CBS Morning News

The CBS Morning News is the name historically given to a morning news program on CBS between 5:00 AM and 6:00 AM ET. CBS's current morning news program is called The Early Show, which currently competes with NBC's The Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America. CBS's attempts at counterprogramming in this slot have never experienced the success of "Today" or "GMA".

1950s: "Good God, what a f@#*up!"

In its first incarnation in 1954 as the Morning Show, Walter Cronkite was teamed with a lion puppet name Charlemane. Cronkite, a gag writer, and his puppet sidekick were expected to compete against the NBC's Today Show, then hosted by Dave Garroway and featuring a chimpanzee sidekick called J. Fred Muggs. Cronkite was still early in his network career, and like his lion puppet, came across to viewers as stiff.

Related Topics:
1954 - Walter Cronkite - Charlemane - NBC - Today Show - Dave Garroway - J. Fred Muggs

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In the following 18 months after Cronkite was dismissed from the program, CBS tried a number of names: Jack Paar, who in turn was replaced by Dick Van Dyke and then by Will Rogers, Jr. The name of the show was changed to a polite Good Morning, but that didn't seem to attract viewers, either.

Related Topics:
Jack Paar - Dick Van Dyke - Will Rogers, Jr.

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As an indication of just how many people weren't watching, an incident from the Will Rogers, Jr. era is worth a glance. The incident occurred during CBS coverage of the Democratic political convention in Chicago during 1956. Show producers reasoned that since their anchor was the son of Will Rogers, he should ride a horse up Michigan Avenue, dismount in the hotel lobby, and anchor the show. As Rogers rode into the hotel lobby, the horse rendered its own opinion of the proceedings and proceeded to defecate on camera. Ned Calmer, the headline presenter waiting to read, saw what was happening on a studio monitor and said to his writer, "Good God, what a f@#*up!" Unfortunately for Calmer, the show's director, in an understandable panic, had switched from the horse to Calmer's news desk, and Calmer's comment went out over the air. That CBS received scarcely any complaints only demonstrated the futility of trying to compete with NBC in the morning.

Related Topics:
Chicago - 1956 - Will Rogers - Michigan Avenue - Ned Calmer

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Good Morning was yanked from the air not long after that incident. To spare CBS News any further humiliation, the time period was handed over to a children's program Captain Kangaroo. NBC management, meanwhile, experienced success with Garroway and turned the NBC Today Show into a national institution.

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