4/20/2007

Embarrassing things happen in everyone’s job…but, when you’re in broadcasting, and the moment goes out to a wide viewing public, things have a tendency to feel ultra- embarrassing! I don’t think I’ve had too many of those type moments- probably because a lot of my shows have been on tape, allowing us a second chance… but little things do occur. One live moment came back when I was doing the weather at WFLD, and, when I stepped in front of the green screen, which normally allowed me to appear in front of the weather map that was displayed on my computer- all people at home saw was the weather map! It was as if I was the Invisible Man! They heard my voice, but they didn’t see me! The floor director motioned for me to step back out of the green screen area, as the technical director rectified the situation (so I wouldn’t just “blink” in like a fugitive from “I Dream of Jeannie”)- then, I stepped in, finally visible to the folks at home. This, of course, ate up some of the time allotted for the weather segment, and also confused people at home, who obviously have no idea why they’re not seeing you, or what’s going on. And, you can’t take the time to explain it too fully, since you’re already short on time…and, management would rather you not dwell on a mistake that was made! So, it just looks like Weather Boy is some kind of idiot… Even worse- doing something that looks like blatant plagiarism. We were doing a “Son of Svengoolie” show at WFLD, and a guy from the offices had wandered in- we had gotten on to the subject of “the Deerhunter” which the station had made a big deal out of running, uncensored…and the guy laughingly said something about “the Beerhunter.” Back then, on SCTV and elsewhere, the characters of beer-swilling Canadians Bob and Doug McKenzie -played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas- were very popular, and I said – “hey! That’d be a great bit- a take-off on ‘the Deerhunter’ with the McKenzie Brothers!” The guy laughed –and didn’t even bring up that, the reason he said it was- the McKenzie Brothers had just put out an album, with a comedy bit on it about- “the Beerhunter!” Oblivious, I wrote and recorded a bit that aired the next week- during which somebody called me and asked why I was ripping off the McKenzie Brothers?! He then told me about the bit on their record- and I felt like such an idiot, even though I had no knowledge of their bit, and had written what I performed on my own. Had I known about the bit, I never would have done my version. I asked the guy who had mentioned it in the first place, why he didn’t tell me the bit already existed when I said it’d be a great bit for me to do, and he just said- “oh, I thought you already knew about it!” So- I looked like a plagiarist- a truly embarrassing situation. I always think about that when I see someone doing a bit similar to something I wrote…and give them the benefit of a doubt- as long as it’s not a little too word for word. Then, it’s time for me to call Peter Francis Geraci…