Until she came along, television news never seriously thought about children as a meaningful demographic. Her departure, which will be marked by a special on Dec. Ellerbee understood that influence, appreciated it, and never once - to my knowledge - betrayed it. I do believe she is the longest running continuous presence on Nickelodeon, which was and remains one of the world's most influential networks. Millions of children grew up with Ellerbee. Implicit in this approach: The world may indeed be mad, but let us help you understand what all the noise and madness around you is about.
Nick News was born - Ellerbee's weekly news wrap that never talked down to her very youthful audience, but directly to them, in a no-nonsense manner that avoided patronizing (or matronizing) but instead embraced an explanatory, and to an extent reassuring, approach. She later went to ABC, took that grand style (and eyeglasses) with her, and then at the height of the first Gulf War, took up Nick chief Gerry Laybourne's offer to produce a show that would offer perspective to kids, and also (frankly) reassure them that they were not about to be gassed. (Who among us remember Lloyd, now living in Virginia? He had a helmet of hair and mustache to match, and could occasionally turn a news story into a comedy routine, at least if it was a nonserious news story that merited pillory).īy clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. She was paired with fellow ironist Lloyd Dobyns. Her NBC run in the '70s was also engineered by its legendary news president, Reuven Frank, who rightly saw in her something utterly new and fresh. As she would be the first to admit, straight-ahead news delivery wasn't necessarily her bag. Her run ever since has been groundbreaking, historic, pioneering and - ironically enough - often out of sight to the majority of most TV news viewers.Įllerbee memorably - as insomniacs would attest - worked the overnight hours on NBC and ABC, creating in the process a whole new form of presentation, couched in attitude, irony and perspective. And so it goes: Linda Ellerbee is leaving television after a 44-year career that, in New York, began all the way back in 1973 at WCBS/2.
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