Its 10 to nine in the morning and Russ Lacate is in the midst of doing his last Breakfast TV weather report for the day. While he tells CityTVs viewers that they can expect another weekend of rain gee, thanks, Russ four people are tiptoeing towards him, out of sight of the camera.
Shhh, Jody Vance whispers to her co-host Riaz Meghji, entertainment reporter Thor Diakow, traffic specialist Michel McDermott and floor director Dirk van Renesse. On cue, they flood into Lacates studio space for a surprise dance party.
Theres no umbrella for Lacate to hide under. The 6 meteorologist has got to do the crazy-legs dance, right there, right now, in front of all those viewers.
Its the unscripted moments like this that give Breakfast TV its magic moments, those glimpses of the people behind the television personalities. And the fact that everyone is laughing as they follow Meghjis smooth dance moves says a lot about the atmosphere of trust and respect thats been fostered at the East 2nd television station. Their laughter isnt forced or contrived. They dont turn off their smiles as soon as the camera turns away. They actually are having as much fun as they make it appear.
But appearances can deceive. The camaraderie is real but underneath that ability to have fun is a very serious professionalism. Putting on three and a half hours of television every weekday morning isnt easy. They only make it look that way.
Just like Olympians, their timing is down to the tenth of a second and they have 12,600 seconds to fill five days a week. It takes military precision on the set, in the control booth, out on location and in the news room. Everyone has a job to do and while things might occasionally get tense, theres no bite in anyones bark.
Nowhere is this sense of camaraderie more apparent than in the rapport between Vance and Meghji. Meghjis been with the show for almost four years; Vance joined the show last November after a career in sports television and radio.
Manuel Fonseca, the managing producer of Citytvs Vancouver programming the man who Vance calls the nicest man in television remembers the meeting when Vances name was floated as a possible cohost.
One of the hardest things to find in broadcasting is the chemistry, Fonseca says, and when Dean Bender threw out Vances name, we all looked at each other and said it makes a lot of sense.
They invited Vance to a top-secret meeting with Meghji at the Opus Hotel. The two complete strangers sat down, looked at each other and started talking. For an hour the conversation flowed with ease, they laughed at each others jokes and responded quickly to each others opinions. The blind date became an instant marriage.
I feel like Ive known him forever, says Vance.
In many ways the two of them are not alike in personality, and they have been known to differ with each others views on air. To make their banter real, they are willing to be real, both with each other and with their audience.
Here youre an open book, says Meghji. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. He once had his girlfriend on the show; viewers responded with delight but the relationship didnt last so now hes a bit more wary of giving updates on his social life.
Vance says that as hosts youre always willing to share the happy moments youre getting married, youre having a baby... but you also have to be ready to share the sad ones. A mother of a four-year-old son, she and her husband separated fairly recently. She told Meghji but it took her a while to gather the courage to tell everyone on air. One morning she told him, Im ready to talk about it. She was scared but Meghji helped ease her into the discussion and was there to ensure a soft landing.
You have to tell people whats really going on with you, she says.
Part of their strength as on-air hosts is that when they look at the camera they are able to see through it. In their mind, theyre talking to the person on the other side the person at home getting ready for work, or feeding their children, or wondering whats happening in the world around them. They have a relationship with their viewers, too.
And now they have a relationship with WE Vancouver. Every so often, on Friday mornings theyre going to be interviewing some of WEs Five Stars on the show. This week it will be Stéphane Mouttet. Mouttet will be sharing his insights with BreakfastTV on March 16 at 8:20. As well, WE is delighted to share Thor Diakows movie highlight of the week.
WE will still be writing about other broadcasters in the city, and we dont mind if they read other newspapers but were pleased to be joining Citytv at the breakfast table.
