Lionel: From WPIX commentator to morning host to TV judge?

[T.L. Hughes 746]

I'm not sure if this belongs here, but considering this story involves someone who appears on WPIX's PIX 11 News, it might be appropriate here. First, Lionel (real name: Michael William Lebron) joined WPIX in 2010 as a commentator for their evening newscasts and the station's legal analyst, then joined the PIX Morning News as the 4-6 a.m. co-anchor/host earlier this year, now it looks like Lionel is getting his own court show. WPIX parent Tribune Broadcasting, which has been working on getting back into the syndication business after shutting down its Tribune Entertainment syndication division in 2007, is developing a new courtroom show that will have Tribune's stations serve as the cornerstone of the program and be carried elsewhere.

 

The series is being co-distributed by ITV Studios America, which partnered with Tribune to produce The Bill Cunningham Show (which now airs on The CW after a single season run on Tribune's stations, two Local TV-owned stations and one Raycom Media-owned station). The proposed courtroom series is going to film seven pilot episodes, if picked up, the show will enter syndication during the 2013-14 or 2014-15 seasons. This is part of a plan by Tribune Broadcasting programming president Sean Compton to have the company gain more control of its own programming (much like Scripps is doing this season) and he apparently sees Lionel fitting with the conflict talk shows that are seen on various Tribune stations like Maury, Jerry Springer and The Steve Wilkos Show (though, the Tribune stations than run court shows are more than likely the group's Fox affiliates, rather than their CW and MyNetworkTV stations and their lone ABC outlet).

 

The TVNewsCheck article on the proposed show points out that Lionel (who is a graduate of the Stetson University College of Law, and worked as both prosecutor for the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office in Florida, and later as a criminal defense trial lawyer) has hosted a legal show previously, Court TV (the present-day TruTV)'s Snap Judgment.

[TellyGenic 32]

Why does he work under a pseudonym? Why doesn't he use his real name?

[Gimmieabreak 0]

Let him go- he ruins the morning news with his blathering. He makes offensive and dumb abortion jokes and doesn't understand terms when he uses them. Please take him off the news that I watched faithfully for years until he ruined it with his nonsensicle rants and unsolicited points of view. Take that to a time alot where the working people are at work then hopefully he gets cancelled.

[Twigz1 9]

Well if indeed the pilots do get picked up by at least the Trib stations (maybe more owners as stations start to scramble to get their fall lineups together), he'll have one less competitor in the judge show game because Judge Joe Brown is on his way out come September. As long as he isn't on PIX anymore though, I'm good.