CBS Morning News open 1983

[bakerandbaker1]

Who agrees that CBS needs to omit the first hour of The Early Show in favor of the current Morning News? I mean, what's the point of producing it and Up to the Minute if no one's up to see it? Plus The Early Show gets pummeled in the ratings anyway.

[jaworskij]

I loved watching this in the 1980s ... first we had Captain Kangaroo then CBS Morning News... Bill Kurtis was good on this program... then he moved over to A&E and did all those crime stories.... Looks like Bill was bought and paid for by the elite .

[b1rdjnx]

How do I get this in my phone?

[altfactor]

The second music cut (at 0:17 of the clip) could have just as easily been used for a network evening newscast.

[CrestwoodRocks]

Unsure if I am correct or not. But I am thinking The CBS Early Morning News (6AM to 7AM) & The CBS Morning News (7AM to 9AM) both had the same music during the 1982-1984 year

[caraway407]

kurtis has a great voice

[AgentRaven77]

Well this one on from 7am-9m every morning.

[grammarguy1]

I will echo others here: great theme, great anchors, great concept. I also remember this growing up as the alternative to happy talk and cooking segments that filled GMA and Today. I think this edition actually did go to #2--the closest CBS has been to #1 in the morning talkers.

[Soulthinker2007]

I loved that song. I looked forward of hearing it before I went to high school. From 83 to 84 it was played early in the morning.

[tcbluecollarguy]

I think CBS eventually came to realize that a 2 hour version of the CBS Evening News, which is what the Kurtis & Sawyer version really was, wasn't what viewers wanted to see when they could choose from GMA with David Hartman or TODAY with Gumbel & Pauley. Viewer habits in the AM are different than for evening newscasts as things need a quicker pace and there has to be elements like cooking, entertainment and lifestyle segments. That said, I always preferred this CBS program the best.

[irish89055]

@tcbluecollarguy the morning show are now just shamless PR puffery... got to sell those books, movies...ect...

[Kuahmel]

Back when CBS was totally struggling to make a morning show that could compete with Today and GMA. I grew up watching their many years of trial and error. And I'm still not sure they found their comfort zone in The Early Show. E for effort, I guess.

[altfactor]

The set Bill Kurtis and Diane Sawyer anchored the newscast from during the week was used on weekends as the anchor studio for CBS Sports, including their NFL pre-game shows

[altfactor]

The second piece of music, used to start each half-hour, seems to sound like a teletype machine if it were a musical instrument.

One of the best TV news themes ever recorded.

[bdlyles]

This was the best version of the CBS Morning News. Bill Kurtis was the classic anchorman, and Diane Sawyer had grace and flair. It was formatted like a local newscast on sterioids, powered by the once-great CBS News.

[odutola123]

i didnt know they had another cbs new...maybe cause im 12....i wonder if it was good like cnn. i love that station

[dogcafe]

great!!

[fanotv]

I believe this was introduced around March of 1982.

[mplsmn]

Very sad how a once proud & respected news division can fall so far from the top. All their AM program formats are or were disasters. Evening news is a shell of itself and even Face the Nation is getting whipped!

[irish89055]

@mplsmn yes, the nightly news programs are sadly dying as the only viewers are aging out... self absorbed younger people have no time for them..

Does anyone have the ending for the CBS Morning News from this time with Diane Sawyer?

[newscenter5]

they moved to the nightwatch set once they finished with the one you see here... sawyer left the program not long after.. phyllis george joined kurtis on this set.. then the new one after that... after which kurtis left.. phyllis left... forrest sawyer and maria shriver took over for 12 months.. then they blew it up and went with that godawful "early program"

[WeakApplause]

This was a great show with great talent. They had Bill Kurtis AND Diane Sawyer. How did they mess THAT up?

[VintageTelevision]

Diane Sawyer conditioned her contract renewal with being assigned to "60 Minutes."

I agree that "The CBS Morning News" was at its best with Kurtis and Sawyer. It was a serious news broadcast without the fluff of cooking demonstrations, in-studio interviews and feature segments.

[couchpotato1970]

I remember a magazine ad that showed Kurtis and Sawyer on the same set that was in use for "Nightwatch" at the time, with the green-outline world maps. Did they actually use it at some point, or was that just done for the ad?

[tvpirate05]

That's a really nice set to be almost 25 years old. Except for maybe the TV screens, it could still be used today, and no one would ever guess!

[HIPPABELLE]

I agree! That set looks way ahead of its time. Great opening animation, too!

[gaillard35]

That's so incrediable. I used to watch this morning show when i was 14. I love Bill Kurtis and DIane but mostley the intro song hey I was still a Kid. So much in fact I sing that song intro from college to hey just recently haha...and this is the first time I hear it back....23 years later :)

[BRUCWAR68]

Thank you very much for posting this video and for bringing back some very pleasant childhood memories. I watched Bill Kurtis and Diane Sawyer every morning before my mom took me to school. I loved the music and the classy styles of Bill and Diane. This show remains to this day the best ever morning news show aired by CBS.

[WeakApplause]

I agree. Even when I was a kid, I liked it because it actually gave me the news, unlike Today and Good Morning America which had lots of cooking segments and features I didn't (and still don't) care about.

[mplsmn]

Holy crap, I had always wanted a clip of this show's theme music...both it and the program were the best thing that CBS ever did in the morning! Hope some more clips with longer versions of this theme show up! I was in junior high and would watch this on WCCO before heading off to school.

[AarHan3]

YAY! I LOVED this theme! I've been searching all over The 'Net for this for, like, forever! Thanks! ;-)

[burbank]

I remember seeing this on TV when I was a kid getting ready to go to school. I was in the 4th or 5th grade when this was on. My mom used to have this on.

[joebradio]

Very astute observation. The two programs (NFL Today and CBS Morning News) did share the same studio at the time, just moving the desks around. The studio in NYC was also used when CBS went with Sports Saturday/Sunday with Musberger. I gave me a big kick to see this again. I remember when CBS tried this. Kinda interesting that Dianne Saywer still getting the 2 AM wakeup call after all these years.

[jerseyfla]

Hey, that looks like The NFL Today set.

[altfactor]

@jerseyfla It was.