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Yavin4

(35,354 posts)
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 12:13 AM Nov 2020

Linda Ellerbee discusses "NBC News Overnight"

For those of you too young to know or went to bed like a normal person, there was a news show on NBC called "Overnight". Before Rachel and Olbermann, it was one of the best tv news programs that I have seen in my lifetime.

At the 2 minute mark in the clip, Linda Ellerbee, the show's co-host, explains how because they had no money would play foreign tv reaction to the confirmation hearing of the Secretary of State. Imagine that. A U.S. news program giving you an international perspective on important news.


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The final broadcast of "Overnight":

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Journeyman

(15,001 posts)
1. I've never seen anything as informative as "Overnight" . . .
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 12:22 AM
Nov 2020

and yes, it had a lot to do with their use of foreign footage, but more so, it was the intelligence, with and charm of Ms Ellerbee.

Journeyman

(15,001 posts)
8. Here's something from a post I made down thread . . .
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 01:10 AM
Nov 2020
Ellerbee's work on NBC News Overnight was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as "possibly the best written and most intelligent news program ever."

Thanks for the post, Yavin4. It reminded me of what were some incredibly informative hours and renewed my hope we may see a resurgence of such quality at some distant time before us.

Midnightwalk

(3,131 posts)
2. Still the best in my opinion
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 12:28 AM
Nov 2020

They played clips. Something like 15 minutes of international, 15 minutes on National, 10 minutes of sports and 10 minutes of local stories from all over the country.

It was on after Letterman and I think another show. Started either 2am or 3am (in New York).

Thanks for reminding me. I'll have to watch the full clip. I skimmed enough to see it has the murder of the nuns in El Salvador.

TrollBuster9090

(5,953 posts)
4. "And So It Goes" Was Her Catchphrase At The End Of The Show.
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 12:31 AM
Nov 2020

As an insomniac, I used to watch her every night in the early 80s, while the show lasted. It was part of my midnight routine: eat a bowl of pot noodles, and watch Linda Ellerbee. And, on the channel I was watching, they'd put The Alfred Hitchcock Hour on afterwards. That was a bit of a contrast. Overnight would finish at 3am, then they'd put on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, then Rod Sterling's Night Gallery (creepy)...and then they'd top it off with MATT DILLON (the precursor to Gunsmoke, with Dennis Weaver as Matt's limping sidekick). That would bring me to 5:00 am, when I could finally get to sleep.

I remember one time she made a joke about her and her husband having such divergent schedules that they had to make a ground rule: only one of them was required to be awake when they were having sex.

I think that was the fist overnight news show, until they put on Charlie Rose (yeah...THAT Charlie Rose) overnight. Charlie Rose was about as smart as a sack full of dead skunks. His interviews were literally painful to watch.

Journeyman

(15,001 posts)
7. Before retirement, she put together an award winning news program for children . . .
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 01:07 AM
Nov 2020

From Wikipedia:

In 1986, after the cancellation of Overnight, Ellerbee moved to rival network ABC. There she served as a reporter for the morning program Good Morning America. At ABC, Ellerbee was able to co-write and co-anchor (with Ray Gandolf) Our World, a weekly primetime historical series. She won an Emmy Award for her work on that program.

In 1987, Ellerbee and her husband and business partner Rolfe Tessem left network news to start their own production company, Lucky Duck Productions. The company has produced programs for every major cable network, and has as its flagship program Nick News, a news program for children on Nickelodeon. That show has received many awards: three Peabody Awards (including one personal Peabody given to Ellerbee for her coverage of the Clinton investigation), another duPont Columbia Award and three Emmys. In 2004, Ellerbee was honored with an Emmy for her WE: Women’s Entertainment network series When I Was a Girl.

Her autobiography, And So It Goes, was published in 1986. A second book of memoirs, Move on: Adventures in the Real World, was published in 1991 and a third, Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table, in 2005. In addition, she has authored an eight-part series of Girl Reporter books for young people, as well as a syndicated newspaper column.

In 1992, Ellerbee was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Since then, she has spent much of her time speaking to groups about how she fought the cancer and how women need to fight the disease, demand better medical treatment, and maintain a healthy sense of humor.

Her work on NBC News Overnight was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as "possibly the best written and most intelligent news program ever."

Tien1985

(920 posts)
9. OMG I loved her as a kid
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 04:24 AM
Nov 2020

She did a show on Nickelodeon and it's definitely one of the things that made me develop any kind interest in current events

nebby70

(471 posts)
10. you young'uns missed something fine....
Fri Nov 20, 2020, 08:46 AM
Nov 2020

... I watched her since my baby always seemed to find the 'dead of night' to be his social time...
... once he 'got over that' I still had my tea and quiet time with Linda ...
... when she moved to Nick, I moved too - although my kiddo was really too young to appreciate her, I watched, smiled and wondered
... she and Molly Ivins were (and are) the gold standard, not just for women but for the field ...

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