Schechner spent the bulk of his time at KPIX with a monotone-dry delivery. It worked well at KQED where he had a short stint but was perfect for public broadcasting. Schechner left PIX in the early 200Os; he ended up suing PIX in an age-discrimination suit that went nowhere. Too bad, cause it erased an entire solid career marked with decent anchoring and award-winning reporting in the field.
Marcia Brandwynne was a very special anchor almost from Day One at KTVU beginning in the early 1970's. She eventually left KTVU and had a celebrated career move across the bay to KGO before ending her Bay Area TV News presence at KPIX. She would then leave the Bay Area and migrate to LA where her career really took off as she anchored and was the toast of Southern Cal. She eventually left TV and is a psychologist. (Go figure)
Brandwynne turned out to be a force in Bay Area broadcasting lore. She wasn't just a mere anchor. She developed into a local, pop culture figure. Her personal life was soon a big story. Dating various Bay Area social figures became instant karma with the gossip brigade and Marcia was front and center. Herb Caen loved it. So did Marcia, for a significant time.
I remember both of them well. Each was great.
ReplyDeleteBut why the shot of Joan Baez?
Marcia and I worked together and have been best friends for decades. She is still the best!
ReplyDeleteMarcia was one of the top news readers in the day. Guess like some others she tired of the business and became a therapist. I think some of the current characters on Bay Area news could use some deep therapy!
ReplyDeleteThat pic is not Joan Baex, it's a current picture from her website.
Marcia Brandwynne has accomplished so much in her storied career... only a part of it was in front of the camera. As EP of the KTLA Morning News in 1999, she restored the reputation of that franchise as a market-leading source of news and entertainment. Here is a great article from the LA Times about her... https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-nov-15-ca-33908-story.html
ReplyDeleteI gotta say that news in the 70's, 80's, and 90's was pretty good in the SF Bay Area. I moved to Concord in 1973 as a teenager. The Bay Area news anchors and anchor teams were top notch (Van Amberg & Jerry Jenson, Marcia Brandwynne, Harold Greene, Dave McElhattan & Kate Kelly, Dennis Richmond & Elaine Corral, Barbara Simpson, Dana King, and host of others. What happened to good, old fashioned professional news? The media of the 21st century is a fraud, filled with fake personalities and bad actors. I moved out of he SF Bay Area in the mid-90's and I haven't missed much as far as TV news readers go. I miss the good old days, and weep for the future.
ReplyDeleteBill Schechner first came into my teenage awareness on KQED when the station improvised a local news program during the newspaper strike. I also remember Mel Wax, Bob Bastien, and George ? from that program which became Newsroom.
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