If you live in San Antonio, you may be worn out by all the clips and fanfare surrounding the retirement of KENS-5 anchorman, Chris Marrou. My wife and I are huge fans, and genuinely hate to see him leave the airwaves, but honestly, enough with the clips of Chris and the late Dan Cook doing the weather. Of course he is to be celebrated, but enough, already.
For those of you not in SA and for those of you who never tuned in to KENS-5 (by the way, we say Kens like a name as opposed to K-E-N-S. You can always tell when a celebrity or politician is just reading from a cue card and they say K-E-N-S that they have never actually watched), Chris Marrou was the star for 36 years (minus a brief stint in Boston). As far as I know, his newscasts were always the top rated in our market.
A lot of folks are happy that he is hanging it up. They totally despised his running commentary as he read the news stories, something I for one loved and will miss. Don’t get me wrong, Chris wasn’t running some sort of Glenn Beck hour – his comments weren’t political in nature. But he simply could not control the need to point out how stupid criminals were or raise an eyebrow when a bureaucrat was giving an excuse. A smile can say so very much.
We may have to purchase a case of Ambien, as I just don’t know how my wife is going to get to sleep without watching Chris Marrou’s Newsreel feature. Every night he would put together clips from the news in order to make a short, usually funny (but not that funny) two minute reel to close out the news. With Chris retiring, so goes the Newsreel feature.
We do know that his 10PM co-anchor, Sarah Lucero who has grown quite capable under the tutelage of Marrou, will go at it solo until Jan 4 when the younger version of Marrou, a guy named Jeff Vaughn will come to KENS from a station in Kansas City. Big shoes to fill. Really big shoes.
As much as we hate to see him go, we wish Chris the best for his new career – unknown at this point, but I suspect politics – and an enjoyable retirement.
Dave
Your Host
Showing posts with label Chris Marrou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Marrou. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday Notes...
Okay, the whirlwind Dexter-watching marathon is complete just in time for us to get ready for Season 4. My wife will need the short break in nightly serial killing in order dream about something besides how I might have a secret dark side she is unaware of. I assure you, I don’t even own a boat.
And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, you’d better get to Blockbuster or NetFlix so you can catch up on the first three seasons. Or, if you have a reader of your own named Deb who offers to lend you the DVD’s, that much better, but hurry, you will not be disappointed.
We of course had to put off some of our regular activities during the Dexter thing. It turns out; we find ourselves a few episodes behind on Son’s of Anarchy. We’ll have to correct that, immediately.
Have you looked at the new Prime Time Jay Leno Show? Of course we DVR everything, so I went back and started to watch it, but never got more than 15 or so minutes into it. Then, I went on Hulu.com while I was tread-milling and started watching another episode and realized that in his old time slot, I usually fell asleep before the first guest ever appeared. I find Jay’s monologues humorous and I was always a fan of Headlines. But since I was on the treadmill and not susceptible to drifting off to sleep, it occurred to me that not much else is funny. A few examples: There was some comedian who came on, I forget his name but he was called the “Uninvited Guest”. He had his own little monologue complete with staged photos so you could visualize the punch line of his jokes. His segment lasted about half an hour. Okay, maybe it was only two or three minutes, but everything after the first 15 seconds seemed like half an hour.
Another thing Jay had was this segment called 10 Questions or something like that. I saw Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz sitting on a movie set somewhere, answering 10 not so funny questions. I realize now that without the assistance of special hair gel, I don’t find Cameron Diaz that attractive or funny. And really, unless there is a couch involved, I don’t see anything humorous about Tom Cruise, either.
And speaking of Oprah, they had a little skit where Jay’s first guest, Jerry Seinfeld (or as my wife calls him, SignField) uses his clout to have Oprah appear via satellite feed. The dig is, Jay could not get her to be the first guest on his new show, but Jerry has no problem getting her. Then, Jerry proceeds to interview Oprah and she totally ignores Jay. Did I mention how enormous her face looks in High Definition? Attention Macy’s, your blimp got away…
Anyway, I suspect that aside from the first 15 minutes, there will be no requirement for me to catch the new Leno show, but that gives me time to catch up on other important viewing, like Hung.
I don’t know if you heard this or not, but on Thursday evening, our Community Improvement Association (CIA as opposed to HOA) appointed me to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. Obviously I am honored and will do my best to serve our community. There was another guy who was up for the position and we met for the first time last night. As it turns out, Chris is a reader of this blog and I might mention a very cool guy. It was one of those moments when you feel bad that you get picked over someone else. So if I didn’t feel bad enough, on the way home my wife, in a moment of pure spousal support says, “I think they should have picked the other guy.” In fairness though, this board thing may cut into our TV viewing time, at least until season 4 of Dexter starts.
Speaking of seasons (man, am I working the transition or what?), am I the only person who has noticed how wonderfully cool it has been the past few mornings? For readers outside of Texas, it probably is cool already where you are at, but here in San Antonio, we have had several months of record fireball action, with more 100+ days than ever. I know, see, AlGore was right; we’ll soon have beach front property. Anyway, I get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and walk out on the back patio with my dog Gracie, (it is still dark at 5:30 and she is afraid), and both of us have noticed just how wonderful it feels. I’m ready for more of this weather.
And finally, again for the locals - we got the shocking news that Chris Marrou is going to hang up his anchorman hair at the end of the year. KENS-5 just won't be the same I tell ya, but I'm sure Chris will turn up somewhere. I know that many people just hate the way that Marrou has to add his little comments to the end of every single story; I for one love it. It was only that much better when his old friend Dan Cook was still around to join in on the off the cuff remarks.
For readers not familiar with Chris Marrou and Dan Cook, just imagine an anchorman and a crusty ol' sportscaster after a news story about a bank robber that gives the teller a withdraw slip complete with bank account number and real driver's license, before showing a gun and asking for all the money. Chris would say something like, "Well, that was pretty stupid." and Dan would say, "What a dumbass." Okay, maybe not those exact words, but you get the point. In the past year or so (since the long ago retired Dan Cook passed away), Chris has really stepped-up his commentary on news stories. Combined with his recent law degree, my amateur analysis says he will be running for political office. Hey, it runs in the family. You know his older brother, Andre Marrou, has been a candidate for president numerous times.
That's it friends. We have a busy weekend of eating, garage sailing and perhaps a visit tomorrow to the bone orchard. It was 9 years ago today that my wife's father passed, and we would like to do a little yard work on his resting place. Which reminds me of something he told me once.
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)
He told me that he had a job where he was "over" hundreds of people. "Oh really" I said, inquiring for more detail. He said "Yea, I used to mow the grass at the cemetery". Good ol' Scobey.
And if you have no idea what the heck I’m talking about, you’d better get to Blockbuster or NetFlix so you can catch up on the first three seasons. Or, if you have a reader of your own named Deb who offers to lend you the DVD’s, that much better, but hurry, you will not be disappointed.
We of course had to put off some of our regular activities during the Dexter thing. It turns out; we find ourselves a few episodes behind on Son’s of Anarchy. We’ll have to correct that, immediately.
Have you looked at the new Prime Time Jay Leno Show? Of course we DVR everything, so I went back and started to watch it, but never got more than 15 or so minutes into it. Then, I went on Hulu.com while I was tread-milling and started watching another episode and realized that in his old time slot, I usually fell asleep before the first guest ever appeared. I find Jay’s monologues humorous and I was always a fan of Headlines. But since I was on the treadmill and not susceptible to drifting off to sleep, it occurred to me that not much else is funny. A few examples: There was some comedian who came on, I forget his name but he was called the “Uninvited Guest”. He had his own little monologue complete with staged photos so you could visualize the punch line of his jokes. His segment lasted about half an hour. Okay, maybe it was only two or three minutes, but everything after the first 15 seconds seemed like half an hour.
Another thing Jay had was this segment called 10 Questions or something like that. I saw Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz sitting on a movie set somewhere, answering 10 not so funny questions. I realize now that without the assistance of special hair gel, I don’t find Cameron Diaz that attractive or funny. And really, unless there is a couch involved, I don’t see anything humorous about Tom Cruise, either.
And speaking of Oprah, they had a little skit where Jay’s first guest, Jerry Seinfeld (or as my wife calls him, SignField) uses his clout to have Oprah appear via satellite feed. The dig is, Jay could not get her to be the first guest on his new show, but Jerry has no problem getting her. Then, Jerry proceeds to interview Oprah and she totally ignores Jay. Did I mention how enormous her face looks in High Definition? Attention Macy’s, your blimp got away…
Anyway, I suspect that aside from the first 15 minutes, there will be no requirement for me to catch the new Leno show, but that gives me time to catch up on other important viewing, like Hung.
I don’t know if you heard this or not, but on Thursday evening, our Community Improvement Association (CIA as opposed to HOA) appointed me to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. Obviously I am honored and will do my best to serve our community. There was another guy who was up for the position and we met for the first time last night. As it turns out, Chris is a reader of this blog and I might mention a very cool guy. It was one of those moments when you feel bad that you get picked over someone else. So if I didn’t feel bad enough, on the way home my wife, in a moment of pure spousal support says, “I think they should have picked the other guy.” In fairness though, this board thing may cut into our TV viewing time, at least until season 4 of Dexter starts.
Speaking of seasons (man, am I working the transition or what?), am I the only person who has noticed how wonderfully cool it has been the past few mornings? For readers outside of Texas, it probably is cool already where you are at, but here in San Antonio, we have had several months of record fireball action, with more 100+ days than ever. I know, see, AlGore was right; we’ll soon have beach front property. Anyway, I get up in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and walk out on the back patio with my dog Gracie, (it is still dark at 5:30 and she is afraid), and both of us have noticed just how wonderful it feels. I’m ready for more of this weather.
And finally, again for the locals - we got the shocking news that Chris Marrou is going to hang up his anchorman hair at the end of the year. KENS-5 just won't be the same I tell ya, but I'm sure Chris will turn up somewhere. I know that many people just hate the way that Marrou has to add his little comments to the end of every single story; I for one love it. It was only that much better when his old friend Dan Cook was still around to join in on the off the cuff remarks.
For readers not familiar with Chris Marrou and Dan Cook, just imagine an anchorman and a crusty ol' sportscaster after a news story about a bank robber that gives the teller a withdraw slip complete with bank account number and real driver's license, before showing a gun and asking for all the money. Chris would say something like, "Well, that was pretty stupid." and Dan would say, "What a dumbass." Okay, maybe not those exact words, but you get the point. In the past year or so (since the long ago retired Dan Cook passed away), Chris has really stepped-up his commentary on news stories. Combined with his recent law degree, my amateur analysis says he will be running for political office. Hey, it runs in the family. You know his older brother, Andre Marrou, has been a candidate for president numerous times.
That's it friends. We have a busy weekend of eating, garage sailing and perhaps a visit tomorrow to the bone orchard. It was 9 years ago today that my wife's father passed, and we would like to do a little yard work on his resting place. Which reminds me of something he told me once.
(Eva and Nando on his last visit to Garner State Park)He told me that he had a job where he was "over" hundreds of people. "Oh really" I said, inquiring for more detail. He said "Yea, I used to mow the grass at the cemetery". Good ol' Scobey.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Celebrity Sighting Report: Cousin Itt
My wife and I had to make a quick run into Garden Ridge this afternoon and I'm not even talking about the one on the fancy side of town. You'd never expect to see anyone famous over by our neck of the woods, like George Strait, Timmy Duncan or Chris Marrou. But we did get sort of a thrill for a moment or two.
As we walked down the aisle, we thought for sure we had come upon Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. Oh sure, there was no hat, but some celebrities try to look a little different in order to disguise their appearance from loyal fans.
Lo and behold, it was just some small lady with long hair. Strange.
As we walked down the aisle, we thought for sure we had come upon Cousin Itt from the Addams Family. Oh sure, there was no hat, but some celebrities try to look a little different in order to disguise their appearance from loyal fans.
Lo and behold, it was just some small lady with long hair. Strange.Monday, June 11, 2007
On the Scene
I'd like to think that I would make a good reporter if I worked for KENS-TV. I have this ability to sniff out gory situations and get to the scene of the incident right away. And if I have learned anything from watching Chris Marrou and Co for the last almost twenty years, it's that "if it bleeds, it leads".Okay, who am I kidding? I was on my way to work this morning and happened upon a fender-bender at the intersection of Callahan and Old Highway 90. I don't think anyone was hurt, at least I hope not, but it was good for a quick voyeuristic gawking.*
* I only gawked since I hit the intersection at the red light. I would not have otherwise looked or had time for happy-snaps if the light had been green. No other traffic was held up nor did any other accidents occur as a result of my reporting.
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About Your Host
- Dave
- San Antonio, TX, United States
- I love to observe the odd things happening around me as I go about my day. I especially like it when I can get a picture of people being themselves. Here, I attempt to report the various people and events I have encountered in my neighborhood, and my city. I'd also love to hear from you. Feel free to e-mail your experiences and photos of life in San Antonio.
