Stephanie Edwards

The bloom is back on the Tournament of Roses Parade for veteran television host Stephanie Edwards. The red-haired personality said she is thrilled to be back in the KTLA-TV broadcast booth for this year's New Year's Day parade, especially after being demoted in 2005, then later dropped from the coverage team altogether, after more than 25 years. Edwards will be reunited with co-host Bob Eubanks at the annual Pasadena event, KTLA executives announced Tuesday.

After more than 25 years sharing a warm, cozy booth with co-host Bob Eubanks, Stephanie Edwards found herself perched on a rain-soaked bench Monday morning covering the 117th Tournament of Roses Parade for KTLA-TV Channel 5. Inside the booth this year with veteran Eubanks was KTLA morning news co-anchor Michaela Pereira. "We wanted to add Michaela as a co-host to try something new -- to expand the broadcast," said KTLA spokeswoman Carolyn Aguayo. "We had three co-hosts, basically."

Monday's downpours held a silver lining for KTLA-TV Channel 5, which saw ratings for the Rose Parade soar to the highest levels in seven years as housebound Angelenos watched in large numbers. But the rain didn't douse a simmering controversy over the role of longtime co-host Stephanie Edwards, who some viewers complained was literally sidelined during the soggy telecast. An average of 1.9 million viewers in the Los Angeles area tuned in to KTLA during its live 8 a.m.-to-10:30 a.m.

IT HAPPENS all the time on daytime TV: A longtime couple who you would have sworn was practically Gorilla Glued together blows apart, dramatically, publicly, when a younger woman pops into the picture. But to see it happen at the G-rated Rose Parade? Live? And wet? Three days later and still it's the talk of the town: Stephanie Edwards, L.A.'

WHEN the Rose Parade starts Monday morning at 8, one familiar face won't be among the throngs lining Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. She'll be someplace else, someplace far away, 2,000 miles from Southern California, in fact, up north where it's freezing and people won't pluck roses again till springtime. For the first time since the Carter administration, veteran broadcaster Stephanie Edwards will be MIA from the No.

A lovely teenager named Courtney Chou Lee wore the crown and rode down Colorado Boulevard. But for many people who watched at home Thursday, the real queen of the 120th Rose Parade was the 65-year-old with the brilliant red hair and the relentless smile who described the pageant from high above the parade route.

RE "Edwards Spends This Parade Out in the Cold," by Susan King, Jan. 3, and "Rain on Rose Parade Is OK for KTLA," by Scott Collins, Jan. 4: Memo to KTLA: Some things don't need to be improved. Some things are just tradition, like Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards in the booth for the Rose Parade. After half an hour of this year's format, I turned off the broadcast. For the first time in 25 years, I didn't watch. Why, you ask? Because the spark wasn't there. The repartee wasn't there. The tradition wasn't there.

KTLA dropping Stephanie Edwards from the Rose Parade is like taking the chocolate out of chocolate cake ["One Less Rose on KTLA's Parade Float," by Scott Collins, Dec. 29]. Has station manager Vinnie Malcolm never \o7watched \f7the Rose Parade? For 25-plus years, Stephanie has been the charming one, cracking jokes to Bob Eubanks' stiff, boring delivery. Prior to that, the KTLA parade coverage was hosted by Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows. Ever since, Stephanie has been Steve and Bob has been Jayne.

SO MUCH ugliness in the news to get through each day: the financial crisis, suicide bombings, natural disasters, campaign mudslinging. However, learning that Stephanie Edwards would be back in 2009 to host the KTLA Rose Parade telecast I always used to watch but have skipped for the last two actually made me smile ["It Won't Rain on Her Parade," by Greg Braxton, Sept. 18]. This doesn't occur often while reading the paper nowadays. Steve Campbell Burbank -- GOOD, now I can watch that station's coverage again.

Tony the Tiger can't find his costume, but otherwise the grand opening of the Lucky/Sav-On in Covina is going off without a glitch. With her pale complexion, black tailored suit and flaming carrot top, Lucky pitch-model Stephanie Edwards cuts a striking figure under the vivid fluorescent lighting.