Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Wearing a beard on local TV




I found these meme on Facebook. It's appropriate!


Myself, Taft and Libby on "2NEWS Today"
Gasp! A TV news anchor with a facial hair!  (Can you think of anyone in local TV somewhere who has a beard? Probably not!)

Years ago, I remember a few beards from news anchors in the 1980s. I grew up watching a bearded Dan Gresham at KFDM in Beaumont. But I can't easily think of anyone with lots of facial hair today. 

So I surprised a bunch of our viewers (and myself) this week when I showed up on TV with a light beard (with some gray hairs too if you look closely!)

Here is what happened:

Diana and I snapped the selfie just after the wedding. :)
Diana and I got married last month at a beautiful ceremony in Oklahoma City. (I’ll post a few wedding pictures when we receive them.)

A week after our wedding we sailed off into the Caribbean on a relaxing two week honeymoon cruise.  

I didn’t shave for 14 days.

I had planned to shave off my beard; however, at lunch last Sunday, Diana’s mother and Diana both suggested that I try out the scruffy look on-air.

Viewer comments have been mostly positive.
Our viewers immediately noticed! Some emailed the station and posted on my Facebook page. Most folks liked the beard, some didn't.
 
How long will I keep the new look? The beard will disappear by next week. Back to applying Cover Girl on my cheeks again for the TV cameras!

Thank you for submitting me your opinions and thanks for reading. Hopefully my weather reports are just as accurate with or without facial hair. :)  — George