"KARE11 Sunrise" trotted out "Run with Sven" to almost instant parody Friday.
Sven Sundgaard, the incredibly buff KARE 11 meteorologist, was allowed to incorporate his favorite form of exercise into his on-air workday as he promoted upcoming races and the metro's system of trails. In a rare shirted sighting, he was joined on the trot around Lake Calhoun by his sister Sonja and nephew Owen, in a stroller, while KARE 11 photographer Tom Cornell rode ahead of them in a golf cart.
WCCO-TV's morning show meteorologist Mike Augustyniak made a joke about it being "Tank Top Friday." Then the inscrutable Augustyniak quipped, "Some people may have been shopping at Baby Gap to buy their tank top." That cracked up anchor Angela Davis, who seemed unacquainted with the jokes in local broadcasting circles that Sundgaard likes to wear smaller sizes to show off his muscles.
"Let's keep it classy, Twin Cities," Augustyniak said.
On Monday Augustyniak wouldn't confirm he was making a veiled reference to Sven's run around the lake. "Was he doing that? Naw, I went on the air at 5 [a.m.] and was talking about 'Tank Top Friday.' I just do my own thing," said Augustyniak. "If he was doing that it wasn't a direct note, it wasn't on purpose."
May we expect to see Augustyniak running outside in a tank top? "You're never going to see me on TV in a tank top. Nobody needs to see that."
While Augustyniak maintains his remarks were not inspired by KARE's Svensation, FOX 9 talents were not coy.
During the 8 a.m. hour of Friday's "FOX 9 Morning Show," on-air talents began fake-jogging past the green screen used for meteorologic and traffic reports. "I'll be right back, I'm going to get my tank top," yelled anchor Jason Matheson as he ran out of the shot.
At the end of "FOX 9 Buzz," during a segment shot outside with co-anchor Alix Kendall, Matheson introduced the next phase of the jape by saying, "We don't want to be outdone here on FOX 9 news." Without mentioning a competitor's call letters, Matheson said another station had a staffer out doing "Run with Somebody" and announced FOX's own "Walk with Keith."
That was Keith Marler, FOX 9 meteorologist and the 2012 winner of FM107.1's January bracket contest "Mr. Manuary." As the theme to "Chariots of Fire" played, Marler began walking and playfully complaining that he wasn't appropriately dressed in his suit, shirt and tie. From behind a truck appeared anchor Tom Butler and traffic reporter Kelsey Soby, with a towel, water bottle and a tank top way too small for Marler. Marler held the teeny top to his chest as he walked around the parking lot, his progress captured from above by the tower camera.
I asked Sundgaard via Twitter if he caught the FOX 9 parody. "I heard," he replied.
"Nice," said KARE11 Sunrise anchor Tim McNiff. "They must have done it on the fly because we really didn't have a lot of advance notice [Sven would be jogging]. If I was FOX 9, I'd be watching 'KARE11 Sunrise,' too."
Don't worry. The May sweeps are just about over with; soon everybody will go back to doing their own thing.
Salon owner's star turnSusan Eyton has assessed the talent on "Dancing With The Stars" from a front-row seat, and she says William Levy looks like the winner.
With tickets from a Twin Cities benefit, Eyton, the owner of Wayzata's E SalonSpa and SuzeECosmetics, attended last week's episode of the ABC show that saw Maria Menounos bounced. The finale is Tuesday night.
"I did leap up to shake [show host's] Tom Bergeron's hand; it was so soft," said Eyton. "I told him I was a fan and from Minnesota just like Samantha Harris, his past co-host." Based on how comedian Chelsea Handler has quipped that nobody misses Harris, I don't know if that was the best name to drop.
From where Eyton sat, Harris' successor Brooke Burke Charvet and judge Carrie Ann Inaba have some audience development work to do. "They just never even looked out in the audience and they're beautiful women. They never checked anything out, they were just on a mission, probably to come do their job and get the heck out of there. It's nice when you say 'Hi' to the audience; they like that. [Judge] Bruno Tonioli did that and it was cool."
To Tonioli, Eyton said, "'You're darling,' and I pointed my finger." She said he responded Thank you.
You think William Levy is going to win?
"Hell yeah," Eyton. "Women, everybody loves him. He's a beautiful man."
C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. More of her attitude can be viewed on FOX 9 Thursday mornings.
Massive burritos, brothless ramen, cake muffin and a cup of Dayton’s nostalgia.