Best Reason Not to Watch WJZ-TV: Marty Bass
(Baltimore City Paper, 1996 “Best of Baltimore” issue, 9/18/1996)
There are so many reasons it’s hard to pick just one. There’s the phony Sally Thorner, the grating Richard Sher, the faux-ditzy Denise Koch, the genuinely ditzy Stan Saunders, the plastic Kai Jackson, and the evil station management that allows these clowns to pass as journalists and shamelessly frees up news time to plug other WJZ programs. As bad as all that is, though, it pales in comparison to Marty Bass. No one else on local TV, or perhaps on the planet, is so unabashedly pleased with himself, and for no good reason. His loud and rambling weather reports serve only as vehicles to hog airtime, and afterward you don’t have a clue whether to take the umbrella or leave it home. Plus his hyper, “Look at me! Look at me!” performances on WJZ’s morning programs are a daily embarrassment (or oughta be) to the station and to Bass’ coanchor, the sedate Don Scott. At least the plug has been pulled on the nightly newscast’s inane “Mondo Basso” segments, which were anything but mondo and were full of Bass mugging for the camera. After two decades at WJZ, it doesn’t look as if Bass will be heading back to his native Texas any time soon, but we can always hope.
