the early days

Hala's back. Somehow maintaining the weight loss she got in Lebanon. And the woman's messing around with her neckline.

But something's missing with Hala. It's called Richard Quest.

I have been sorting through my old videos of clips and God knows what else, and compared to Hala on last night's broadcast, the old days of Hala in London is so much more... more.

She's funny, sarcastic, and no report is random enough to make her boring. And there used to be a Richard Quest baiting her, teasing her, looking for the sarcastic reply. It was this partnership that gave birth to this obsession fanaticism, and I miss them together. Hala was so different back in the day.

I mean, come on, the woman clearly scared the heck out of Tony Campion. Charles Hodson seemed to develop a personality before my eyes when he hosted alongside Hala.

In Atlanta, it's a little different. Maybe it's the reasonable hour. By broadcast time Hala's had a full night's sleep, she's fully awake, and she's had her coffee (or other tasty beverage of her choice).

Michael Holmes did a decent job of replacing Richard beside Hala, but the speculation that Hala would go there could have ruined that partnership.

Jonathan Mann... is okay. For a moment there they actually had some je ne sais quoi going.

Then there's Jim Clancy. On the forums some time ago, a guest post stated that Hala loved hosting alongside Clancy. Okay, let's give them that. It makes sense, since Hala the journalist strives to be taken seriously and you don't get any more serious than Mr. Clancy.

But Mr. Talking Head means she becomes Ms. Talking Head. She still speaks a mile a minute, looks at the wrong camera all the time and is still so very pretty, but she's just... I don't know. Different. Almost... boring. The quips are rare, the looks of death are almost non existent, the bitchiness kept at a minimum.

Thank God for those diary entries on cnn.com for Inside the Middle East, because at least the inner bitch sarcasm still shines through.

Example:

"Should be okay," Saad tells us with some hesitation before we board. Not too reassuring, I thought, wondering how long it would take me and the crew to swim back to shore if we capsized.