D
ean Richards had an entire career before he started working at WGN- TV . He had been working in radio for nearly twenty years at stations like WFYR , WCFL , WIND , WCLR , WNUA , and WGN Radio . He had been a morning host , program director , and production director and held down nearly every day on the air .
The beginning of his television was almost accidental . “ I started doing booth announcing ,” he explains . “ That was my foot in the door at WGN-TV . One of the midday show producers , David Rosenberg , was a fan of my radio show at the time and would invite me to come on the midday show to do movie and theater reviews . He liked that I was kind of a smartass , and I didn ' t really hold anything back . Larry Potash , who , at the time , still had to stick around and anchor the midday show in addition to mornings , said , “ You need to be on the morning show .”
Before he knew it , he was part of the show . “ I was just doing it because I thought it was fun , and I was doing it because I really what motivated me was a different way of storytelling , you know , different than I had done my entire career , which had been strictly radio . I loved that I was learning new things and learning new ways of storytelling with the visual component added to it that I ' d never done before . So , I did it for free for a while , but I was there so much that I finally went to them and said , ‘ I ' m here all the time . I ' m doing stuff for you guys all the time , and if I ' m going to continue this , I ’ ve got to be paid .” It ’ s honestly something I never in a million years would have thought could happen . It wasn ’ t something that I had in my mind as a goal , that I wanted to be on TV . It was stupid , dumb luck . I was just lucky that it happened to be on the number one show .”
While there was a learning curve involved picking up the nuances of television , Dean ’ s radio career really did prepare him for this big chance . “ I remember one time the teleprompters went down , and everybody was freaked out , and it didn ' t bother me a bit . They said , ‘ how are you completely unaffected by this ?’ Well , I do a four-hour radio talk show without a net . I could literally sit here and talk for four hours straight without a break if I needed to do that .”
Now he ’ s not just a part of the show , he has one of the highest profile roles . He ’ s the guy who does all the showbiz junkets . He ’ s the one who gets to interview most of the celebrities . “ There ’ s a benefit to doing it for 25 years ,” he says . “ They know who I am . They trust me . They know that it ' s not going to be a confrontational interview , usually with me . I mean , there have been a few .”
Like the time Mel Gibson called him an asshole for bringing up the drunk driving incident . “ Yeah , that ' s the most famous and has long since been resolved . But those hap-
By Rick Kaempfer
CHICAGO ’ S VERY OWN DEAN RICHARDS
pen less and less now . Now I walk into the room , and they know me , my name , they remember things that we talked about . They remembered that they had a nice time . They remember in addition to talking about their movies , we talk about some fun things . It ' s not the same old questions that they get over and over again .”
Does he have any favorites ? “ Tom Hanks is always at the top of that list . Yeah , he is as nice as he seems . That ' s exactly how he is . He couldn ' t be any nicer . Meryl Streep is , you know , arguably the biggest movie star in the world , and is the only one that when you walk in the room , she stands up to shake
WGN ’ S Dean Richards
your hand like a person who actually has manners . I just talked to Vince Vaughn a couple of weeks ago . The Chicago people are , you know , I think they ' re exceptional . Bonnie Hunt is a longtime favorite . With the Chicago people , when they hear WGN , their eyes open up . They want to talk about the Grand Prize Game and Bozo and the Cubs .”
Last month , the WGN-TV Morning News celebrated its 30th anniversary , and it remains the # 1 show in Chicago , surpassing both The Today Show and Good Morning America . “ I think what makes the show work is we really do like each other ,” Dean says . “ We really do hang out . We really do care about each other . We know each other ' s families . What you see is the way that it is . If somebody ' s having a bad day , you can pretty much tell on the air and there ' s probably two others at the desk who are going to give them shit for it . There are no prima donnas on our show . I ' ve worked with some wonderful people , but never like this group . This is an exceptional group . I ' m happy that they ' re my friends ; I ' m proud that they ' re my friends . We always have each other ' s back . It ' s more than just a professional relationship . Larry , Robin , Paul , Pat , and our newest addition , Brhett Vickery , who brought her normal , charming , and slightly irreverent personality into the show . We ’ re a family .”
Dean Richards can be seen on weekday mornings on WGN-TV and heard on Sunday mornings ( 9 am-1 pm ) on WGN Radio . october 2024 illinoisentertainer . com 19