A bit of a rarity tonight, as the southern edge of the Chicago viewing area is under a tornado warning. Despite it coming at a weird time of day, Cheryl Scott and Larry Mowry have been on the air since about 12:20am. WGN went on with Mike Hamernik a long while later, and Mary Kay Kleist did a quick update at 1 on CBS2. NBC5 and FOX32 have not broken in.

New member of the Eyewitness News team. Get that baby a Circle 7 microphone!

Wow. https://6abc.com/5312963/

There's merit to note a fall in ranks. That said, Bill Evans carried a "senior" forecasting title, versus Lee's chief moniker, and Sam could certainly fill the same title. Sam pops up on the 8am hour of GMA will frequency, and he can continue in such a role, even being a fill-in guy for the network. Also, let's face it, as someone pushing 60, this isn't a bad arrangement, at all. Barring budget cuts, he's a big fan favorite, so this job should be his as long as he wants it. All in all, a good deal for both sides.

"Monday, Kenney acknowledged that Sinclair will be calling many of the shots — especially when it comes to programming and hiring." Oh boy.

In a tough blow for enthusiasts like us, The Museum of Classic Chicago Television's (FuzzyMemories.TV) YouTube channel has been removed on copyright strikes. Their website is still active, but several of the pieces in their archives were YouTube-exclusive.

Considering the current landscape of news (aka the polar opposite of 40 years ago), I'm not sure how a male fill-in anchor is going to play a major role in the upcoming absence of a female anchor.

In other fill-in news...TV is a hard thing to give up.

And to complete the Chicago trifecta... No joke, there are some 90's clips in the WLS montage that I have on my own personal VHS tapes, and were prepared to post at some point in the future. What are the chances?

Yeah, the promotions department is always playing around, trying stuff, with no great effect on the broadcast. Just because there's been an injection of humor, personality, and playfulness, doesn't mean they're abandoning the hard news M.O. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's trying to look like a GMA promo from a couple years ago, but not executed as well. Jazzy music, shots of the anchors, but not hardly as slick, and that's its biggest flaw, in my eyes.

Rob Elgas has filled in on like a Monday when Ravi or others weren't available, but I think it would be a really slim chance of Judy doing so. Summer schedules will certainly complicate things, so with a long-term need on the morning shift, be prepared for nights where Judy and Cheryl carry all 5 newscasts when the other is off. I realize it's the longest of long shots, but I'd be curious to see Liz Nagy fill in for Tanja. She's done a ton of weekend mornings, and even some evening slots, so it's not anything really new. It wouldn't really disrupt anyone's schedules (outside of hers), and having a stable fill-in would be less chaotic than 3 ladies cycling through. That said, the reporting core is going to be thinner for the next month, as Michelle Gallardo is currently running a month-long marathon through the Himalayan Mountains.

This is uncharted territory for the morning news, as Sylvia Perez was the regular maternity fill-in when Judy had her pregnancies last decade.

My thoughts exactly, especially after she filled in in New York. It would certainly make sense.

Something something modern workplace...something something millennials...something something avocado toast.

Can't speak for Philly, but Chicago was generally behind on the morning news trend. Updates in and around the network programs had been standard since the 60s, but no stations aired formal programs until WMAQ and WLS debuted in 1989. That said, there were unsuccessful efforts over the decade to expand. WLS, for example, was toying the idea of a full hour at 6am, but it never debuted. (Chicago Tribune, 3/29/82)