# TV News magazines-is every word scripted?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 5, 1999, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554 "1999-11-05T17:14:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr\_Zzyzx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dr\_Zzyzx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Zzyzx)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554/1 "1999-11-05T17:14:00Z")

</div>

Many times after a piece on 20/20 or Dateline, Barbara Walters, Hugh Downs (formerly), Stone Phillips or Jane Pauley will make some comment about the previous piece, that falls into the “conversational” sounding category, like, “My Hugh, what a twagedy. Let’s hope it goes well for them in the future.” Are such lines read right off the teleprompter, or do producers trust these anchors to speak for themselves from time to time?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554/2 "1999-11-05T17:17:00Z")

</div>

Yes. The Stone Phillips 2000 model is programmed to speak extemporaneously.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Stevie\_Rave\_On](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stevie_Rave_On)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 1999, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554/3 "1999-11-05T17:50:00Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> My Hugh, what a twagedy

ROTFLMAO. Made me think of Cheri Oteri’s impression on Saturday Night Live

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 1999, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554/4 "1999-11-06T03:20:00Z")

</div>

Would that be the “Baba Wawa” skit? I was ROTF.

* * *

“I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms.” -The Secret of Monkey Island

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 1999, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-news-magazines-is-every-word-scripted/4554/5 "1999-11-07T05:46:00Z")

</div>

I have a friend who once did an internship at a local TV station. She told me that at the end of the show, where the lights are dimmed and the credits are rolling but you can see the anchors still sitting there talking, sometimes what they’re actually saying is, “here we are pretending to talk, blah blah blah blah”.

DHR