Jim Jensen's Embarrassing On Air News Bloopers

[MissRandomIsRandom]

He's like a real-life Earl Camembert...

[wmbrown6]

@MissRandomIsRandom - Maybe here, but at his peak in the '70's Jensen was more like a real-life Floyd Robertson.

[metalWIENERsolid]

When he was caught on the phone he should've said "This just in!" after he hung up lol

[MIKESOWELL]

@life54321 I have read that he died of a heart attack. Then again, the two may have been related.

[WhatsAYak]

In all fairness, the script mix-up wasn't Jim's fault, but still amusing to see him explain the problem, then snap back to his usual professional style once it was fixed.

[Rowlins]

1:03 what a brave soul to reveal hs transgender identity on the air like that.

[0814ma]

Interesting - and sad. Thanks for posting.

The portion at 0:36 aired on Wednesday, May 6, 1987.

[SenseiDonGraham]

@life54321 So you caused him to have cancer, I don't understand?

[noreaga12326]

lol @ 0:04 - 0:11 Jim looked like he was about to take a nap until carol snapped him out of it. thats hilarious!

[tomkes100douchebag]

@noreaga12326 Loved Carol's shit eating grin. Priceless!

[humbledb4jesus]

All he needs is Floyd Robertson to be his co-anchor.

[wmbrown6]

@humbledb4jesus - The irony is, Jensen in his '70's peak seemed to be one of the many models for the no-nonsense "Floyd Robertson."

[craigsgirl48167]

I thought this was fake but I showed my mom & she actually remembers this douchebag!!

[Doral4720]

I lived in New York for about 30 years and grew up watching Jim Jensen on the WCBS-TV 6 o'clock news. In his hey day he was the best in the business. He had a very relax and personal manner about him. You never felt that he was reading the news but instead that he was having a conversation with you. It is sad to see this video and it is not reflective of who Jim Jensen was. When his son passed away in a hang gliding accident his world fell apart and so did his career. It was a very sad ending.

[ShitStainProductions]

i'm ron burgundy???

[wmbrown6]

Also . . . in some parts of this Jensen's conduct seems to be reminiscent of the fictitious "Earl Camembert" (Eugene Levy) in an "SCTV News" sketch where he was high on marijuana:

watch?v=EIDYuV9vuyc

[ParadiseofTruth]

omg... so unprofessional... lmaoo!

[ParadiseofTruth]

hahah@0:45 ... his look when he got off the phone... like... oh, shyt... didn't know I was on

[petulia68]

Was that jane velez Mitchell before her current incarnation as a self righteous media whore?

[wmbrown6]

@petulia68 - Sure looks like it. And before she mentioned in every other sentence that she's a recovering alcoholic.

[knotty1atl]

I used to love Jim Jensen when I was little. My mom was always pointing out that his son died in a hang gliding accident not to far from our house. Supposedly that was his undoing.

[recto89]

Is that Jane Velez Mitchell of HLN and KCAL9 at 0:24 seconds

[wmbrown6]

@recto89 - It would appear to be. The voice is recognizable.

[dinfg6]

Wow I never knew that Jerry Dunphy's former Co-Anchor on KCAL9 was even a NYC person in the 1980's before Jane Came to LA right when KCAL9 was formed with Jerry Dunphy, Pat Harvey and Jane were all hired to replace the KHJ Crew.

[jonesy97]

Somebody said on another of his videos that he had a bad cocaine habit. Wtf? True?

[wmbrown6]

@jonesy97 - Sure did. Coupled with alcohol and, by the later '80's, Valium. But I can assure you, there's no such thing as a "good" cocaine habit.

[spagandtuna]

I grew up watching Jim Jenson. He was blessed with the best speaking voice of all the local anchors (hell, he could have gone network), and had a commanding way about him, but his supreme arrogance was allowed to go unchallenged. His most aggregious errors and male piggery were a product of his times and at first light, would have served as opportunity for immediate correction today. He was the voice of Channel 2 until his SA problems led to his disablement. RIP

[bloggerdude2005]

I loved Jim Jensen. Real guy. Not fake a plastic like so many other anchors.

[SailorCallie]

Jim Jensen, when you assume, you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me." Had you worked in San Antonio, you wouldn't last down there.

[jasonbear72]

Is that Ron Burgendy?

[jros83]

lol "Let's see.... yes..."

[wmbrown6]

I preferred Roger Grimsby's "Okay . . . composure" to this.

[LouisMenchise]

He always used to lean back and move around his seat a lot. The camerapeople must have hated him - it was hard to keep him in the frame. He was on the air for years in NYC. He did go to rehab for coke. He died of a heart attack years later.

[wmbrown6]

The third of these clips reminds me of two moments at a competing station that are contained within:

watch?v=KbwsJp8Mpro

watch?v=HXi1xUwUKiE

[Market42Fan]

"...and hold the olives".

[wmbrown6]

@Market42Fan - Or to quote a running gag in some Friz Freleng Looney Tunes cartoons, " . . . and hold the onions."

[reh629]

i remember jim jensen. LOL.

he was a veteran anchor who obviously should have retired a while ago but had the credentials to stay on air.

[Sharky165]

Tho Jensen was "before my time" (I came to NYC area in '90), as a former journalist I'm torn between whether to laugh or cry @ these screw-ups. Maybe he was a "nice guy" on a personal level, but he projects an unprofessional image here. Misshuffling script is one thing (I've seen others do it), but lounging during the weather report? Calling ur stockbroker (or whoever it was) mid-broadcast? Buffoonery!! And with his 6-fig salary, he could have at least invested in a decent toupe !! LOL

[SANNAFABICH]

ahhaha that is hillarious!

[billclinton76]

He died of a heart attack, not cancer.

[wmbrown6]

@billclinton76 - Besides, the one who died of cancer was WABC's Roger Grimsby.

[dictionar1]

i think he played off the paper shuffle screw-up quite well. handled it like a champ. the buttholes who did the script were eating crow. the phone thing came out like a rose too. he can say fuck and make it sound okay. LOL

[toepedi]

0:36 hello...Yes, I would like about 1,000 oxycontin, along with rush limbaugh's order please.

[DrSurprise]

lol, i bet he was on the phone with his drug dealer

[alucard1931]

At 0:36 Jim looks like he's getting off the phone with his sports bookie.

[noahf67]

Over a trillion things can technically vex a live newscast. But only a pro can really keep the ball rolling. Jim was a little stiff,

but CBS did not have that self-effacing "Eyewitness News" humor that

Roger Grimsby invented. Roger would have made quick humor of that script failure...

[amnesiaguess]

00:44 did he say to fuck??

[wmbrown6]

No . . . "defrocked."

[ukendcx2000]

wtf what was he doing on the phone, lol!

[WhatsAYak]

I think bc9021010001's comments has the answer. :-D

[codybear56]

time for a comersial break

[bc9021010001]

At :36 he was talking to his coke dealer.

[elmuneco12]

lol..........

[bronsonblack]

@bc9021010001 he was talking to rick james

[typhonsentra]

Who played Jim on the show?

[wmbrown6]

To paraphrase a famous slogan of a famous PSA, this was Jim Jensen on drugs.

[adampope64]

lol how did jim make anchor??? hahah

[pureimaginationvideo]

In his prime, he was really well respected. I think anchoring for 20 years? Someone correct me if I'm wrong. But you add a little drugs, a family tragedy, and well..you can guess what happens!

[wmbrown6]

Jim had actually been anchor for WCBS-TV since 1964, starting on weekends and late weeknight (11 P.M.) editions, then the early weeknight news broadcasts after prior anchor Robert Trout went to a network assignment in Europe in 1965.

Based on what I've read from the late cartoon director Chuck Jones' comments, it seemed that up to the mid-'80's Jensen was like the Bugs Bunny of local New York TV news, while WABC-TV's Roger Grimsby was akin to its Daffy Duck. (And it's not what you think.)

[wmbrown6]

Meaning, Jensen was more the ideal of what a local TV news anchor should be (based on his working for an outfit renowned for serious, hard news, as well as his particular approach), while Grimsby was the "wisenheimer," associated with the dreaded "happy talk," who nonetheless (I wouldn't be surprised) seemed to resonate with as many viewers "back in the day."

I wonder how many New Yorkers in the '70's aspired to being like Mr. Jensen, and how many wanted to emulate Mr. Grimsby?

[pureimaginationvideo]

I know Chevy Chase portrayed Jensen on Saturday Night live. So I guess that's a compliment.

[wmbrown6]

That's funny - as Chevy himself said he modeled his anchor persona after Grimsby.

[pureimaginationvideo]

Hum...you might be right! I'm only going by what people were saying at work.

[nynewsguy7]

Definitely Chase got that line from Grimsby intro. Good evening, I'm Roger Grimsby, and here now the news.

and..... You're not... My former colleagues used to say that to John Johnson. I miss the good ole days....

[d4seasons]

@adampope64 j. jensen has been on the news a very long time. he drank & had a lot of personal problems. i know what you mean by lol. news anchors & people who are unioned usually get away w/ bad things like that. it's sad & frustrating. ****

[dukenthaylor]

O..M..G! His career was dead on the air, before he himself died! Poor Carol; there's only so much she could do to smooth it out for him! In the words of another aged anchor, GOOD LUCK, BE WELL, JIM!

[wmbrown6]

Apparently the after-effects of booze, coke and Valium.

[wmbrown6]

Just wondering: Is it or is it not a coincidence that these gaffes came after Rolland Smith left WCBS-TV in 1986? And I have to concur with 'shaunfossett' here, as this was not the Jim Jensen I met (and saw in action) at Channel 2's studios in '76, when I was but a young'un . . .

[shaunfossett]

This is sorta sad to watch...

[pureimaginationvideo]

pretty much!

[wmbrown6]

Almost all "under the influence," I suppose . . .