Whither Katie?; Shield Producer Dies

April 2006 TV News

Couric departs Today: After months of speculation, The Today Show co-host Katie Couric announced that she is leaving NBC to become the evening anchor at CBS. Couric, who had been with Today for fifteen years, takes over in September from interim editor Bob Schieffer (who himself took over from Dan Rather). In the process, she'll become the first solo woman anchor of an evening news program. NBC subsequently did some poaching of its own by naming Meredith Viera (from ABC's The View) to replace Couric, and it also extended the contract of co-host Matt Lauer through 2011.

Brazil dies at 50: Producer-director Scott Brazil died of respiratory failure due to complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Lyme disease. Brazil's twenty-five-year career is bookended by two police shows: the 1980s' ensemble drama Hill Street Blues, for which he received four Emmy nominations (winning twice), and current hit The Shield, which he executive-produced as well as directing eleven episodes.

Friends' sex jokes not harassment: The California Supreme Court ruled against Amaani Lyle, a former transcriber for the sitcom Friends, who claimed that writers for the show sexually harassed her and created a hostile work environment. In its decision, the court said that sexual jokes made by the writers during their creative sessions were part of their work for the show, and did not constitute sexual harassment of Lyle or any other female employee.

Cooking goes cold: After three nights of a planned five-night run, NBC yanked Celebrity Cooking Showdown off the air. Further proof, as if you needed it, that not all reality shows are created equal, especially those that go head to head against American Idol.

-- A. Wu