…the third week of December! Okay, maybe that’s not as catchy as an SNL opening, but for everyone who follows our Instagram photos and asked for the videos to go with the silly pictures below, here you go. We never expected to write a sentence like that, but it’s been a busy week in the live TV department. Also, about the picture on the right — we didn’t plan to match the set. It just happened, and it was hilarious.
By coincidence, two local Richmond stations invited us to appear on their live programs this week. That meant whatever we said went straight to viewers’ television sets with almost no delay. Yikes. Wait, let me rephrase that. YIKES.
The first appearance was Tuesday on NBC’s “First at 4.” We were invited by local newsman and social media fan Ryan Nobles, who’d interviewed us about a year and a half ago in our house about radon (you can find that clip linked at the end of one of our earlier posts). It was fun to be welcomed back to his studio this time around.
Check out the weatherman, Ros Runner, doing his forecast in front of the green screen in the background.
Here’s our brief interview with Ryan. It was relatively tame on the embarrassment scale, except for one moment when Sherry declared that chalkboard paint is great because “you can tell people what to do” — and then repeated it. She says she couldn’t stop saying it.
Funny behind-the-scenes moment: as soon as Sherry and I stood where we were supposed to, the producer said, “I’m gonna get her a box.” My short wife stood on a little booster behind the news desk the whole time. Cute, right? And if you ever wondered whether newscasters wear pants behind the desk — they do.
Thanks again to Ryan and everyone at NBC12 for having us last Tuesday. And thanks to whatever live-TV guardian angel kept us from slipping up — no cursing, fainting, or accidentally saying “fart” instead of “art.”
With that boost of on-camera confidence, we arrived Thursday morning at CBS6 for our second appearance. We were still nervous, but slightly less queasy. Sherry vowed not to say “tell people what to do” this time and swapped her usual black blazer for a bright orange one. She prefers to call it coral; I’m sticking with orange.
This was a program we’d been on before — a local morning show called Virginia This Morning — so familiarity helped calm our nerves. We’ve known the hosts since a 2009 interview, and they were the ones Sherry contacted years ago to try to bring The Nate Berkus Show to Richmond (that plan didn’t pan out, but the effort was memorable).
We learned when we arrived that we’d have not one, but two five-minute segments. Gulp. Thankfully the hosts were warm and friendly, which made everything feel easy. In the first clip we talked about thrift store finds, Clara’s favorite tool, and a fun hybrid celebrity name the host gave us in the introduction.
While waiting for our second segment we got to enjoy a local tween jazz band playing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Spot any future stars?
We closed the show with a second segment featuring quick projects from our book that make great last-minute stocking stuffers or hostess gifts. Sherry even raised her fist in the air for Jersey — really, that happened — and we managed to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions or FCC-worthy moments. Huzzah!
We’re grateful to head into the holiday week knowing we didn’t embarrass ourselves or get banned from Richmond television for life. Big thanks to the teams at each station: it was great seeing Ryan Nobles again, and Jessica Noll was so easy to talk to that we could’ve gone on for hours. But I don’t think they’re ready to add “The Petersiks Blab On And On” to their lineup anytime soon.
Have you ever had a TV experience that went well — or not so well? Did you cash in on your 15 minutes of fame or get recognized afterward? Any awkward first-show choices like dangly earrings? (Sherry did that and then, flustered, grabbed the orange blazer for the second show.) We’d love to hear your stories.