Deborah Norville turns 20 on ‘Inside Edition’

[TMC]

http://nypost.com/2015/02/25/deborah...nside-edition/

“Inside Edition” celebrates Deborah Norville’s 20th anniversary as its anchor Thursday (1:30 p.m./Ch. 5) with “a sort of trip down memory lane” says Norville, adding, “We’ll include some of the stupid hair styles I thought looked good that day.”

Norville began her “IE” run (succeeding Bill O’Reilly) on March 5, 1995 — four years after her screaming-headlines exit from “Today” after a stormy six months (she was replaced by Katie Couric).

“I went from being the anchor of ‘The Today Show’ to the host of a radio show,” Norville says. “A lot of people snickered: ‘Look how far she’s fallen,’ but I was grateful to be back where I started — in radio.”

Speaking of NBC and controversies, I asked Norville about suspended “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams: “I feel really terribly for Brian … but he knows it’s self-inflicted,” she says.

“It’s all his creation … and I fear it means he won’t be back on the evening news. There’s too much doubt. There will be question marks floating over his head — and I don’t think any network can afford that.”

Norville rebounded from her “Today” debacle, and “IE” remains a steady ratings-grabber, averaging 4.7 million viewers last November — second only to “Entertainment Tonight” in the genre.

“What we do is every bit as relevant and solid as what you see on the network morning shows and the latter-half of the evening news,” Norville says. “We stand by our stories and our credibility is pretty solid. We do good work that people tune in for.”

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDeb...2%3A%22R%22%7D

Time for me to get a bag for my head -- egads!!

[TMC]

Deborah Norville recently replied to me on Twitter about a Facebook page that I recently made about her:

i did. A bit embarrassed but I thank you for the compliment!

[Vahan]

Originally Posted by TMC

Deborah Norville recently replied to me on Twitter about a Facebook page that I recently made about her:

You lucky guy.

I'm proud of Deborah for still hosting the program after all these years. She is so beautiful, and the best of all the IE hosts.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Vahan

You lucky guy.

I'm proud of Deborah for still hosting the program after all these years. She is so beautiful, and the best of all the IE hosts.

Yeah, I kind of consider Deborah to be the Kim Basinger of news journalism (i.e. from Georgia, ravishingly beautiful and stylish, full lips, blonde hair, striking blue eyes, etc.) sans the personal baggage. Granted, I was very young at the time, but I never fully understood why she was so (to be brutally to the point) hated when she took over for Jane Pauley on The Today Show. NBC basically used her maternity leave (after worrying about losing viewers to ABC's Good Morning America) as an excuse to get rid of her in favor of Katie Couric.

[mets82]

She's good on IE. And congrats to her. I will say I dont remember too much of the whole Today Show thing. Was she at fault?

[TMC]

Originally Posted by mets82

She's good on IE. And congrats to her. I will say I dont remember too much of the whole Today Show thing. Was she at fault?

From what I've gathered, Deborah was accused of not having very good chemistry w/ her co-host, Bryant Gumbel. There was also naturally the issue of people (perhaps, mostly women) who still preferred Jane Pauley as the female anchor who saw her as a "homewrecker". They (like w/ Ann Curry many years later) assumed that NBC forced Pauley out in favor of the "younger, sexier" Deborah Norville.

[TMC]

Deborah recently replied to me on Twitter again when I made a comment about her white pantsuit reminding me of a bottle of milk:

https://twitter.com/DeborahNorville/...43305482006530

that's funny!

[TMC]

Originally Posted by mets82

She's good on IE. And congrats to her. I will say I dont remember too much of the whole Today Show thing. Was she at fault?

I guess this will give some of Deborah's haters some more ammunition:
Report: Inside Edition Anchor Kicks Publicist, Insults Will Smith's Kids

[danderson400]

Originally Posted by TMC

From what I've gathered, Deborah was accused of not having very good chemistry w/ her co-host, Bryant Gumbel. There was also naturally the issue, of people (perhaps, mostly women) who still preferred Jane Pauley as the female anchor who saw her as a "homewrecker". They (like w/ Ann Curry many years later), assumed that NBC forced Pauley out in favor of the "younger, sexier" Deborah Norville.

was this around the time that Bryant Gumbel was NBC's lead golf announcer too(before they got Dick Enberg to do that job)? while Gumbel did a pretty good job on golf, he had to miss several Mondays on Today and that hurt the show with Norville at lead anchor because of that at least with Pauley, she could fill the "anchor" role quite well when Bryant was off and so could Couric. They didn't want to risk that with the Gulf War going on, so they brought in Charlie Jones on golf in 91 and 92 and then Enberg. The interesting part is that Bryant had done one golf event for NBC in the past: the 1980 Houston Open when lead announcer Don Criqui was called away by a death in the family, so he did have experience doing golf.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by TMC

I guess this will give some of Deborah's haters some more ammunition:
Report: Inside Edition Anchor Kicks Publicist, Insults Will Smith's Kids

The idea of Deborah kicking somebody out of frustration (yet keeping her smile all of the same) is hilarious in itself. Not just because of Deborah allegedly not really showing her anger in her face, but the image of her doing that in the first place (the classic "Wolf in sheep's clothing" scenario). Maybe it's because Deborah always presents herself on camera/in public as being a proper, demure, smooth talking, Christian southern lady".

[TMC]

http://www.avclub.com/article/who-he...ons-end-225948

2-3. Deborah Norville and Ann Curry, Today

NBC’s penchant for mismanaging a high-profile talent transition isn’t restricted to the late-night lineup. In the past 30 years, two women have fallen victim to the network’s inability to replace popular hosts with dignity, the first being Deborah Norville. Called up from NBC’s (now-defunct) early morning show, NBC News At Sunrise, Norville was made the Today news anchor in 1989—and, more notably, she was given a seat on the couch next to longtime cohosts Jane Pauley and Bryant Gumbel. Pauley felt she was being edged out and left Today at the end of the year to make way for Norville. The subsequent ratings decline prompted a flurry of anonymously sourced media leaks that cruelly cast Norville as a usurping ice queen. Fourteen months after ascending to the cohost slot, Norville left on maternity leave, with the NBC News president giving the press this lukewarm assurance: “I suspect she will be welcomed back.” She never returned, but she bounced back elsewhere: Norville has hosted the syndicated newsmagazine Inside Edition for 20 years.

Ann Curry’s situation in 2011-12 was similar to Norville’s in 1990-91: Previously a Today news anchor, Curry was tapped to replace the popular Meredith Vieira, and a dip in ratings ensued. The difference this time was that the most prominent resistance to Curry came primarily from within the show rather than from the viewers. Curry could never establish a strong rapport with fellow host Matt Lauer, whose lack of enthusiasm for her promotion came across on screen. Amid a familiar onslaught of salacious news reports about on-set discord, Curry signed off of Today after a year as cohost with a tearful farewell to the nation. “They’re giving me some fancy new titles,” she said with unmistakable disdain for NBC’s vain efforts to allow her some grace as she was shoved out the door. [John Teti]

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Vahan

You lucky guy.

I'm proud of Deborah for still hosting the program after all these years. She is so beautiful, and the best of all the IE hosts.

Timothy White shot these lovely "supermodel" type photos of Deborah from several years back:




http://timothywhite.com/sites/defaul...rville_013.jpg

[mets82]

[Vahan]

The tabloids which claim she is an evil woman need to be avoided like the plague.

Never listen to tabloids. They'll rot your brain.

[Babalu]

Originally Posted by Vahan

Never listen to tabloids. They'll rot your brain.

Learned from experience, eh?