1992 News Bloopers… After Hurricane Andrew

It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine, an adage that was proven time and time again at the old Channel 6… especially after the summer of 1992.

1992. Just the mention of that year brings trepidation to many South Floridians, who remember a visitor named Andrew who tore, uninvited, through the neighborhoods of South Miami-Dade. Newsroom employees were not immune.

It’s tough enough reporting a hurricane of that magnitude, which caused billions of dollars in damage and dozens of deaths. It was even tougher, considering so many of us – from our general manager and news director on down – lost possessions, even our homes in the storm. Andrew also blew down our tower in the Redland, meaning no one could see our newscasts for several days (unless they tuned in to low power Channel 27, which wasn’t very likely). For many at the station, nothing would ever be the same. It was tough enough just holding on, let alone having to report on all the misery, all the destruction, all the scars and traumas. Like the song from the musical Mame said, “We need a little Christmas, right this very minute.” What we needed… was laughter.

Enter WCIX videographer Mark Griffin, who assembled some of the best news bloopers from the year. The tape you’re about to see proves several things:

1. We had no luck with white Bengal tigers.
2. You never know when the moon will be coming out at a Ross Perot “victory” party.
3. Dan Rather doesn’t wait to celebrate Thanksgiving.
4. Judge Murray Meyerson is one calm guy.
5. Former U.M. quarterback Gino Torretta was a good player, but not good enough to inspire Beatlemania.

It’s great to see some of the faces from the past here on this tape. A word of warning, though: all news blooper tapes contain profanity, and material of a sexual nature. You might want to wait until the kids or the boss leave the room to play this, but by all means, DO play it. It’s sure to bring a smile.






Thank you, Mark, for sharing this, and reminding us of the importance of laughing – even if it’s at ourselves.

Now that you're here... check out the OTHER POSTS on the Say Six! blog.

Behind The Scenes at The Ten O’Clock News

Here's a rare look inside the old Channel 6 newsroom, in that funny old round building on Brickell Avenue. The on-camera dude is sports anchor Andy Leopold, who conducted these impromptu interviews for our annual Christmas skit reel, back in December 1983. Appearing on-camera are anchor Barbara Sloan (who didn't feel like talking to Andy), videotape editor Gary Slawitschka, director Curtis Bivins, assignment editor (and future author) Jan Hollingsworth, and reporter Amanda Moss. Look carefully and you can spot producer Mike Villafana at the typewriter, and there are even brief shots of yours truly walking in and out of the newsroom while Andy is speaking with Amanda.

A few more points about this video:

1. Notice that custodian Guy Thompson is holding the album cover for The Brickell Hillbillies. We had just finished shooting the portion of that skit reel segment where the album cover is thrown in the trash.
2. Barbara Sloan had an office in those days. When Larry Lyle hired Lemar Wooley as his assistant news director, he took it away from Sloan and gave it to Wooley.
3. Hollingsworth, Slawitschka, and Villafana all left the station the following year. Moss and Bivins weren’t too far behind. Andy Leopold’s contract was not renewed in 1985, right around the time of our move to what is now Doral.
4. We sure had a lot of fun then!