Bill & Walter getting back together — for one night only
Walter Jacobson and Bill Kurtis at a Museum of Broadcast Communications event in 1994.
This just in: For the first time in 20 years, Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson will anchor the 10 o’clock news together on WBBM-Channel 2, sources said.
The CBS-owned station is expected to announce today that the legendary duo will be back behind the anchor desk for one night only — this Friday. Rob Johnson, who normally anchors the 10 p.m. newscast solo, will have the night off.
The inspired stunt was conceived by Channel 2 news director Jeff Kiernan, who grew up in Munster, Ind., and spent his formative years watching Chicago television in the heyday of Kurtis and Jacobson.
First teamed up in 1973, the duo revolutionized local news by broadcasting right out of the newsroom and emphasizing enterprise reporting. (Their marketing slogan: “It’s not pretty, but it’s real.”) Except for a three-year detour when Kurtis anchored “The CBS Morning News” in New York, their 10 p.m. partnership remained intact until 1989, when Jacobson was replaced by Linda MacLennan.
Earlier this year, Kurtis, 69, rejoined Channel 2 as a special contributor when the station picked up reruns of his former A&E “Cold Case Files” series in syndication. Jacobson, 72, who jumped to Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32 in 1993, retired in 2006.
Nielsen ratings for October show Channel 2’s 10 p.m. weekday newscast tied for second place with NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5.
UPDATE: This photo shows Kurtis and Jacobson shooting a promo with Rob Johnson:
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I’d rather they brought Linda back. Ann State has gotten a lot better, but she is no Linda MacClennan.
Pretty excited to watch THE 10 O’Clock News again this Friday!
Ross, I said the exact same thing to my co-workers. A lot of the people here in the City Room aren’t from Chicago and never knew that tandem as a anchor team. I am staying home specifically for this broadcast (because I usually go out on Fridays cause I’m super popular…um…yeah).
Wonder if they’re bringing back their jingle intro
CBS should bring back the whole set. They do throwback jerseys in the NFL, how bout throwback newscasts on Channel 2?
This Friday show needs to be on the DVR/VCRs across Chicago for those who’ll miss it and for those who miss the old days. I hope CBS puts it on their website so the generations can share.
Cool…this is like the Beatles getting back together for one more concert. ;-)
really, this is yet another needless sweeps ratings stunt by cbs2 in a sad attempt to recall their past.
i, along with the majority, will just continue to watch the #1 news in chicago, ABC7, as usual.
Dare I say…Johnny Morris, John Coughlin (alive?), Pam Zekman…?
And Phil Ponce & John Quinones as street reporters!
Justin, I was thinking the same thing about the set…though I’m not really a fan of how they have all that space in the studio, yet never use it to the fullest extent. It would be cool if they went back to their backdrop so people could look in as the news was being delivered, instead of the anchors having their backs to the window.
Apres, I’m going to try not to miss it, but I have it set to record on my DVR just in case.
If they really want to dial it up a notch, Walter should get a couple of his homeless outfits out of mothballs and he and Bill can spend the night in a box on lower Wacker.
Here is a great reason to turn on the TV and the local newscast on CBS 2 Friday night!
Warm Regards,
PP
Don’t forget to bring back:
John Drummond; Harry Porterfield; Harry Volkman; Bob Wallace; Jeannie Morris; Susan Anderson, and on and on and on…
Maybe this could be the start of RETRO news across the dial. Just think if Channel 5 brought back the names from its great past – Ron Magers, Carol Marin, Mark Giangreco, Jerry Taft, Linda Yu… OOPS… they are mostly working at ABC7 now. Never mind! And folks said Larry Wert was a broadcast genius. Where are the “great” names from his tenure at Channel 5 other than Bruce Wolf on weekends and Bob Sirott on WGN Radio?
Really excited about cbs news on Friday. I would love to see Linda MacClennan again, whatever happened to her? Good luck Bill Kurtis & Walter Jacobson, nice to see you guys back on the air.
We need Walter and Bill because we like their chemistry.
We need volatile and gutsy PERSPECTIVES with someone with guts- who can shake up Daley !
Use humor and BE BLUNT and SARCASTIC like we want you to be.
Bill Kurtis is rapidly revealing he was Chicago’s “Ted Baxter” anchorman minus Mary Tyler Moore. Jacobson still reminds me of the old Brickhouse-Kupcinet “Dat’s right, Jack” radio team on Bears’ football games.