me celebrating Memorial Day in my outfit. Army issue circa 1970.



On a lighter note. You may have read the story about men going blind from using Viagra. It made me think he there is a whole new twist on the old masturbation joke. Except the new punch line is.
"Can I just take it till I need glasses?"