Week In Whitney

FROM LAURA NACHMAN

Here are a few observations about television’s Week in Whitney.

CNN - Former Philly anchor Don Lemon was thrust into the spotlight as the Whitney Houston story broke during his shift Saturday night. Wisely, CNN brought in Piers Morgan to take the lead. Larry King awkwardly called in, but don’t think it’s a coincidence that days later King and CNN severed ties. CNN is Morgan and Anderson Cooper’s network now.

Dr. Drew – It appears HLN made the right decision by hitching its horse to Dr. Drew and letting Joy Behar go. The addiction specialist is needed when these types of events come up (which is often).

E! – The Entertainment network unbelievably didn’t do anything live when the story broke Saturday night. Instead, viewers were treated to different configurations of Kardashians. E! redeemed itself with two hours of Grammys pre-show coverage and was the first to show its video of Whitney crashing the Brandy/Clive Davis/Monica interview.

Grammys – The awards show had its highest ratings since 1984. Jennifer Hudson is becoming the go-to person for tributes (Michael Jackson), but there probably could’ve have been more done.

ABC News – ABC had plenty of footage of Whitney over the years – from her babe in the woods talk with Barbara (Walters) to her denials with Diane (Saywer), to one of her final big concerts on Good Morning America.

Oprah – Watching the 2009 interview on OWN, I thought “I miss her,” I meant Oprah. Hopefully, she’ll continue to appear more on her network.

VH1 – One of the best Whitney specials was a VH1 compilation of her greatest video moments, including television appearances on Gimme a Break and Silver Spoons.

Who’s Zoomin Who? – So Aretha Franklin couldn’t attend the funeral, but she could make her own concert later that night?

Bravo – The universally hated show Being Bobby Brown is a low point for Bravo, which is saying alot.

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