Dorothy Lucey on Good Day LA, Surviving Live TV, and Life After the Morning News She woke up Los Angeles for nearly two decades with wit, warmth, and fearless honesty. Dorothy Lucey, the longtime co-host of Good Day LA, joins Steve Kmetko for a surprise-filled episode of Still Here Hollywood that’s equal parts laughter, nostalgia, and truth-telling. From newsroom chaos to red carpet interviews, Dorothy shares candid stories about her career in television—what it was really like working alongside Steve Edwards and Jillian Barberie, the behind-the-scenes tensions that made great TV, and the morning her boss told her she “made his eyes bleed.” She opens up about the gift and heartbreak of being fired, teaching the next generation of broadcasters, and the surprising turns life takes when you let go of control. Along the way, Dorothy and Steve revisit their early newsroom days together, Madonna’s big break, boozy lunches, and even a baby shower that featured a real Oscar on the beach. In this episode: Behind-the-scenes of Good Day LA—friendships, fights, and live TV chaos Why George Clooney is everyone’s favorite interview The Madonna story Dorothy swears proves she “launched” her Getting fired live on Oscar morning—and why she calls it a gift wrapped in trouble Teaching, charity work, motherhood, and life after the spotlight Memories with Steve Kmetko: Emmy wins, newsroom scandals, and surviving the grind of morning TV Why watch: It’s not just a trip down memory lane—it’s a smart, hilarious, and heartfelt conversation with one of LA’s most iconic broadcasters. Keywords / tags: Dorothy Lucey, Good Day LA, KTTV Fox 11, Steve Edwards, Jillian Barberie, Los Angeles TV, morning shows, entertainment reporting, Steve Kmetko, Still Here Hollywood, celebrity interviews, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Madonna, Sophia Loren, Jane Fonda, classic TV journalism, women in broadcasting Hashtags: #DorothyLucey #GoodDayLA #StillHereHollywood #SteveKmetko #HollywoodStories #ClassicTV #EntertainmentNews
Steve Kmetko
Yes, I'm Still Here Hollywood. And coming up on today's episode. Energy, she woke up Los Angeles for decades, bringing charms, sass and smarts to the morning news like nobody else. Whether she was interviewing A-listers bantering with co-hosts, or keeping it hilariously real on live tv, she became a local legend and a Tinseltown favorite. This is Still Here Hollywood. I'm Steve Kmetko. Join me with today's guest, LA Morning news fixture, and my friend, who my producer sneakily surprised me with Dorothy Lucey.
If this is your first time watching or listening to still hear Hollywood, what took you so long, even if you're a longtime fan, I have a favor to ask. If you feel it in your heart, please like and follow us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to us, or if you watch on YouTube, please subscribe. And with both, it would be great if you rated and commented on your favorite episodes. Thank you so much. And now on with the show.
Dorothy Lucey
Surprise.
Steve Kmetko
What are you doing here? What are you doing here?
Dorothy Lucey
That's your Hello.
Steve Kmetko
That's my Hello. I'm a little surprised.
Dorothy Lucey
Surprise.
Steve Kmetko
I haven't done my research on this.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh geez!
Steve Kmetko
I haven't done my homework.
Dorothy Lucey
Do you know anything about me?
Steve Kmetko
No, nothing. Well, you're catching me off guard, Dorothy. I didn't know you were coming in today. This was a surprise attack. This was out of attack.
Dorothy Lucey
I wanted a cake to jump out of, but you know, I don't see one.
Steve Kmetko
So, we worked together. When was that?
Dorothy Lucey
10,000 years ago.
Steve Kmetko
Was it that long?
Dorothy Lucey
From the time of the T-Rex.
Steve Kmetko
He shared an office with us too?
Dorothy Lucey
No, you had your own office. I was in like, you know, with everybody else, but everybody else was like Ann Curry and--
Steve Kmetko
I know Paula Zahn and Chris Blatchford and Bill Sternoff, Jim Lampley. Remember?
Dorothy Lucey
that was, that office had a lot of fame. Pat O'Brien, a lot of famous people did terrible things in that office over the years.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. We won't go into that. Jim Lamply. Bree Walker. That was the period of time we were there. When I first got to KCBS. Connie Chung was anchoring.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh my. And was Brent Musburger there?
Steve Kmetko
No, no, I'm not that old.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I guess I am, but we don't have to talk about that. You were, I learned working with you a political junkie.
Dorothy Lucey
I always thought I would work on Capitol Hill and failed at that. Went into television.
Steve Kmetko
Instead. How did you end up in journalism?
Dorothy Lucey
Well, I went into school I went to GW thinking that I would do something. I mean, it was in DC but I wound up majoring in broadcast communications, which back then was like, kind of a new thing. like now, I teach those classes and I say to my students, I was like one of the early broadcast journalist students.
Steve Kmetko
What has surprised you? I did a little teaching also at my alma mater in Chicago, Columbia College. And what surprised me is how little they came in knowing, you know.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, and for me, how little I left knowing because I didn't have a tape. I mean, we didn't, you know, this is.
Steve Kmetko
Right.
Dorothy Lucey
Back in the old days.
Steve Kmetko
One of the classes I did was about onscreen presentation or on-air presentation.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, I teach that.
Steve Kmetko
Well, do you? That was the class that was that I was supposedly helming. And one day I sat down and had them watch the Kennedy assassination. They didn't know who Walter Cronkite was, which kind of surprised me. I mean, of all the people with a possible exception of Edward R. Murrow of a people.
Dorothy Lucey
Who I've heard called Edward R. Murrow, or Murrow. I'm like, no.
Steve Kmetko
I know. Doesn't that surprise you? How many things you hear mispronounced Or One weekend when I was here watching, not calling you and watching television it was--
Dorothy Lucey
We could have been hanging out there.
Steve Kmetko
It was KNBC. They were talking about the greatest year in movie history, which everybody knows it's 1939 Wizard of Oz, gone with the Wind, et cetera, et cetera. And the anchor--
Dorothy Lucey
Wait, which it's a wonderful life.
Steve Kmetko
I forget.
Dorothy Lucey
Okay. Because that to me is the best movie ever made.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, no.
Dorothy Lucey
We can disagree.
Steve Kmetko
Okay. Agree to disagree. That's a popular phrase. But she said 1938. So, like, I'm screaming at the TV 1938. It's 1939. If you're going to do this, do it right.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh my God. I think I'm going to have to interview you since you feel like you are not prepared to interview me. Steve Kmetko, who are you really?
Steve Kmetko
I have no idea. And if you find out, don't tell me.
Dorothy Lucey
Do you know when we started working together? Because you were there at CBS before me. I came there and I was like, why is this man better looking than me? Why am I working with a co-host who is prettier than me? But that was my welcome to LA. My co-host was prettier than me.
Steve Kmetko
Oh God. I could tell you stories, but it would make me sound like such a snot. There was a female woman, that I co-hosted a weekend newscast with who I thought was just stunning. And I found out she didn't want to co-host with me because I was--
Dorothy Lucey
Better looking!
Steve Kmetko
So much younger.
Dorothy Lucey
Okay.
Steve Kmetko
Then she was.
Dorothy Lucey
I think at some point did we get an Emmy? I feel like I at some point gave a speech and said, what a shame that my go is just so much better looking than me.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I don't remember that one.
Dorothy Lucey
We must have gotten some award for Studio 22. Because I know I made that speech somewhere.
Steve Kmetko
Well, it's got to be on tape. So, did you think you'd be doing this this long? What are you doing now besides teaching?
Dorothy Lucey
I'm mostly goofing off Teaching is my one day a week job. I teach one college class a semester, one day a week. You know, without sounding self-serving, I do a bunch of charity work.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, yes. Right. You do.
Dorothy Lucey
And I goof off.
Steve Kmetko
And you goof off.
Dorothy Lucey
And I have an occasional boozy lunch with girlfriends. That's pretty much it.
Steve Kmetko
It's one o'clock somewhere.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. Routinely try and ignore my husband who retired recently and is around a lot.
Steve Kmetko
And the eyes are watching. Tell me, I don't know what to talk to you about Dorothy. I know everything about you.
Dorothy Lucey
I can tell stories about him. Should I tell stories about him?
Steve Kmetko
No, don't tell stories about me.
Dorothy Lucey
Do you know?
Steve Kmetko
There are none.
Dorothy Lucey
I was thinking about this on the way here. It is such an odd memory. I have Thanksgiving once at your house. And you must have had like a chef or a caterer. Why do I remember this? You had like a squash or pumpkin soup and it was in a pumpkin. And I was like, this California. Wow. LA is fancy.
Steve Kmetko
Well, a friend of mine was a caterer. And I wanted to have, you know, I loved my home and I wanted to have a thanksgiving dinner. Kirk and I was with Kirk at the time. And so, this friend of mine, I hired him mark. Was his name and Marsh Sheldon--
Dorothy Lucey
He carved these pumpkins Beautifully.
Steve Kmetko
Oh. And yeah, he had lots of great ideas. And, and it was a fun time. And every, nobody left early, which I thought was a good, a good sign.
Dorothy Lucey
The whole way driving here, I was thinking about funny memories of us. And here's the weird thing. I have so many memories of you that you are not necessarily a part of. Like, once, I guess you were sick and I sat in for you at the CBS Morning news, which was a huge deal. Because I mean, I was, you know, little local tv. You had moved on to network at that point. And I worked with your producers and it was all, you know, very Ladi Dary, local news person. And then the next day they sent me flowers and I was like; this is not local TV. And then I also thought about my baby shower, which you came to, and you didn't tell me till years later. I guess you thought it was Saturday. So, you came Saturday and then you came back on Sunday, which was the actual day of the shower.
Steve Kmetko
I must have killed those brain cells. I don't remember that. I remember being there and the shower was on the beach.
Dorothy Lucey
And I remember the person you were with, and I was sitting next to that person years later at some event, and I said, you were my baby shower. And he was like, oh my God, you're right. I was.
Steve Kmetko
Okay. We won't talk about him now. Not there's anything bad to say, but I do remember Danny Tobias, one of the funniest people in the history of humanity. He somebody who, he knew somebody who was there, who had won an Oscar like a couple of nights before or something.
Dorothy Lucey
No, it was David's cousin.
Steve Kmetko
David's cousin.
Dorothy Lucey
My husband's cousin. Who, well, my husband's cousin was married to the person and is no longer married to the person who won the Oscar. And brought the Oscar to the baby shower.
Steve Kmetko
And daddy said, where do they keep the Oscar? And I said, probably in the glove compartment. And we had many laughs over that one. But it's just so strange for somebody to pull out an Oscar at a baby shower on the beach.
Dorothy Lucey
I mean, somewhere I have pictures of us and my bump and the Oscar.
Steve Kmetko
Okay. Let's the folks in at home in, on this. How old is that baby bump now?
Dorothy Lucey
Oh my God, that baby is--
Steve Kmetko
Nash is--
Dorothy Lucey
A married man. 27.
Steve Kmetko
27. Is that long ago, huh?
Dorothy Lucey
Mm-Hmm.
Steve Kmetko
We are both still at CBS. Were you, you were still at CBS, weren't you? Or were you?
Dorothy Lucey
Where was I? No, I was at Fox then. I was trying to remember where was, where was I pregnant and what I remember the most, because I was doing the morning news is sitting on the set with the hot lights and almost fainting a couple of times. You know, just because I don't know, your, your body does all sorts of weird things when you're pregnant in the hot and just thinking, I cannot faint. We are live, don't faint.
Steve Kmetko
I've had that feeling about throwing up. You could not throw up.
Dorothy Lucey
Don't throw up.
Steve Kmetko
Oh God.
Dorothy Lucey
Make it to the bathroom.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. How did it feel the first time someone recognized you on the street as the lady from tv?
Dorothy Lucey
I think my favorite lady on TV story is I was in LA and I went back to New York to do a junket, to do a movie junket. And this is when cab drivers were cab drivers and had personalities. So, Cabbie picks me up at the airport and he's like, looking at me and he said, didn't you used to be on tv? Like, didn't you used to be somebody? I said, yeah. He said, what happened to you? And oddly, I didn't say I got fired, which happened many times. I said, well, I got a job in California and I moved to LA and he said is language an issue on this podcast?
Steve Kmetko
No.
Dorothy Lucey
He said, why the *** you do that? Like, but you know, new Yorkers. Yeah. Just don't, you know, I can't believe I said the F word.
Steve Kmetko
Don't say so in front of themselves. So please. I've thought that word. I've never said it.
Dorothy Lucey
I know. I can't believe I said it. The other time, many years later, I was doing good LA and, in the beginning, we had hash marks, which now everybody thinks of it as a hashtag, but that same mark means literally no one, not one human being is watching your TV show. And I was at the grocery store and a woman came up to me, stranger and said, I don't think you need a facelift. And I looked at her, and then I realized, I had said that morning on the show, oh my God, I need a facelift. I was like, oh, someone is watching. Someone is watching.
Steve Kmetko
Well, you still do podcasts, don't you, with Steve Edwards and Jillian Barberie.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. We're thinking about starting another one.
Steve Kmetko
What happened to the one you were doing?
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah, we get sick of each other. We get 20 years together. I get recognized more for my voice. So, I don't know if that means I don't look the same or, but people know, oddly know my voice.
Steve Kmetko
I remember all the time people asking me if you did voice work. They--
Dorothy Lucey
And I tried, and I never got a job.
Steve Kmetko
And they wanted to get in touch with you and--
Dorothy Lucey
Never hired me.
Steve Kmetko
There was Burt us who used to do Chicken Man back in the sixties, but he also had his own production company. And I used to see him at the Hollywood YMCA and he would always ask me about you. And I don't know if I ever gave him your name and number or not.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, thank you very much. You did give me an excellent job once you were doing the red carpet with Madonna for the opening of Ev Vita, and you needed a co-host.
Steve Kmetko
The world premiere for Disney.
Dorothy Lucey
It was big.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, it was pretty big.
Dorothy Lucey
Do you know my Madonna story?
Steve Kmetko
No.
Dorothy Lucey
You probably know this. Okay. I'm in New York doing that show with Regis. I always say, I always said to Regis, I was on the one show that was not successful for you. Thank you, Regis. And there was, it's called New York Style. There was a DJ. This is like kind of before the era of the DJs, but he was, you know, kind of a big local celebrity in New York. And he asked me if I would interview his girlfriend, and he did a lot of favors for us. I was like, sure. And it was at the Limelight. I don’t know if you ever knew that club that was a church. You would go to the pulpit and get a drink. It was very strange. So, it's rainy night in New York. I have to go all the way downtown. Oh no.
To interview this person who I did no research on the way you feel today with me surprising you. I had a name and a name of a PR person and walked into this like loud, crazy club. And I'm like, I'm looking for, and then this cute, very short, funny, sarcastic, energetic human is the person that I realized I'm supposed to be interviewing. And honest to God, I'd done no research. My question was sort of like, what's next for you? And what's next for her was like borderline and holiday. It was like literally a month before Madonna exploded into the world. That was the girlfriend. I feel I started her. Really I. I launched Madonna.
Steve Kmetko
I saw her early in her career at the MTV Awards when they were held at Radio City Music Hall. And I went as a guest. I didn't even have to cover it, but she was singing like a virgin. She was dressed in a wedding gown.
Dorothy Lucey
I remember this.
Steve Kmetko
And she came like, dancing down a wedding cake. And Bette Midler was hosting with Dan Aykroyd. And they had some fun with that. Who was your favorite person to interview?
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, I thought you were going to say co-host.
Steve Kmetko
No, no, no. I know who that is.
Dorothy Lucey
Because do you know --
Steve Kmetko
Steve Edwards.
Dorothy Lucey
I worked with Steve Edwards forever. And do you know, but he was always like, oh, you have other Steves. I'm like, yes, I do. I have other Steves that I love. You know, you'd think I'd have a good answer for that. Because people probably ask me that a million times. I think I always really enjoyed musicians and authors. I would always beg to have authors on the show, and the answer was usually no. And then of course, we all love George Clooney. Nobody doesn't love George Clooney. Probably all the people that you loved play. Yeah. He's sweet to everybody.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. There are so many people who --
Dorothy Lucey
Don't come to play.
Steve Kmetko
Who don't come to play.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. I mean, George, you would do a junket where he would do what, 60 interviews in a day and he was funny and nice to everybody. Even if you asked really lame questions.
Steve Kmetko
Right. Which I usually did.
Dorothy Lucey
No, I don't think so. That was my department. I once got in trouble with, remember Waterworld, like one of the worst movies ever made.
Steve Kmetko
Oh yeah. Kevin Costner.
Dorothy Lucey
I did that junket. And I guess I asked Kevin something about maybe the early reviews of the movie, or I don't know, something that he didn't like. And I mean, Kevin was always really nice, but he looked at me and he said, what outfit are you with? I thought, I'm going to get fired.
Steve Kmetko
What outfit are you with?
Dorothy Lucey
And he didn't mean my clothes.
Steve Kmetko
No, no. We're not supposed to ask those questions anymore.
Dorothy Lucey
All right. What are you wearing? You can't ask it anymore.
Steve Kmetko
What made the chemistry so good between you Jillian and Steve?
Dorothy Lucey
You know the word authentic is overused, but there were days, and I can say this because we are very close friends now. I mean, we're sisters. There are days Jillian and I just hated each other. And we really didn't try that hard time. And Steve was always kind of the referee, you know, I mean, almost 20 years together. And it's just so funny. We talk about it now all the time because we adore each other now. Like, why did we really not particularly care for each other all those years? But I think the show was kind of like, it was news with a little bit of housewives.
Steve Kmetko
And we'll be right back. If you'd like to be more involved with us, it's Still Here Hollywood. You definitely can just visit Patreon.com/StillHereHollywood. You can support us for as little as $3 a month. You can get our episodes a day before they post anywhere else. You can see what guests will be coming up and submit questions for them. You can even tell us what stars you want us to have on as guests. You'll see what goes on before and after the episode. Plus, exclusive behind the scenes info picks video and more. Again, that's Patreon.com/StillHereHollywood. I remember when they brought you in at E to test with me. And I was, because I told them to. And I was so hoping you would get the job. But I guess they offered you peanuts.
Dorothy Lucey
And they wanted me to quit my day job, which was Good Day L.A. And as much as I wanted to trade Steve Edwards for Steve Kmetko, the money was terrible.
Steve Kmetko
I had a co-host there for a while at the beginning who would ask me questions like, is it Miss Piggy or Mrs. Piggy? What? What are you asking me? And one time we had a we did a story, a feature on, movies featuring lesbians for lack of a better way of putting it. And one of the sounds, I remember one of the sound bites, the director was a woman who said, sometimes I feel when I'm making a movie and with a lesbian theme, I feel like I'm making a National Geographic film on how women have sex or women who procreate. And she turned to me and said, they can't really procreate, can they? She didn't know what that word was. They can't really have children. Can they? We're on the air, you know, that, we're live right now, so I can't say what I'd like to. Oh, God.
Dorothy Lucey
I just watched the Hunting Wives. Lot of lesbian sex in there, if you're interested.
Steve Kmetko
Mm. I've heard about it. Not my cup of tea.
Dorothy Lucey
My husband kind of enjoyed it.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, well I hear straight guys do go in for that kind of stuff, don't they?
Dorothy Lucey
I worked with an anchor in New York a million years ago at a morning meeting when somebody said, well, I think we were talking about a trial. And they said, well, it's going to be in ab Absentia. And he said, where's that?
Steve Kmetko
Oh, that's great.
Dorothy Lucey
He was an anchor.
Steve Kmetko
If the folks at home knew.
Dorothy Lucey
How not smart we were.
Steve Kmetko
What goes on when the cameras not on?
Dorothy Lucey
I remember, and I'm not going to say what it was, but I remember you said something on air, and this was before you could go viral and you always denied that you said it. And maybe you said it and maybe you didn't, but it was just a little flub. Not a dumb mistake, just a flub. Just something that you ran two words together, which I've done many of those. I don't know if you remember that.
Steve Kmetko
Did it have to do with the color purple?
Dorothy Lucey
Yes, it did. You remember that? And Steve was like, me. No.
Steve Kmetko
No. People were waiting for me when the studio lights went off and they could come in. Did you just say no? No, I didn't. And the fact of the matter is, someone had just told me a joke along those lines and the punchline was, you know, the colored people. And that's what I called the movie on air. And it was like, I can't believe I did that.
Dorothy Lucey
And I have done stuff like that too that maybe I don't want to admit, but if you want me to, I will. But things and then, you know, of course Jill was there to amplify it 700 times. But thankfully this was still before you could go viral.
Steve Kmetko
Right.
Dorothy Lucey
Hey, you're on TV live. Sometimes you're going to say shit.
Steve Kmetko
Spit happens. Okay, I'm reading questions now because it's funny.
Dorothy Lucey
You didn't research my life properly.
Steve Kmetko
No. It's funny when you're sitting down with someone who you know --
Dorothy Lucey
I know, it's different. It's weird.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. It's like—questions don't naturally come to you because you know the answers beforehand.
Dorothy Lucey
It's like, I always felt when I would beg to have an author on and say, we had the author on like Elizabeth Gilbert. Because I was madly in love with You'd Pray Love. And I'd read the book like four times. And when she came on, I did the worst interview possible. Because I knew everything, so I didn't ask her anything.
Steve Kmetko
Right. When did you know I was gay? The first time you opened your mouth, Steve?
Dorothy Lucey
No. You know, it's funny. I probably knew when I got there because everybody knew. But when you first got there, because I know these stories from people like Connie Chung, nobody knew. And it was just like --
Steve Kmetko
Oh, there was.
Dorothy Lucey
The chicks were very excited. Because you had worked, you were a reporter, like in the Inland Empires. And then you came into the office and it was very exciting. And somebody figured it out somehow.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. There was a producer, Tammy Taylor.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, of course.
Steve Kmetko
We went out for drinks once after –
Dorothy Lucey
Beautiful Girls.
Steve Kmetko
Beautiful. And everybody drooled over her.
Dorothy Lucey
She beautiful.
Steve Kmetko
And I remember we went out once and she point blank said to me, Steve, tell me, do you like little boys or little girls?
Dorothy Lucey
Oh My God. This was when you could say things like that.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. I said --
Dorothy Lucey
And you said --
Steve Kmetko
I don't remember what I said. I was stunned that somebody would actually come out and ask me.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, she probably didn't want to waste another day. Did you? weren't interested. So, I probably knew.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
Not that I would've known.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, it's something that, well --
Dorothy Lucey
Because you didn't --
Steve Kmetko
Flounce?
Dorothy Lucey
Well, and you didn't really publicly come out till sometime after that.
Steve Kmetko
No, I didn't. I came out on the air at E.
Dorothy Lucey
Which was pretty brave.
Steve Kmetko
Well, I was telling a story about, I just didn't feel like I could hide it any longer. The brutal beating of Matthew Shepard had taken place. And, you know, that weighed heavily on me. And then I was interviewing Susan Sarandon for the movie Stepmom. And she said to me, what did you think of it? And I said, well, you know, I thought it was a good movie. And in fact, I wanted to get out of the theater before the lights came up so people couldn't see me crying. And she said, Steve, come on. When you cry, women love to see a man who can cry. They'll line up around the block for a man who will cry. And I said, yeah, but I'm gay. She said, oh, well they like that even more.
Dorothy Lucey
And had you planned this at all?
Steve Kmetko
No. No. But I, you know, take into consideration the fact that it's Susan Sarandon and, you know, a more welcoming and it was just kind of an offhanded remark.
Dorothy Lucey
And then it changed things.
Steve Kmetko
Well, a little bit. The news director at E said to me, you could have let us know ahead of time. You know, because then we edited it. We edited it into the piece. It was a self-contained tape piece. And I said, no, leave it in. So, ugh. Anyway.
Dorothy Lucey
And people don't realize that was a brave decision.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, at that time. Yeah. In the 90s. Well, and now everybody's, you know, Andy Cullen, Anderson Cooper.
Dorothy Lucey
You're like, I was first-ish.
Steve Kmetko
Well, there's somewhere on Google. My brother-in-law told me, my brother-in-law who's married to my brother told me that he had Googled me or something and said that I was one of the first people to be openly gay, broadcast journalist.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh yeah.
Steve Kmetko
Type thing, so.
Dorothy Lucey
I always think of you as the first.
Steve Kmetko
Hey, trailblazer.
Dorothy Lucey
What if I may interview you.
Steve Kmetko
Sure.
Dorothy Lucey
How is your family's reaction?
Steve Kmetko
Well, my brother who's also gay, didn't have a problem with it.
Dorothy Lucey
But you have a big family.
Steve Kmetko
Well, not so much anymore.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. Big family.
Steve Kmetko
But you know, my parents, I tried to tell my father once the Baptist minister father, and he held up his hand and he said, you know, Steve, there was a time and place where people's private lives were private. Let's keep it that way.
Dorothy Lucey
I remember they would come to stay with you.
Steve Kmetko
Oh yes. And my boyfriend.
Dorothy Lucey
But they didn't really.
Steve Kmetko
No. No. And whenever they would leave, my mother would say to Kirk thanks for letting us, or thanks for giving up your bedroom. It was my bedroom. It was my bedroom too, you know. Anyway, it is what it is. And hopefully things are changing, although.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. I mean, they loved you dearly. They just maybe didn't want to really know.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, yeah. You know, different generation. You went through a tough period not that long ago with the passing of your mother. Right. She lived with you for a while. You took her in for a while which was really nice. Very sweet. And you looked after her. But that's the kind of person you are.
Dorothy Lucey
But that's the kind of person my mom was, you know? And she passed during COVID, not of COVID, although we kept, you know, she had a nurse and she had people who would come in to help us bathe her and take care of her. And we kept having to get rid of everybody. Because everybody got COVID. Her nurse had COVID. My mom never got COVID. But she did die during that time. So, I really felt like it was hard to celebrate her. She should have been celebrated, you know. And my dog Millie, who really was my other soulmate. And I knew that Millie was kind of iffy too at that point. But I really thought Millie would be there to help me get through mom. But Millie died and then my mom died shortly after. And you know, I guess it's kind of a weird reaction I couldn't even tell people. And at some point, David said to me, you have to tell people. Like, you know, my mom was my mom to all my friends. I mean, all my girlfriend’s kind of considered her like, you know, mom, number two, I just, I couldn't even say the words, you know.
Steve Kmetko
It's hard.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
Very hard. Okay, let's lift the spirits.
Dorothy Lucey
I know, not to continue this, but I know you, I mean, I know a lot of grief you've walked through and I've been there for some of it.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. You have been. Rough.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
Well, you know, that's a lot of people talk about a television network or station you work for. People become like family. I don't know if that's true in all businesses or not, but as you know my sister died tragically while visiting me. I came home and found she had drowned in my swimming pool. And that night, that very night, so many people from channel two came over with food with, you know, just to sit there and be comfort, you know. Because it was such a shock. Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
That's what I really remember. Just sitting with there with you.
Steve Kmetko
And me, Boo-Hooing between glasses of wine. Oh yeah. Some host; I was.
Dorothy Lucey
Got to cope the way you cope.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah, you do.
Dorothy Lucey
That was shocking.
Steve Kmetko
I have remember this one line that you told me that your boss said to you at Good Day LA that you made his eyes bleed?
Dorothy Lucey
My voice. Yeah. His eyes.
Steve Kmetko
Your Voice, His Eyes bleed.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. And people have asked me, did he really say that? I do think I would make that up. I would've at least had ears bleed if I was going to make it up. We were blessed for a long time to have a wonderful boss. And you don't always in news, but after Jose left, came in someone else and yeah. He said my voice made his eyes bleed. And then shortly after that, you know I actually kind of sort of got fired at the Oscars. I did my morning live shot. Because you know, we were a morning show and you know, the Oscars, it's like a 28-hour day. And I got called back to the office. Because I was out there on the red carpet at 6 in the morning when literally no one else is out there to have a meeting with my news director. And I had kind of a big day plan. I mean, I had to hair and makeup and, you know and people maybe don't realize the Oscars start at like noon because you have to be there so early for security. And so, I go running back to the office and he was relatively new and he said to me look, we're only going to give you a 3-month extension on your contract.
Steve Kmetko
On that day, he chose to tell you that.
Dorothy Lucey
On that morning. And I said, okay. Thinking he just doesn't know me. He's new. He wants to kind of feel it out. I didn't realize in 3 months he would be firing my ass. So, he kind of, we started the process of being fired that morning. But I really never thought I was getting fired until I got fired. Because our show was still pretty successful.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. Good Days LA weren't you number one on the ladies’ show?
Dorothy Lucey
Well, we, you know, we were number one or number two with KTLA. We always went back and forth. And then, you know, there was the Today Show and GMA, but we were number one a lot.
Steve Kmetko
As opposed to the morning show, I was with CBS this morning.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh God, I forgot to mention that. You were gone at that point. That's why they tanked.
Steve Kmetko
I think in whenever there were articles about us, it always said perennially last place. That was part of our title, perennially last place CBS this morning.
Dorothy Lucey
But they sent flowers occasionally to people.
Steve Kmetko
Not to me. They sent them to you. Julia Roberts sent flowers to me once.
Dorothy Lucey
Aw. Julia Roberts.
Steve Kmetko
So, Whoopi Goldberg.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, Julia has always liked you.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. She was terrific. I was telling Jim just last week I was watching CBS this morning. They have a new show called CCBs Plus with Tony Dokoupil and I forget the female co-host.
Dorothy Lucey
And I'm sorry I don't watch Morning News anymore. Ever since I did get fired from it.
Steve Kmetko
Well, they used a—they pop up pops a, it's so funny when you've been out of it so long, up pops an interview with Julia Roberts and I'm conducting it. And they used a lot of two shots and reverses and they're like, oh, well this is fun.
Dorothy Lucey
You know, she lives in Malibu and she's been there forever. And I've been there forever and I've seen, seen her a few times, but she's really not recognizable when she's out and about.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
But I know she always liked you.
Steve Kmetko
Ooh. I always liked her too. It was funny, once I was doing an interview for Notting Hill.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, I love that movie.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. And the junkets were done in London. And we set up --
Dorothy Lucey
Oh my God, we had such a good job back then.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, didn't we? And they set—we set up in a hotel someplace. And I said to the camera man, because I'd interviewed her a number of times at that point, I said be rolling when she walks in. Because she'll come up behind me and hug me. Which is exactly what she did.
Dorothy Lucey
Like, that has to be on camera.
Steve Kmetko
And he said, yes. And he said, how did you know she was going to do that? I'm just smart. No, I liked her great deal. A lot of people must ask you too, what is so and so, like, you know, you spend 10 minutes with them at most, you know, it's not like you're hanging out with them.
Dorothy Lucey
Right. I mean, I have, you know, funny moments with people like long time ago I was interviewing Jane Fonda and she was once, I don't know why she was interviewing me, but she was asking me about my eating habits. Because you know, she was doing all the health stuff. And I said to her, I mean, you probably know this. I said, I eat like a toddler and if I could have cease candy for breakfast, then, you know, that would make my day. And she said to me, you have to stop that in about 5 years, or you're going to die soon. I'm like, okay, thank you Jane. And you have these, you're right. It's a moment in time you have with somebody, but sometimes it's very memorable.
Steve Kmetko
Sometimes it is. One of my most memorable was Betty Davis.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, she loved you too. I remember this.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, she's wrote me a lovely little note and I just, I had a great time with her.
Dorothy Lucey
What are you not saying?
Steve Kmetko
Oh, no, no, no. The one story, she, it was funny, the one story that she said, I asked her what it was like working with Lillian Gish in Whales of August was the last film, or last big movie she did. And she said, miss Gish never should have left silent pictures. Which I thought, did you rehearse that I wanted to say. But you know, she was just, she was a classic example of somebody who comes prepared. There are celebrities who come and have nothing to say, you know.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, and many actors, like a script.
Steve Kmetko
That's one of my theories. They become actors or actresses. Well, I guess they're just actors now. Because they have no personality to call their own.
Dorothy Lucey
And I this is --
Steve Kmetko
And they need someone to supply one.
Dorothy Lucey
So long ago, because I was in New York and I was interviewing Sophia Loren, which was such a moment for me. And we were sitting down and, you know, I mean obviously I'm quite taken with her, but we're, you know, setting everything up. And the producer asked me something and I said, no, no, you're off the hook. And she turned to me and said, what does that mean? And I said, oh, it just means he doesn't have to do, he's done. He doesn't have to do what I thought he might do as I smashed into your microphone. And so, we do the interview and she's lovely. She learned the name of everybody in the room who does that. And she was just lovely, great interview. We finished and I said, okay, we're done. And she said, I'm off the hook. Like little moments like that.
Steve Kmetko
I interviewed her too for Grumpy Old Men. And I've never, here was this, I talk about icon. That word is overused, but she's an icon. And I remember she walked into the room, she was wearing a Giorgio Armani suit. I know, because I complimented because it was fitted so beautifully. And she came in and she turned to her assistant, one she had, one person with her, not an entourage, one person. And she said, can I have a mirror that gave her a hand mirror? And she went and she said, okay. And that was it. And we started and which was, oh, one of the, I remember once I had to wait a long time for somebody to get made up, they came, not made up. And --
Dorothy Lucey
I waited 8 hours at a junket for Johnny Depp, and I was one of the last interviews, and he decided to leave early.
Steve Kmetko
Oh.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, okay. Bye.
Steve Kmetko
Why is that?
Dorothy Lucey
But then years later he did a concert with his band for a charity I was working with. So, I was like, oh, all is forgiven. But I think we were supposed to talk about me getting fired, were we not?
Steve Kmetko
Oh, yes.
Dorothy Lucey
Which we don't have to go back to that topic, but --
Steve Kmetko
So, what did you --
Dorothy Lucey
Okay, so 3 months later.
Steve Kmetko
What do you do when somebody says you make their eyes bleed?
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, well, that should have been my hint that I was getting fired. But he didn't say that in the actual 2-minute meeting where he actually fired me. So, one day, you know, I got called into the news director's office and he said to me, we want to do a smarter nicer show. And I just said this to somebody recently that it sounds so obnoxious now, but back in the moment, I guess it dawned on me I was being fired. And I said to him, I thought I was the nice smart one, but apparently not. And honestly, it was a 2-minute meeting.
Steve Kmetko
Really?
Dorothy Lucey
Mm. So, I figured a minute for every decade I'd been there. It happens. It is in many ways a gift when I look back on it. But, you know, it wasn't in the, I always call it the gift wrapped in shit here. I using pad language again. But it is, you know, it doesn't seem like a gift at the moment, but eventually you realize it's a gift.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. When I was at CBS and I really wasn't actively out there, we had a news director who somebody told, and he pulled me aside in the hallway and he said you're not going to march in any parades. Are you?
Dorothy Lucey
The stuff people could say to you then.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. You're not going to, you know, make an issue of this, are you? No. Are you? You know, I'm glad things have changed. We'll be back for more in a moment. You've covered Hard News, Red Carpet. We've done talk shows, podcasts which Dorothy has the most fun.
Dorothy Lucey
Kind of like the podcast thing, because I'm probably saying things that I shouldn't say that, I mean, not enough to say, please edit this out, but I might have second thoughts later. I mean, you're just very authentic, you know, you're just talking.
Steve Kmetko
Right.
Dorothy Lucey
But I think on Good Day LA, which I mean, I've had many jobs that I loved and I didn't always love getting up at 4 in the morning, but that, I mean, that would be the job that I truly loved. Because I mean, we're sitting on a set for 3 hours a day, drinking coffee, giving our opinions. What is wrong with that? Getting paid for that. And you know what, Steve Edwards, very wise man that I worked with forever an icon in LA always said to Jillian and I, you have no idea how lucky you are. And now she and I say to each other, we have no idea how lucky we were. And I love that you had Jillian on the podcast.
Steve Kmetko
She was a great guest. My feelings originally were tempered by the way she treated you on Good Day LA.
Dorothy Lucey
We had our moments. But we talk about that now all the time. It's funny.
Steve Kmetko
Yes.
Dorothy Lucey
We don't even know why we didn't like each other. I mean, there were little things that happened, but stupid little things.
Steve Kmetko
But little things never feel little at the time. They're happening usually. When are you writing your memoir?
Dorothy Lucey
You know, I like to write. That was always kind of my favorite part. Writing the story, you know, getting on air and delivering it wasn't always my favorite part. I'm writing. We'll see. How about you?
Steve Kmetko
I've been writing and I have a woman who's a publisher, who's interested. She has 3 complete chapters. She only needed 3 to take it out and try and picture it.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh, you're ahead of me.
Steve Kmetko
And I'm working with a young man who is, you know, I wrote a lot. I don't know. Did you keep a journal?
Dorothy Lucey
No. Stupid.
Steve Kmetko
A lot of times I sat down and wrote, you know, what I was thinking that day or what happened? And so, I think it's pretty good if I do say so myself.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, and you know, we probably can help each other with 10 million stories that you've forgotten or I've forgotten about each other. And also, I think anytime you think of like a Julia Roberts or 10 million stories come to mind, you know, you start to remember all of it.
Steve Kmetko
Yes. What else? It's a strange business, isn't it?
Dorothy Lucey
It is.
Steve Kmetko
TV news.
Dorothy Lucey
I've counted. I've been fired or canceled, which has a different meaning now than it did then, but 10 times.
Steve Kmetko
10 times.
Dorothy Lucey
10 times. So, as I tell my students, try not to take it personally.
Steve Kmetko
So that's like once every 3 years.
Dorothy Lucey
Apparently so. Some jobs were a lot shorter. So, I told you about when I got fired. You know, I never knew the whole story of you getting fired. You never told me the whole story.
Steve Kmetko
I don't know why. Maybe I got tired of talking about it.
Dorothy Lucey
No, I don't think you ever talked about it back then.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, well, that's because, you know, part of the stigma in Hollywood is you don't, you don't want to tell people how old you are, who you're dating, who you've slept with.
Dorothy Lucey
Or when you are, as we like to say, contract was not renewed.
Steve Kmetko
Right.
Dorothy Lucey
Which is a nice way of saying.
Steve Kmetko
We're going in different directions.
Dorothy Lucey
You're fired.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Well, the one job I had in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when they were about to promote me to their weeknight anchor. And they even had the schedule typed up, the newsroom secretary said, here, this is for next week. And there I was hosting the 6 o'clock news. And then I got called in because somebody decided to tell the general manager that I was gay. And he --
Dorothy Lucey
Okay. Did not know this.
Steve Kmetko
Oh. He asked me all kinds of questions. And at the time I was living with Kirk and I called my brother and said, what do I do? And he said, just, you know, when you go up and have your meeting, just be honest. And I was. And he said, you know, well, you better start looking for a job someplace else. Because you're not going any further here. Okay. And that was that.
Dorothy Lucey
Oh my.
Steve Kmetko
And the next place I went was Louisville, Kentucky, where they loved me and I loved them. It was a great place.
Dorothy Lucey
So, see, it's a gift-wrapped in shit.
Steve Kmetko
It's a gift wrapped in shit. So, and then here, you know, at CBS, I never felt comfortable. It's funny, there was a reporter we worked with who was quite well known and well liked who one day cornered me in my office and he said, Steve, I need to talk to you about something. I said, what? He was married and had children. I think I'm gay. Okay. What can I tell you? Keep it to yourself. Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
Did he ever come out?
Steve Kmetko
Yes.
Dorothy Lucey
Okay.
Steve Kmetko
But you know, I mean, you didn't have a lot of people to talk to. You had no examples. You have no one to look up to. Nothing to base your life on, you know.
Dorothy Lucey
Right. And it's.
Steve Kmetko
People don't understand. Yes. Yeah. And even he has just recently talked about being gay. Even though I think it's been an open secret for a long time.
Dorothy Lucey
So, what happened at E. That's the story I never really knew.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, well, we have a much like you, we had a boss that came in who really didn't know the business. She was from a; she worked in a law firm and came in to take over this entertainment network. And they had, they actually, I made it pretty clear right off the top that I was gay to the powers that be. Because I didn't want to have to deal with it. And I was told by somebody else who worked there who was gay, that they tried to start a support group for people who were gay. And they found they didn't need one because everybody felt pretty comfortable. And, you know, it wasn't really an issue. But then it's been a while since I've told this story. I had, I was being, my contract was being renegotiated and --
Dorothy Lucey
Always a precarious time.
Steve Kmetko
Always. And at the same time, I had this kid who watched, was a regular viewer, and it was early days of internet. And he asked, he got an assignment where he went to college to create a website for somebody famous. So, he wrote me and called me and said, would you mind? I said, no, not at all. Go ahead. So, he sent me questions and asked them, and I answered them. And he pulled freeze frames off the TV, you know, when I was doing a show. And he, he was a very sweet kid. And so, I thought when I was renegotiating, I thought, hey, why don't I use this? He built up quite a following and so, I said, hey, if you like what I'm doing, they're negotiating my contract right now. Write the boss and tell her that you like my work, or, you know, you think they should keep me around. And that set her off. I was betraying the network. I was infringing on their intellectual property, me intellectual. And I told she asked me if I had written a letter like that. No, no, no, no. And they had somebody in the IT department go through all of my emails because I had done it on a company computer. And that's what she based her findings on. You know, you did it on a company computer, you didn't do this at home or, so that was that. And --
Dorothy Lucey
How ridiculous.
Steve Kmetko
And then, you know, I had a number of interviews afterwards and I didn't land anything, which as it turns out, shit turned to, what do you call it?
Dorothy Lucey
A gift-wrapped and shit.
Steve Kmetko
A gift wrapped and shit. Worked out okay because my parents were getting up in years. And I couldn't find work here and I couldn't afford to live here. And so, I went back to Chicago and tried to help them out. Which I did. And I was there when they passed away, I mean. So, in that regard, it was a gift wrap shit. Gift wrapped in shit.
Dorothy Lucey
Because you don't want to have that regret. It's one thing to regret losing your job. But what I always think about is I was gone every morning. So, if my son had gone off to college and I had never driven him to school or made him breakfast, I would've had some sort of breakdown.
Steve Kmetko
You made him breakfast.
Dorothy Lucey
Well, I mean, you know, here's some oatmeal. I'll microwave it.
Steve Kmetko
I never knew that about you.
Dorothy Lucey (
But being fired, right when he was going into high school, he probably wished I was a little busier. But it was nice that I had that time.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
I mean, it was always a great mom job anyway, doing a morning show. I never missed a field trip. You know, I was always, you know, I was done at 10:00 AM but --
Steve Kmetko
And you were good with career and events, I'm sure.
Dorothy Lucey
But I was glad that I had, you know, like those mornings with him. And you had time with your parents.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
It was there. You know, there are some regrets that are way bigger than others.
Steve Kmetko
So anyway, the general manager, they came to me and said, did you write that? No, I didn't. I lied. And people lie in Hollywood all the time.
Dorothy Lucey
Apparently in politics too.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. So, we, yeah.
Dorothy Lucey
This is why.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Yep.
Dorothy Lucey
I mean, you were their star.
Steve Kmetko
Mm. And in fact, when I went and did these interviews afterwards, you know, people who had me in, the reason that I kept getting back, which I still don't understand to this day, was you're too closely associated with E, what does that mean?
Dorothy Lucey
I don't know. We're in such a different time now. Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
We are.
Dorothy Lucey
When Jillian left Good Days LA, she said when they were firing her, she said, have you looked at my Twitter following? It was called Twitter then. And she had a gin door. This is kind of early on, but she had a ginormous following. And the same news director who said, I made his eyes bleed, said, nobody cares about that. And it was like a week later; they had like a scoreboard in the newsroom from a telethon of how many followers you had and how many times you had tweeted. But you know, they didn't care when they were firing her. It's a crazy business.
Steve Kmetko
It is. It is and we survived.
Dorothy Lucey
Jill and I always laugh because, you know, we did our show, which was 2 hours, and then for a time, the third hour, it was a national show. It was a syndicated show. And it's somewhat complicated. But she got fired first from the national show, but still did our local show. But then I got fired first from our local show, after our national show was already gone. Everybody should get fired a few times. It toughens you up.
Steve Kmetko
You have no choice in this business.
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah.
Steve Kmetko
So, what do you think you're going to do next?
Dorothy Lucey
Well, you inspired me to write a little more. I'm teaching my one class, my one day a week job. And you know, the charity I've worked for. I haven't since COVID. I need to start again. I volunteered on a bunch of missions. I mean, it's --
Steve Kmetko
I know you've been everywhere.
Dorothy Lucey
It's an interesting way to see the world.
Steve Kmetko
What is the one you call? What? There's one in particular that the title of it gets me in a good way where you're rescuing young kids who have, who need surgery or something. What's it called?
Dorothy Lucey
Yeah. Mending Kids.
Steve Kmetko
That's it. Mending kids. That's a great name for a charity.
Dorothy Lucey
I mean, it's kind of Doctors Without Borders, but for little kids. And I feel a little self-serving saying it. But other than my son, that's been one of my favorite things in life. Volunteering there. I'm such a good volunteer. My husband's like, get a paying job again. Enough volunteering.
Steve Kmetko
What kind of a mother-in-law are you?
Dorothy Lucey
You know, I think I'm a fun mother-in-law.
Steve Kmetko
Oh.
Dorothy Lucey
Now we might have to ask Emma, my daughter-in-law which sounds almost funny to say, you know. Because they were living with us for a little while.
Steve Kmetko
Are you a hands-off mother-in-law?
Dorothy Lucey
I am a—if you want me, I'm here, mother-in-law, I think.
Steve Kmetko
That's good.
Dorothy Lucey
I think, I don't, I was kind of a helicopter mom. Hopefully I'm not a helicopter mother-in-law.
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. Okay. I think we're done.
Dorothy Lucey
Okay. Surprise.
Steve Kmetko
Surprise. Yeah. I did not know this was happening.
Dorothy Lucey
What did you think when I walked in? Why is she here?
Steve Kmetko
Yeah. I thought, eh, what is, yeah, I did think. She happened to be in the neighborhood, so she stopped by.
Dorothy Lucey
I can't see you any other way.
Steve Kmetko
Oh, that's not true. We had a wonderful dinner back in December, you and David and I, that I had a good time and I hadn't been to that restaurant because it's fairly new. What's it called?
Dorothy Lucey
Bottega Louie.
Steve Kmetko
Bottega Louie.
Dorothy Lucey
Perhaps we could go out to dinner again sometime, my old friend.
Steve Kmetko
Okay. Still Here Hollywood is a production of the Still Here Network. All things technical run by Justin Zangerle. Theme music by Brian Sanyshyn. And executive producer is Jim Lichtenstein.