As the movie “A League of Their Own” famously made clear, crying may not be allowed in baseball, but there was plenty of heartfelt emotion on WDIV-TV as Local 4 News said goodbye to longtime sportscaster Bernie Smilovitz on Monday night.
In late May, the network officially announced that Smilovitz, along with reporters Mara McDonald and Paula Tatman and business editor Rod Meloni, were leaving through a voluntary separation program that was also paid to several off-air employees.
Smilovitz, who established her upbeat style with regular segments like “Weekend at Bernie’s” and “Bernie’s Bloopers,” joined the network in 1986 and, except for a brief stint in New York in the 1990s, has been a Detroit TV icon ever since.
During the 6pm newscast, Channel 4 anchor Devin Cillian narrated a segment paying tribute to Smilovitz’s work covering every major sporting event and bringing us the nightly highlights for nearly 40 years, saying he understood that “the news was often full of hard-to-hear news, but it was his job to make sure viewers left with a smile on their face.”
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Mitch Albom:Bernie Smilovitz has retired after a successful and successful career.
The segment also discussed the heartbreak Smilovitz endured following the sudden death of his wife Donna Rockwell in 2023, and the sympathy he received from colleagues and viewers. “Bernie has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support, but he’s such a pro that you’d never find a single moment on air where he let out any personal distress,” narrator Cillian said.
Describing the Channel 4 news team as a family “who all got behind Bernie”, Cillian added: “Some of the luckiest families have a comedian at the dinner table who leaves them with a smile and a hearty laugh at the end of the day, and Bernie did that every night.”
Cillian concluded: “Only now have I realised that ‘Smilovitz’ has to start with a smile.”
A visibly moved Smilovitz described the segment as “lovely, just lovely.” “I’ve worked other places where they ask you, ‘When are you leaving?’ They want you to stay and keep doing whatever job you’re doing,” he said.
Smilovitz explained the sense of humor, saying, “I think what I did was I wanted to include everyone in this show. I didn’t want anyone to be left out. I know there are guys who don’t like sports, and I know there are women who don’t like sports, but they all love that scene at the end.”
Before the news ended, Smilovitz’s sons, Zach and Jake, appeared on camera, and Cillian remarked that as the son of a Holocaust survivor, Smilovitz “ultimately had to be extraordinary,” to which Smilovitz replied with his characteristic light touch.
“You’re too kind,” he said. “My parents upstairs are probably thinking, ‘Eh, he’s not that special. Why don’t you just come and live with him for a few days?'”
In late June, Cillian and Gill hosted a similar segment during the 6pm newscast, honouring the careers of McDonald, who joined Channel 4 in 2004, Meloni, who has been with the network since 1995, and Tatman, who joined in 1992.
And in a move that signaled the scale of the takeover, the 6 p.m. newscast ended with a montage of videos and photos of 20 departing staff members, including Smilovitz, MacDonald, Meloni, Tatman, photojournalist Tim Pamplin (better known as NightCam) and local programming director Lo Coppola.
In addition to her 6pm farewell address, she also received a farewell address from anchor Karen Drew during her 4pm newscast, who said, “Thank you as a colleague and as a woman. I’ve walked up to your desk so many times to ask for your advice. … You’ve helped me to become a better woman, a better person. And I’ve shared your wisdom with other young women. And you’re a leader. I really appreciate it. I really do.”
As Drew choked up and hugged her soon-to-be former colleague, Tatman responded with her usual humor: “I told you not to cry!” she joked.
Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.
