Real Milwaukee debuts Today

[trev57]

Real Milwaukee debuted today on WITI. It's basically a "View" like talk show with Katrina Cravy, Nicole Koglin, Rob Haswell, Cassandra McShepard, and Tony Clark as the "roving reporter".

Here's a montage of today's debut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXm2Zj05vC4

[LoadStar]

Painfully bad. Nothing redeemable about it.

The show is developed by the news division, and features news anchors behind an anchor desk on a news set... yet it isn't a news show. That should be setting off all sorts of alarms, if you ask me. It continues to blur the lines between what is news and what is entertainment (not that this show is entertaining in the least, but I digress).

But let's start from the top: the set. It's the same Studio A that they are back in at 11:00 telling about the latest Milwaukee homicide or the continued downturn in the economy. Yeah, they tried to make it look a little different with a funky logo, some plants, a brighter lighting scheme, but it's clearly and unmistakably the rather dated Studio A, making it feel more like a news show than a morning chat show. They cement that feel by putting the hosts behind an anchor desk. The whole thing just feels ultra stiff and not at all welcoming.

The hosts, likewise, are mostly all news anchors, aside from Cassandra McShepard. Not at all coincidentally, Cassandra seems the only one to be truly in the morning show vibe. Everyone else feel like what they are; news anchors, adding to the very stiff feel.

What it feels like to me is that the station didn't want to spend any money on a show for the slot, so they told the anchors to go on set and waste time for an hour. It's TV on the cheap; it's one step removed from bars and tone.

[trev57]

I didn't think it was that bad. It is what it is; a local morning talk show aimed at women 25-54.

[techguy1975]

Painfully bad. Nothing redeemable about it.

The show is developed by the news division, and features news anchors behind an anchor desk on a news set... yet it isn't a news show. That should be setting off all sorts of alarms, if you ask me. It continues to blur the lines between what is news and what is entertainment (not that this show is entertaining in the least, but I digress).

While I haven't seen the show, since I no longer live in the area...it was just the first show..cut then a little slack.  I'm sure they are still in fine-tuning mode