Wee hours newscasts aren't really a new phenomenon. Back in 1992, a young TV journalist got his start as the anchor of ABC's pre-dawn 'World News Now'. His name was Anderson Cooper.

Today, 'World News Now's' anchor is Vinita Nair, whose good looks, crisp diction and hearty sense of humor have earned her a cult of fans.

But whether you view early-early-morning newscasts as a talent farm or simply a way to get an early jump on weather and traffic updates, these shows are multiplying in cities all over America.

According to The New York Times, new 4AM and 4:30AM newscasts are launching this month in New York, Boston, Washington, and other cities, as TV stations recognize that there are untapped groups of potential viewers they can reach, people who aren't just insomniacs or dairy farmers.

In fact, some 16 percent of households have their TVs on at 4:30, a segment that has doubled over the last 15 years.

I love, love, love local news bloopers. And this one is a doozy.

Tracy Morgan was in El Paso, Texas recently for a comedy show. He visited a local morning news program to promote the event where I think he was channeling Tracy Jordan, his character on 30 Rock. He went nuts on the anchorman and ignored all the guy's questions. Let's just say there's a removal of a shirt, dancing, talk of knocked-up strippers, and belly slapping.

About 30 seconds into the interview, the anchor obviously loses control. At two minutes, he relinquishes control to Tracy. While Tracy is very funny, the anchorman's terror and attempts at being cool had me laughing out loud.

Video is after the jump:
[Thanks to my husband for the link!]