In the Dark With Channel 4 News Anchors

The Channel 4 News anchors were left in the dark Thursday night during their 11 p.m. newscast when “a technical problem” at KNBC-TV knocked out all of the studio lights.

But that didn’t prevent them from plodding ahead with flashlights, nor did it prevent weatherman Fritz Coleman and sportscaster Fred Roggin, reporting from the well-lit newsroom, from turning the newscast into a great big joke.

Surrounded by darkness, anchors Kelly Lange and Keith Morrison actually looked great as they sat close together in the soft makeshift lighting, reading the day’s news and chuckling about the “eerie” scene around them. Coleman even reported that viewers had called in approving of the “Martin Scorsese-like” atmosphere down in the studio, and, indeed, compared to the washed-out brightness of the newsroom, the anchors did look as if they were being shot on film rather than videotape.

For a bedtime newscast, the intimate, soft lighting worked nicely.

But dealing with a pitch black studio filled with flashlight-toting technicians is no easy task, so the station decided to keep its “specialists”--Coleman, Roggin and entertainment critic David Sheehan--upstairs where viewers could see them clearly.

And they made the most of their night in the spotlight.

Freed of the confines of the anchor desk, Coleman, with newsroom phones ringing throughout, talked about the weather over pictures of Elvis Presley and reported on an Arizona radio station’s attempts to determine once and for all whether the late singer is alive or dead.

(Two weeks ago, KNBC had vigorously criticized and poked fun at rival station KABC-TV’s series of special reports on the same subject, bragging that if viewers want “real news,” they should turn to Channel 4. The station also has been regularly congratulating itself on the air for winning more Emmys for excellence in news than any other local station.)

Then, at the end of Coleman’s report, Roggin conspicuously danced around in the background, shining a flashlight on Coleman’s face in mock appreciation of the lighting efforts going on down in the studio.

Not to be eclipsed by his sportscasting pal, Coleman retaliated by shoving his face beside Roggin’s at the end of the sports report like a child grabbing the attention of a home movie camera, and, together, flashing big grins for a prank well done, the two “pals” bid good night to the anchors struggling blindly ahead.

KNBC management would not comment on this incident nor would they permit Lange or Morrison to say anything about their happy-go-lucky night in the dark.