Gail: Hi, everybody. At my desk early today (round of applause for Gail, please) and ready to chat. As luck would have it, I already have a lot of good questions, but not too many for you to jump in if you're lurking out there. So let's get started.

Anne: What has happened to Monica Adams, traffic reporter for KTVI? I haven't seen her on TV in over a week and the morning anchors aren't saying she's "off today".
Thanks!

Gail: TV stations want you to think of their on-air personalities like family. But if Cousin Joe or Aunt Esther disappeared, you might find out why. Not so with your "TV family," where members disappear without notice or explanation. (They don't tell me, either.) No wonder people get worried, or just curious, when someone they're used to seeing is absent. I just hope people call the TV stations if I suddenly disappear.
In any case, KTVI says Monica Adams has been on vacation. Apparently she was on the air today.

kikki2570: This preemption for paid commercial programming on our local stations is truly getting ridiculous. Today (Tuesday, June 30) it was Regis and Kelly that was taken off for a one-hour Time Life Record program. I thought that maybe I was on Channel 3, but no such luck. On the KMOV website for today it still noted Regis & Kelly. I realize that this is not a life or death issue, but we get enough commercials on tv. The entire program shouldn't be one -- and we should be able to expect the programming that was scheduled and that should be there. This is getting very old and very annoying. All it does is drive viewers to other stations, so I don't see how the station doing the preempting benefits.

Gail: You omitted the worst part of that preemption: Anderson Cooper was co-hosting! My DVR also thought "Regis & Kelly" was airing; the least KMOV could do is get its listings -- including the listings, as you point out, on its own website -- correct.
But again, the reason stations preempt a show is so they can sell the time slot for an ad and keep all the money.

SF: Apparently channel 4 has dropped Regis Philbin, as of today, June 29th. Although the age group that Regis appealed to was not the big-spenders that all advertisers love, the "big spenders" are all at work during the hour that Regis was on.

Gail: That's not completely true. "Regis & Kelly" was back Wednesday and today. However, I wouldn't be too surprised by more preemptions in the near future. That's because KMOV is dropping "Regis & Kelly" after like 100 years. (I know!) The good news is that KPLR (Channel 11) is picking it up and will keep it at 9 a.m. weekdays. The move takes place in August.

Ryan: Hi Gail. Great work. Did you see the Game Show Network's first ever award show? It was pretty weak but I didn't see our own Shandi Finnessey there. Can you give us an update on her?

Also, do you think there will be Lost movies in the same vein as the Star Trek movies that came out once the show ended? I very much hope so.

Thanks.

Gail: I somehow missed the GSN Awards. Used to watch that channel a lot, but as cable channels do, it evolved in a direction I didn't enjoy. And when you stop watching a cable channel much, you miss all the promos for new stuff, and it kind of drops off your radar.
As for Shandi, she left GSN in 2007. The last credit I see for her on IMDB.com is "Yappy Broads," a talk show listed as being in production.