Shut-tle the Hell up!

Aaaaarrrrggghhh......

Nothing spoils a live television news event more than blabbermouth anchors.

Let me remind you" "It's all about the pictures people, not about you!!!!!"

Tuned into CNN to watch the Shuttle launch like millions of other people and let me tell you, "Dandy" Don Lemon (left) kept stepping all over John Zarella (who's forgotten more about Shuttle launches than Dapper Don knows!), interupting him at almost every turn as he tried to interview an astronaut about her trip on the Shuttle.

Finally, with less than 30-seconds before launch, John finally says "Don, it's happening" to get the goof to shut up!

So everyone pipes down, the big beautiful bird soars to the skies, then Don starts in again.

Dude, shut your pie hole and let the reporter on the scene tell us what we need to know!

When there's no reporter on scene , THEN you get to tell us all what we're seeing and put it all in perspective!

When there's a reporter, then you channel your inner traffic cop or air traffic controller and speak ONLY when you need to move the story along, and then keep it brief!

Now, Don isnt' entirely at fault here, because I'm sure there was some crazed producer (I know, I used to be one!..AND at CNN to boot!) in his ear guiding him down the wrong path.

It had to be something along the lines of" "OMG, John hasn't talked about what's going through their minds during the countdown, ask him about that, ask him about that!"

Um, hello young producer? How about LISTENING to the coverage you're providing and you would have known JZ was waiting for the GUEST to wrap up her thoughts on that very question!

Don proceeds to still go down that line of questioning, to which JZ responds, "Yes Don, as so-and-so was saying...."

Making me even more batty over this sloppy coverage was that unlike most Live News Events, there is a TIMELINE of how a Shuttle Launch all goes down!

That means if the producer or EP did a short conference call with all the players prior to going to air, everyone could have sorted out what they would talk about and when!....filling the gaps between Mission Control babble, the launch and main engine cutoff.

Where's the "Main Anchor Cutoff" when you need it!