Robert Feder reviews the "new" Good Day Chicago

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: By Robert Feder, Vocalo : : Snafus aside, �Good Day� team gets off to a smooth start : Though plagued by technical problems and an excruciatingly slow news day, Corey McPherrin and Anna Davlantes got off to a comfortable start Monday as the new primary hosts of WFLD-Channel 32�s �Good Day Chicago.� : McPherrin, in particular, was so smooth and relaxed in the role that if you didn�t know better, you�d swear he�d spent his career as a talk show host rather than a sports anchor, which had been his job at the Fox-owned station until just this week. Together McPherrin and Davlantes make an attractive and personable team. : Other than the two new hosts, the most notable addition to the program�s 7-to-10 a.m. block was a recurring bit called �Mike on a Mission,� featuring Michael Kinsella, executive assistant to the station�s news director, Carol Fowler. As McPherrin pointed out in his introduction, Kinsella also happens to be the grandson of one of Chicago television�s most illustrious legends, the late Floyd Kalber, who was a top-rated anchorman for decades at both NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5 and ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7. : Kinsella�s opening day �mission� consisted of riding around town on Davlantes� Vespa, trying to persuade public establishments � health clubs, restaurants and department stores � to switch their television sets to �Good Day Chicago.� (More than one turned him down, insisting on keeping their sets tuned to �The WGN Morning News.�) By the end of his third segment, he reported back by cell phone that he�d converted �at least 10 � maybe 20 � more viewers.� Not quite a Nielsen landslide. : Earlier, Kinsella acknowledged the silliness of his role, sheepishly telling McPherrin and Davlantes: �I don�t know if this quite lives up to Grandpa Floyd.� Here�s hoping future assignments for the likable young man prove a bit more substantive. : Three hours is a lot of airtime to fill, but McPherrin and Davlantes managed to maintain a high energy level and steady pace throughout the show, bouncing from anchor desk to easy chairs and back again about a dozen times. Even on Day One, it�s obvious that the two have better chemistry (and significantly stronger ties to their hometown Chicago) than the two hopelessly miscast outsiders they replaced � Jan Jeffcoat and David Novarro. : By far the most interesting piece on the show was a feature by McPherrin in which he visited the seldom-seen basement and fourth floor of Harry Caray�s Restaurant, pointing out the former haunts of Capone-era mobster Frank Nitti. Managing partner Grant DePorter proved to be a gracious and good-humored host for the tour. : Whether the result of recent cutbacks among technical employees or just bad luck, audio problems and missed camera cues abounded during Monday�s opener. A live shot from O�Hare showed reporter Anita Padilla�s lips moving without any sound coming out. About an hour later, weatherman Chris Sowers� microphone conked out, forcing him to deliver an entire forecast while awkwardly speaking into the lapel of the considerably taller news anchor Kori Chambers. A satellite interview from New York with Judge Jeanine Pirro (whose syndicated courtroom show airs on the station) almost didn�t get off the ground. McPherrin vamped ably until the signal was restored. : Monday also marked the new 4:30 a.m. start time for Channel 32�s morning news block � a fact that apparently slipped McPherrin�s mind. At the end of the show, he invited viewers to come back the following morning � �at 5 a.m.� But as he might have said during his sportscasting days: No harm, no foul.

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