With the exception of ESPN and other sporting events it is rare to see two men anchoring the news together. It wasn’t always that way, in fact, most news organizations remained male dominated workplaces until the 1970s. The Huntley Brinkley report on NBC led the way and local stations also paired men together. For the record, Channel 3 first added a female co-anchor to our news in 1969. Read about her here: https://dennishouse.tv/2014/12/19/mourning-a-connecticut-tv-pioneer/

At WFSB, Pat Sheehan and Al Terzi co-anchored the news and in the fall of 1979, we introduced a new team: Don Lark and Bill O’Reilly. In this Sunday’s Face the State flashback, you’ll see a clip from a newscast in January of 1980 of an anchor team that would be dissolved with six months. Read O’Reilly’s autobiography for his version of what went wrong.

On this particular night, Don and Bill were delivering breaking news. A three year old boy was missing on a bitterly cold night. Christopher Labonte was later found safe and sound, thanks to his dog. If you know were Chris is today, let me know.

The report was filed by Luis Chaluisan, who was one of the best names I’ve heard on what is a long list of reporters and anchors who have worked for Channel 3.

Watch the flashback right here and give us a heads up if you know Christopher Labonte. http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11110039