New Team For 'The Early Show'

Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, Julie Chen, and Rene´ Syler became the new anchors of The Early Show, CBS News' weekday morning broadcast Monday, Oct. 28, at 7 a.m. ET/PT.

For the premiere, the new team was surprised with a special guest, President Bush.

Well...not quite!

A performance by impersonator Steven Bridges had the anchors almost fooled, with the exception of Chen, who was in on the joke.

It took Bridges a little more than three hours of professional makeup and prosthetics applied to his face before the show to achieve the desired look. It took a whole lot less than that for stylist David Evangelista to give a new look to a Canadian tourist he plucked out of the Plaza crowd.

He ran across the street to the John Barrett Salon at Bergdorf Goodman, and worked his magic with his team of stylists to make her look Hollywood-gorgeous in just one hour.

Part of The Early Show makeover was the introduction of "The Early Line," a segment in which the team takes a look at topics people are talking about where they work and live.

It was an exciting day that concluded with homework. Fun homework, that is! To ease the new anchors into their new positions, senior executive producer Michael Bass asked the team to create biographies of each other. Tuesday, Hannah gave Rene´'s 'Cinderella' story; Wednesday, it was Julie's turn to tell us all about Harry; Thursday, Harry shared what he found out about Julie; and last but not least, Rene´ told us about the journalist who rose to the top of her game, Hannah Storm.

The Early Show will offer a fresh twist on the traditional morning news program: four anchors reporting the top stories of the day, mixed with interviews and features, in a more flexible and spontaneous format. This less-rigid structure is designed to provide the opportunity for more direct exchanges among four distinct personalities, while still offering viewers the staples of news, weather and information they've come to expect.

"First and foremost, the new Early Show is a news program," said Andrew Heyward, president of CBS News, "so we'll continue to provide viewers with the stories and issues of the day, as well as local weather and news.

"But," he adds, "our anchors will also give viewers a more spontaneous broadcast with four distinct personalities adding their own interests to the mix. The result will be a lively, unconventional and engaging program."

Bass explained, "The unique talents and diversity of our anchors give us great flexibility in putting together an informative and interesting broadcast each day. In addition to being free from the conventional format of anchors simply alternating stories for two hours, when news warrants, our anchors won't be chained to the studio. We'll showcase their diverse strengths and interests and give viewers a distinctive alternative in the morning."

Read more about the new team:
Harry Smith
Hannah Storm
Julie Chen
Rene´ Syler