That's an observation I won't disagree with. In fact, I think
Channel 2 is trying to revive the spirit of the Kinard days with
the couch and the kitchen, but Eric Chilton is no Lee Kinard.
But back to "2 Wants To Know": yesterday, my dad attended his
high-school class reunion and his closest boyhood friend, who worked
at WFMY for years, was there with his wife. She was somewhat critical
of Channel 2's adding another news-type program (she thinks there's too
much news now) and also predicted that Andy would soon be back at 5:30.
A few months back, before I ever even heard of this "2 Wants To Know" thing,
I saw something about Scott Pelley being number one in Greensboro, Raleigh,
and Roanoke, even though he's still third nationally. In two of those markets
(Greensboro and Roanoke) Andy was running at 5:30 as lead-in to the 6 PM
newscasts on WFMY and WDBJ, respectively. Coincidence?
If I were king for a day I would destroy every copy of every episode of "The
Andy Griffith Show," but, realistically, I think that Channel
2 made a poor business decision taking him off at 5:30, and I still think he'll be
back at his old stand by the time the new season starts. I think a lot will
hinge not only on how "2 Wants To Know" does in the May ratings book, but
how it impacts "News 2 At 6."
But I have one other question: in Charlotte, Andy's been on four different
stations since he entered syndication in the early '70s (WBTV had him in the
network days and, IIRC, for a time in the '90s when Oprah clobbered him);
he's also been on WSOC, WRET (WCNC) when Ted Turner owned it, and WAXN.
Why is Andy's record so spotty in Charlotte and yet he's an icon in Greensboro?