Cooper News Network

For me, Anderson Cooper is like Indian food: good when served as an entrée, bland and Americanized when served buffet-style, ordinary and pedestrian when served as fast food (e.g., “Curry in a Hurry” on Lexington) – and in all cases, leaves you with this taste in your mouth and stench in your clothes which, unless you actually like the scent, can over time be utterly unpleasant. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Indian food and think it is some of the best in the entire universe, I just CANNOT have it everyday - my digestive system wouldn't allow it.

Same with Anderson – he was a novelty during Katrina – with his rolled sleeves and emotional and very human packages – but would Jon Klein’s gamble to showcase him over and over pay off? Klein himself said that Anderson is the anti-anchor: “I’ve been noticing his work all year long. I was just observing that everyone was doing and there was Anderson just itching to get out to the tsunami, to the Iraq elections, to Baghdad, to the Vatican, to London even when Prince Charles got married, to Niger for the famine. He has to be where the story is. That struck me. Then when he gets there, his work is so substantive. He’s a fantastic writer, he’s a wonderful observer. He watches and observes and then he’s able to synthesize it in a way that is very compelling and moving. He crystallizes the action in a way that makes you stop and think. It became apparent that Anderson had something very special. And then of course it climaxed with the coverage of Katrina. He’s not an ironed-out anchorman.” What then is an anti-anchor doing in a studio interviewing Tyra Banks and Kim Cattrall?



One thing I thought was great about Anderson was his honesty and vulnerability during Katrina – he seemed so comfortable in the field, he connected with ordinary folks and became their voice. But now he doesn’t have those “props” in the studio anymore, and I wonder if he has a lot of leverage on what packages air in his show. Last week, I was channel-surfing past midnight to get early election results in CA, and to my dismay only Fox was live. Bleeping FOX! Instead of a live coverage, Anderson had some package about children of divorced parents… What the bleep??!!!

Now, CNN has announced it was canceling Daybreak, currently anchored by the wonderful Carol Costello and supported by the equally awesome Jacqui Jeras. This m0ve will vacate 2 hours, the 2nd of which will be folded into American Morning. The 1st hour will be replaced by, you guessed it, an extra serving of Anderson.

What about a new Sunday show called Delia Gallagher 180°? You know, half of a complete circle, 180° signifying faith and values’ dichotomy? Now, that’ll be a treat!