Some talents on TV host one show per week, so they have a lot of time to give it their very best. At the other end of the telecasting spectrum, a few “in-demand” on-cam personalities are so busy that they appear on the tube multiple times each day!
It’s called making hay while the sun shines—and even late at night, when it’s taken a well-deserved snooze!
But, its human counterparts on TV are going without much-needed sleep, just so they can make even more money—and laugh as they sleepwalk all the way to the bank.
It’s also called striking while the iron is hot, and in-demand TV hosts and newscasters agree to do it with alacrity, because they don’t know how long their lucky streak will last.
Despite their lack of sleep and utter exhaustion, they are the envy of their colleagues, who wish that they too could be so profitably favored.
Trouble is, despite the popular TV talents’ best efforts, their overly busy daily work schedule soon tells on their health—and, even more relevant to viewers, on their competence as TV professionals.
Television reaches so many tens of thousands of people per pop that talents should be in tip-top shape, so they can do their best work for the benefit of all of their viewers.
When they’re too exhausted to do that, station managers should “curb their (profitable) enthusiasm,” and urge them to be more selective, rest and replenish their creative resources.
We’ve discussed this problem with some of the most popular and busiest talents on the tube, and they generally minimize the gravity of the situation, and the toll it takes on the quality of their work as TV professionals.
One of the busiest of them all was a veteran host who began his TV day by cohosting an early-early morning show. After that, he got to take a quick snooze before his noontime cohosting chores—except on days when he had to tape a weekly program.
In the afternoon, there were other taping sessions, followed by the early-evening newscast, after which he could snooze some more.
But, not for too long or too deep, because he had a nighttime program to attend to—which in turn gave him just a few hours of “real” sleep—before he had to be slapped awake to do his early-early program at sunrise—etc.!
Despite this “impossible” schedule, local TV’s busiest bee said it “wasn’t so bad,” because he “somehow” did find some time between shows to take “power naps” that enabled him to still do professional work on-cam.
When we told him that the quality of his work had in fact been negatively affected, despite his best efforts to compensate, he was crestfallen and said he would try to do something about it.
The good news is that he did cut back on his inhumanly hectic work schedule, and does fewer shows these days. But, the “shortcuts” he’s become used to taking still show, so he should cut back some more.
Despite the great temptation of becoming very rich by accepting any and all offers, TV talents should keep reminding themselves that they’re on-cam to entertain and serve the great, big viewing public—so, they have to always do their very best.
That’s the bottom line for even the busiest, buzziest bees in the local TV hive!