Ten Years of Eating Fresh and Staying Healthy

Last Friday, CBS 2 News at 5:00 took a look back at Tony Tantillo's ten years on CBS 2. Tantillo began first appeared on the station in January 2000 when "News 2" moved its broadcasts to The Early Show's Studio 59 at 59th and Fifth. His produce tips also appear on other stations but CBS 2 is his home base as he appears live in the studio with his best buys and fresh recipes as well as on location "Dining Deals."

Take a look back at The Fresh Grocer's decade at CBS 2 with this video.

The New Newscasts

Today as CBS 2 aired "The Weakest Link" at 4:00, the debut of "CBS 2 First News @ 4:30" followed. Angela Rae and Todd McDermott anchored this shortened version of the old "First News @ 4:00". Top stories in the beginning, as always, followed by more news, and Robyn Carter's entertainment report at 4:53. Then Angela and Todd ended the newscast, and went to Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos with a preview of CBS 2 News at 5:00. Brett Haber had the sports report at 5:14, and David Rogers had the forecast at 5:17. Dana Tyler previewed CBS 2 News at 6:00 at 5:19. Tony Tantillo came on at 5:22 with his "Top 5 @ 5:00" (originally "Top 4 at 4:00" since April, and "Top 5 at 5:00" previous to that). This newscast ended at 5:24, with Todd and Angela previewing the next half hour of the news. After a two-and-a-half-minute break, CBS 2 News at 5:30 opened. "No Nonsense Weather" with David Rogers came on shortly after the half-way point, as it has for over a year now. And CBS 2 News at 6:00 stayed relatively unchanged.

"America Fights Back" Coverage

This morning on CBS 2, Michael O'Looney and Lisa Hill anchored the "early Sunday morning edition of CBS 2 Weekend News." The newscast was mostly coverage of America Fights Back and the Anthrax cases, but weather (with Craig Allen) and traffic (with Debbie DuHaime) was added. Tony Tantillo's "Breakfast With T" segment also aired. The newscast was an hour-long this morning starting at 8:00.

Breakfast With "T"

At the end of CBS 2 News This Morning, Michael Pomeranz and Lisa Hill quickly talked about a new segment in the morning. Starting tomorrow, "Breakfast With 'T'" will be with The Fresh Grocer, Tony Tantillo. He appears three times a week on CBS 2 First News at 4:00, and he'll now appear in the morning. He will show viewers how to prepare healthy breakfasts. "Eat Fresh And Stay Healthy."

Studio 43's First Day

All of the newscasts this evening at 4:00, 5:00, 5:30, and 6:00 used the new type of opening with the new CBS 2 Information Network animation and the anchors at the desk. At 4:08, a new CBS 2 First News at 4:00 anchor open was used: "You're watching CBS 2 First News at Four, with Dana Tyler, Ernie Anastos, Cindy Hsu, and Ira Joe Fisher's forecast." At 4:13 and 4:43, Cindy Hsu was standing by the plasma screens with the Information Network update. At 4:21, Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos talked about the new studio, technology, and the people working in the Information Center behind them. Ira Joe Fisher added that they "have the best crew." At 4:38, Tony Tantillo had the "Top Four at 4" on the left side of the studio near the plasma screens (he used the table from The Saturday Early Show's temporary studio).

At 4:57, Angela Rae and Todd McDermott were at the plasma screens right after the top story and the open for CBS 2 News at 5:00. At 5:21, Todd, Angela, and David Rogers introduced the new studio and said that we're going to meet some of the Information Center volunteers later this week. And Angela added, "We're going to keep some of it [the changes] under the hat." Then at 5:22, the 5:00 anchor opening played but was modified so that the new CBS 2 Information Network graphic was in the beginning and the end.

At 5:58, CBS 2 News at 6:00 opened with the top story, the open, and the anchors at the desk (same as what happened today at Noon). Alexis Christoforous was in the Information Center with the CBS.MarketWatch.com report. Nightcast is coming up tonight at 11:00, and we'll have details on that tomorrow morning.

CBS 2 First News @ 4:00

Wednesday, 4/25/01, 7:15pm CBS 2 First News @ 4:00
"CBS 2 First News @ 4:00" premiered this afternoon. The opening was the usual type of opening: "You're watching the CBS 2 Information Network... Live from Fifth Avenue, this is CBS 2 First News at Four." There were some "Information Network noises" (I don't know how else to describe them) in the beginning, and the "Now" was once again gone (just like it was at noon).

After the opening, Dana Tyler and Ernie Anastos checked the top stories for a minute or two (similar to The News This Morning), and then Ira Joe Fisher did the weather. The new outcue for the show is "I'm (reporter's name), First News at Four." There were a few interviews with newsmakers and celebrities. At 4:15 and 4:42, Cindy Hsu did a news update (about one to one and a half minutes long), using the CBS 2 Information Network partners (today: The Daily News, VH1, CourtTV, CBS HealthWatch, and CBS MarketWatch). Dr. Emily Senay from CBS News was on the show today and will be a regular guest on CBS 2 First News @ 4:00. Robyn Carter did her CBS 2/Hollywood.com Entertainment Report at 4:24, and at 4:30 CBS 2 rejoined First News @ 4:00 with the opening again. Tony Tantillo had his Fresh Grocer report at 4:37, then Ira Joe Fisher did the "Tomorrow's Daily News Today In New York" segment. At 4:51 Angela Rae previewed "The News at 5:00". At the end of the show, Ernie Anastos and Dana Tyler recapped the show, and then the show ended at 4:57. Other than Todd McDermott, one person was missing from today's show. It was Heather O'Rourke, who did the Metro Traffic report at 5:33. It looks as if she will no longer do traffic reports at 4:00.

Emotional Goodbye To Stephen Clark

If you saw the special holiday edition of "New York Live!" today, you know what I mean by saying it was an emotional show. The last 15-20 minutes of the show were holiday memories with the anchors. Ira Joe Fisher read a poem to a bunch of kids in the studio, and then all of the 4:00 anchors were at a table talking about their Christmas memories. Tony Tantillo ("The Fresh Grocer"), Robyn Carter (entertainment reporter), Todd McDermott (news anchor), Ira Joe Fisher (weather man), Dana Tyler (4, 6, and 11:00 anchor), and Stephen Clark (4, 6, and 11:00 anchor) were all there.

At the end, they mentioned it was Stephen's last day at CBS 2. Dana couldn't finish talking, so Ira Joe quickly helped out. Stephen was obviously very sad about this too, as his eyes became very red, and he didn't say much at all, only smiled. Then at the very end, he played his guitar and sang a song to end the show.

Tonight is Stephen Clark's last newscast, at 11:00. It will also be Dana Tyler's last newscast at 11:00 as she has next week off, and Angela Rae takes her place the week of January 1st.

Top 5 at 5

Today on News 2 at 5:00, Todd McDermott introduced a new segment called, "Top 5 at 5". Every Monday, Tony Tantillo, the Fresh Grocer, will have the top 5 fruits and vegetables according to their values and prices. There was also a special graphic at the bottom saying, "Best Buys". As Tony Tantillo says at the end of his segments, "Eat fresh and stay healthy!"