“It all started at a 5,000 watt radio station in Fresno, California…”
– Ted Baxter, WJM anchor
Clinton, Connecticut native Erica Hill debuts her new HLN show – On the Story – Monday at 1p.m.
The show will be based in New York City and is part of the effort to re-brand the network by turning back toward its news roots. As part of the rollout, HLN has produced a promo taking inspiration from the opening scenes of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, about a young woman(Mary Richards) in the TV news business in Minneapolis, that ran on CBS from 1970 – 1977.
Hill resembles the Richards character in appearance and a few of the shots in the promo (MTM and Hill versions here) mirror the opening scenes from the show’s intro. In fact, one of the most eye-catching moments comes at the end of the HLN promo. The woman wearing the blue babushka in the lower left was always a scene stealer because of the quizzical look on her face as Mary Richards tossed her hat triumphantly into the air.
If memory serves us – WFSB’s Denise D’Acenszo posed for a similar MTM show themed cover shot for one of the original editions of Hartford Magazine(?). We couldn’t find the cover on the internet. If anyone can find it, please send it along.
But wait. Get ready to have your mind blown!
As you may know, WJM anchor Ted Baxter was played by Ted Knight, originally of Terryville, Connecticut. But here is the weird coincidence: Ted Knight was born: Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka – a last name that may be familiar to current day Hartford market TV news viewers.
And now you know…the rest of the story.
