What?? You Actually Believed It?

Did you ever get a press release from a Public Relations person and believe what was written on it? If you do, you're either new in the news business or a very trusting soul. Either way, you're in for a big let down. You aren't going to get what you read about. It's like when a package at the grocery store says "New and Improved!!" so you buy it and then when you get home you notice that they've put less in the box and you've paid more money for less product.

So, where am I going with this? Well recently I was sent to a location for a live shot where we have been before. I wrote about it here. It's the house that was used in the movie, A Christmas Story. Basically, a guy bought the house and was renovating it to look like the house did in the movie. He's looking to turn it into a tourist attraction and museum. Well it has been nine months since we were last there and now, the day has arrived. To quote the press release, "The house used in the popular holiday classic, A Christmas Story has been restored to it's original 1983 movie appearance."

I get to the house to set up the shot and am just stopped in my tracks by what I see. It is incredible. Remarkable. Astounding. I can't find my thesaurus to come up with more words to describe what I saw. So I'll let the pictures I took show you the house in it's glory.






And now, onto the inside. It was just amazing how good it looked. They did a hell of a job.







Yeah, it's a beautiful renovation alright. We were handed chicken shit so we made chicken shit sandwiches and fed it to the public. I can't begin to tell you how upset I was at having to do the live shot here. My reporter felt the same way. I swear, if I'm ever given a press release for a live shot at this house, I'm heading out ASAP and eyeballing it.

And if you ever believe a press release from a PR person again, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.