Bryant Gumbel

Ann Curry has had many defenders in her recent battle with NBC and “Today,” whose co-host chair she was, of course, forced to vacate. But the TV personality doesn't win any sympathy from one prominent former"Today"figure. Bryant Gumbel, the broadcaster who presided over the morning program for 15 years, said he feels Curry has received overly favorable treatment. Curry's ouster, Gumbel believes, was a simple matter of ratings, and he wonders why so many observers and commentators have rallied so vocally to her defense.

Bryant Gumbel puts a bow on his 18th season hosting HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on Tuesday night, with the show's annual round-table review. Driven by Gumbel's eye for human-interest stories that examine the role of games and sports in society, "Real Sports" has won 23 Sports Emmy Awards, 15 of them for "Outstanding Sports Journalism. " One of this year's nominees could be Gumbel catching up with the unwanted son of former NFL wide receiver Rae Carruth, a profile that revealed both the worst in human behavior (Carruth hired a hit man to shoot his pregnant girlfriend)

Bryant Gumbel finally has something to say about his famous memo. It has been a little more than a year since the "Today" show host's blistering critique of his fellow workers found its way to the pages of most newspapers around the country. But in that year, Gumbel has said nothing publicly about its contents, except for a veiled on-air reference.

Ann Curry has had many defenders in her recent battle with NBC and “Today,” whose co-host chair she was, of course, forced to vacate. But the TV personality doesn't win any sympathy from one prominent former"Today"figure. Bryant Gumbel, the broadcaster who presided over the morning program for 15 years, said he feels Curry has received overly favorable treatment. Curry's ouster, Gumbel believes, was a simple matter of ratings, and he wonders why so many observers and commentators have rallied so vocally to her defense.

Bryant Gumbel puts a bow on his 18th season hosting HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on Tuesday night, with the show's annual round-table review. Driven by Gumbel's eye for human-interest stories that examine the role of games and sports in society, "Real Sports" has won 23 Sports Emmy Awards, 15 of them for "Outstanding Sports Journalism. " One of this year's nominees could be Gumbel catching up with the unwanted son of former NFL wide receiver Rae Carruth, a profile that revealed both the worst in human behavior (Carruth hired a hit man to shoot his pregnant girlfriend)

CBS has signed former NBC "Today" show anchor Bryant Gumbel to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar contract that will move him from early mornings to prime time, sources said Wednesday. The network is expected to announce today that it has lured Gumbel with an unusual offer that includes hosting a prime-time newsmagazine and making him a partner in developing syndicated programming with CBS' Eyemark Entertainment. The deal--which includes stock options in Westinghouse Electric Corp.

Bryant Gumbel has finally shown the world what a high-class, charming gentleman he truly is. Gumbel was seen on-camera, in front of millions of viewers, clearly mouthing the words, "What a [expletive] idiot!" in apparent reference to a guest he had just interviewed on his CBS morning show. The interview had concluded and Gumbel thought the camera was turned off him; it was not.

Bryant Gumbel's Olympic Games, featuring TV studio host Bryant Gumbel himself, are just around the corner. Sixteen days of coverage on NBC, four and a half hours a day, for 180 million viewers. That adds up to almost 13 billion viewer hours of Bryant Gumbel, minus commercial breaks and the obligatory coverage of running and jumping. You'll see Carl and Flo-Jo on the big oval, David Robinson and the hoopsters, graceful Greg Louganis, all your favorites.

The alarm clock is jangling for CBS' "This Morning" but the network is finding it slow-going to drag the broadcast out of bed. A dramatic overhaul of the third-place program, from a new studio to replacing main anchors Mark McEwen and Jane Robelot, has quickly moved to high priority, but the network's ambitious plans, being spearheaded by CBS Television President Leslie Moonves and CBS News President Andrew Heyward, aren't easily falling in place.

Somewhere within the ordered chaos of Bryant Gumbel's small office on the third floor of Rockefeller Plaza is a letter, its edges yellowed and its message faded. * The note, circa 1981, was sent by a veteran NBC News reporter based in Germany. This man tells Gumbel to "keep your chin up." He tells him not to worry about those shrill skeptics carping about his appointment as host of the "Today" show.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of June 17 - 23 in PDF format TV listings for the week of June 17 - 23 in PDF format are also available here This week's TV Movies CBS This Morning Author Don Winslow. (N) 7 a.m. KCBS Today Financial assistance for people seeking fertility treatments; Sally Koslow; traveling with toddlers. (N) 7 a.m. KNBC KTLA Morning News (N) 7 a.m. KTLA Good Morning America (N)

While Dodgers and Angels fans still wrestle with thoughts of "what-if," the East Coast media have virtually thanked our local teams for stepping out of the way so the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies can occupy the World Series stage. An example of that sentiment was provided by Bryant Gumbel on HBO's "Real Sports. "I will admit up front to some bias, and I'll certainly understand if the folks in Anaheim would beg to differ, but having the Yankees in the World Series is clearly in the best interest of Major League Baseball," Gumbel said.

Please inform the millions of frustrated fans who do not get the NFL Network to relax and be thankful. Having to listen to Bryant Gumbel for over three hours is absolute torture. Richard Whorton Valley Village

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard appears on tonight's edition of HBO's "Real Sports," where he comes clean with an admission that will shock America. Howard, the National League's reigning most valuable player, lives off an allowance from his mom, who serves as his financial advisor. During an interview with Bryant Gumbel, Howard reveals that his mother, Cheryl, is his accountant who "handles the funds. Like, I'll get it, and then I won't see it.

Sometimes, life does go in circles. In 1974 and '75, Bryant Gumbel, then a sports anchor and reporter for Channel 4, was the host of the weekly, half-hour "John McKay Show." It was a good break for a young sportscaster. Ross Porter, Channel 4's main sports anchor at the time, had to give up the McKay show because he was announcing NFL games for NBC. It wasn't a difficult show to do. McKay would show up at the Channel 4 studios on Sundays to talk about the previous day's game.

A consumer's guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it's in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed. What: "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel." Where: HBO, Tuesday, 10 p.m. Former Chicago Bear Alonzo Spellman, a 1990 first-round draft choice from Ohio State, talks with Bryant Gumbel about his bipolar disorder in this edition of "Real Sports."

Barely two months after ABC brought back two veterans of the morning show wars to boost its ailing a.m. offering, CBS on Monday confirmed its own poorly held secret to do the same. After six months of wooing by network officials, Bryant Gumbel has agreed to once again wake up at 4:10 each morning and co-host CBS' long-suffering "This Morning." Gumbel will take the reins, the network announced, in a new $30-million open-view digital set overlooking Fifth Avenue and Central Park.

For a man who has a $7-million-a-year contract and a new prime-time newsmagazine riding on his shoulders, Bryant Gumbel looks pretty relaxed. He's wearing a hip tweed sports jacket, a polo shirt and shoes with no socks while he works in a temporary office down the hall from "60 Minutes." "When I came over here, I wore a coat and tie for five days," says Gumbel, who left NBC for CBS this summer after hosting the "Today" show for 15 years.