My First Day as Producer

     Okay... so I wish I could be all nonchalant and say that my first show was whatever, that it wasn't all that bad. But, I've got to say it was pretty okay... watchable at least. I've never seen so many stories drop in a show, but I guess there's a first time for everything. The morning was good, the energy was steady and everyone was doing their part, but somewhere between lunch and the show everything seemed to just fall behind. In all honesty, I was a little irritated with the news day. I felt like we were scraping for bits and pieces of stories long past. This was the main reason why I didn't want to work Mondays. For me, Mondays = slow news day.
     But back to lunch... With an A-Block I was satisfied with, I kept my eye on the B-Block. I trusted that the team was doing their best to get things done, but it just didn't feel fast enough. It wasn't until one o'clock that stories started to get written. I felt like I wasn't doing enough, that I was missing this and that and the truth is... I was. Sure the stories were getting done, and the APs were loading and editing video. Thankfully, students from TV News came and were able to take care of a couple of things but it was far too late. As soon as two o'clock came around... it was already four! Where did the time go? Did it vanished when I was writing that story, evaporate when I was putting in CGs... or did it dematerialize while I was sitting dumbfounded at the screen? Off to the printer...
     When I finally got downstairs in the studio, it was hectic. "We need more scripts... What's going on in B-11... I need another rundown... Is this a VO or VOSOT... Where's the video... There's no video?!" So many questions and little to no answers. I never heard my name being called some many times, I thought I was going to lose it. And people do this for living? With everything seemingly diminishing into the ether... I just gave up. At 4:48, I couldn't do anything anymore. Sure I hear the director yelling, people asking questions, and my professor giving advice but I couldn't recover. When we finally took control and the cold open came on, I expected the show to fall right then and there. But fortunately, I greatly underestimated the talent and crew. Block after block... The show went on and it actually wasn't a complete disaster. Like I said it was watchable, but there were times when I winced a little.
     The only thing that upset me was the sports producer. I was a little disappointed with how things went between me and him on our first day, so I think it put a bad taste in my mouth. But today is water under the bridge, the show must go on... so on and so forth. I just know that today was a practice for a reason... so once I get my producing legs, I should be able to get a good handle on how to run a newscast.