When the nationally syndicated, locally packaged PM Magazine Utah (6:30 p.m., Ch. 2) premiered on KUTV in 1979, Deseret News television critic Howard Pearson found the show "interesting," "entertaining," "relaxing" and "easy-to-take."
Ten years later, the same adjectives could still be used to describe the program, although those who have been closely associated with the show readily acknowledge that it has taken a lot of growth and change in order for "PM" to stay the same."We've always tried to be a feel-good show," said co-host Tami Sanders Wednesday morning. "But we've evolved. The last couple of years the national office has been doing more tabloid-oriented stories - something I haven't felt especially comfortable with. But now the pendulum is swinging back toward the positive stories we were doing before.
"So even though we've always known our niche, we're still trying to find it."
Sanders was working with co-host John O'Connor and producer Pat Weaver in preparing a pair of special "PM Magazine Utah" episodes that celebrate the series' 10th anniversary on local airwaves. The commemorative installments will air tonight and Friday at 6:30 p.m.
"We're looking back at the people and the stories that have helped to make `PM Utah' what it is," Sanders said.
Included will be updates on former co-hosts, including Michelle Russell (who is now a correspondent for "USA Today: The Television Show"), John Reger (who is a successful commercial producer in Hollywood), Skye Winslow (who is working in Little Rock, Ark.), Jim Mills (working in Dallas) and Craig Clyde (working locally in radio, industrial films and in on- and off-screen entertainment). There will also be a tribute to the late Jim Montgomery, who died last year in a boating accident.
The two shows will also feature clips from past "PM" celebrity profiles as well as stories about interesting people, places, mysteries and trends. And there will be a few "PM" bloopers - much to the chagrin of co-hosts past and present, and the delight of viewers.
Watching the anniversary episodes, astute viewers may pick up on what Weaver referred to as the three phases of "PM's" ongoing evolution.
"At the very beginning we were all fresh out of college - young, wide-eyed and innocent - almost naive," said Weaver, an eight-year "PM" veteran. "Everything was new and exciting, and we'd go anywhere and do anything just to get a story on the air.
"Then we went through a sort of adolescence, with all of the raging hormones that that implies," he continued. "Everyone was talking about `stretching the envelope,' and you saw lots of stories coming from the national office about sex, adventure and humor."
Weaver said it was during this period that Salt Lake and Columbia, S.C., developed a reputation for being "sex-sensitive markets" because "we wouldn't show everything they were sending out."
That's a frightening thought for those of us who were stunned by some of the things they did show in those days.
But now, Weaver says, most of the folks associated with "PM" nationally are in their thirties and forties, and the show is reflecting more mature sensibilities.
"We can still be silly (anyone who saw their Halloween show can vouch for that)," he said, "but we try to stop short of being stupid."
Still, Weaver acknowledges that the national "PM" people have wrestled with the issue of tabloid television ("We've really been screaming about the need to stay away from that," he said), and there is still a sense of the show needing to do some more growing up.
Locally, the program has suffered personnel cutbacks - four people, or about 33 percent of the entire staff - that make it difficult for them to do as many local stories as they would like.
But Weaver is proud of the program, and has a clear vision of where he wants it to go.
"`PM' fills a rather large void in this market," he said, "and we want it to continue to do so by finding a way to do more local stories with our small staff. That's the way we need to grow."
So they can continue to be what they've always been.