Why is it that no one can make an infomercial where people are sincerely speaking off the cuff about whatever it is they're selling, instead of reading off a script or teleprompter? It never looks natural; in fact, it often makes the infomercial take on a creepy quality. This is especially true when said infomercial takes on a talkshow format, with one guy behind a desk and one guy in a chair next to him, sort of what Letterman would look like if we lived in the Bizarro world.

One such ad is for books from Bottom Line Health.

Last week, dear brother Joel (really, he's my brother, except I'm prettier) asked you, the beautiful TV Squad readers, if Meredith Vieira could be taken seriously as both the host of both Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Today. Some of you said there was no problem with Vieira's credibility; others said it should be one or the other.

Well, folks, lovely Meredith is not the first person to do double-duty as both a game show host and a news personality. As Joel stated in his post, Joe Garagiola hosted and was a panelist on a number of game shows while on Today. However, he is a recent example. Truth be known, during the early days of television news people regularly double-dipped between one format and another without a complaint.

 

With the announcement that she will take Katie Couric's place on NBC's Today show, Meredith Vieira becomes one of those rare personalities who has been employeed by all three major networks; ABC, CBS and NBC.

Vieira began her career in the newsroom of WCBS-TV in New York City. From there, she moved onto the network level as a reporter for the CBS Evening News and a contributor to newsmagazines 60 Minutes and West 57th Street. After a long stint at CBS Meredith moved to ABC as a reporter, but eventually changed careers and became one of the hosts on The View starting in 1997 (Good Lord! That show has been on for almost 10 years now!). 

There are others who have jumped networks. For example, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News was also on WCBS-TV in the late 80's and early 1990's before moving to NBC in 1993. Former 20/20 partners Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters both began their careers with NBC and then moved to ABC.