PASADENA, Calif. -- To date, CBS has spent tens of millions of dollars and devoted untold time producing and promoting "The Early Show" -- and barely made a dent in the ratings.
The revamped program isn't doing much better than the show that preceded it, "CBS This Morning," and still lags far behind both NBC's "Today Show" and ABC's "Good Morning America" in the ratings. But the good news for the "Early Show" team is that they still seem to have the support -- and, perhaps more importantly -- the patience of top network brass."Granted, we would like the ratings to be a little bit better, but the quality of the show is there," said CBS President Leslie Moonves.
And both Moonves and CBS News President Andrew Heyward know that improvement in the ratings isn't going to come quickly.
"I think they've done a terrific job melding a very credible, competent and competitive program," Heyward said. "That, for us, is a real achievement. Despite the cyclical nature of television, the cycle has not favored our morning program -- ever. So we're looking to change that. We've made an enormous investment.
"And I think that (executive producer) Steve (Friedman) and Bryant (Gumbel) and Jane (Clayson) and their team have done a terrific job getting us onto the playing field. Now what we have to do is create a reason for people to switch from well-established and well-done competitors. And I think that's starting to happen."
There have already been reports that network brass might be less than thrilled with the performance of Clayson, a former reporter and anchor at KSL-Ch. 5. But Heyward said nothing could be further from the truth.
"I think Jane is doing great," Heyward said. "She was an experienced broadcast journalist who had never hosted a program before. That's a daunting challenge for anybody. I think she started strong and has continued to get stronger all the time."
And the CBS News chief said he's more than pleased with the chemistry between his two early morning anchor people
"Their relationship is very good. They're very fond of one another, genuinely friends," Heyward said. "And I think their rapport -- again, it's a subjective judgment -- but I think that their relationship on-air will continue to evolve and grow just as a relationship off-air evolves and grows when you get to know somebody.
"I don't think you can artificially cast a program like this and say, type to Central Casting, send me somebody perky and feisty. I think what you have to do is find somebody who is authentic, which Jane is; intelligent, which Jane is; a good journalist, which Jane is; and somebody who has a genuinely nice personality, which Jane does. And then let the relationship evolve."
He disagreed with critics who charge that Gumbel is somehow dominating his on-air partnership to Clayson's disadvantage.
"I don't happen to agree with that," Heyward said. "I'm very happy with her progress and feel even more strongly now that she was the right choice."
DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH: Don't put too much stock in reports that Jack Nicholson might be making an appearance on "The Practice." (His girlfriend, Lara Flynn Boyle, is one of the show's stars.) Apparently, no one associated with the show is even talking about it.
TO WATCH OR NOT TO WATCH: Former "Homicide" cast member Callie Thorne said she really enjoys watching reruns of the series on cable's Court TV channel. And that she does so "constantly."
"I always do. I love it," she said.
On the other hand, Secor doesn't spend much time watching old episodes.
"I've only seen it one time, and that was when I was bringing food over to Richard Belzer's apartment," Secor deadpanned. "And he was lying in bed in a housecoat and stocking cap watching it and muting it when anyone else's scenes were on."
STRANGE ENCOUNTER: Back in the early days of "The Simpsons," few people realized that the voice of Bart was provided by a woman -- Nancy Cartwright. (As a matter of fact, Fox went out of its way to keep anyone from realizing it.)
Cartwright recalled a moment soon after the show premiered when she was out in her rather distinctive car -- a vehicle she had had painted "Bart yellow," complete with a picture of Bart on the side and a personalized license plate that read "5 SIMPS."
"I was a little shy," she deadpanned.
She was shutting the hatchback on her Nissan Stanza station wagon when a guy came up behind her and couldn't resist commenting on the vehicle.
"He looked at me and he said, 'A fan of "The Simpsons," huh?' " Cartwright said. "He was really sarcastic and kind of surly. And I looked at him and said (in Bart's voice), 'Yeah, man, I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?' "
And she was rather stunned at the guy's response.
"Do you know what he said to me?" she asked. "He said, 'No you're not. I know the guy that does that.' "