America's network affiliates and cable news outlets gave up a lot of revenue - three hours' worth - and Fox and NBC gave up talking completely as the service/performance unfolded without commercial interruption.
At first, the missing spouting, such a constant feature of "news" coverage of events like this one, was discomforting. It's unheard of not to hear it. But you came to trust that the two networks would eventually put up a graphic identifying the congresswoman from Texas or the kid singer who very clearly was not Michael Jackson, but the slightly less well-known Shaheen Jafargholi.
In the emotional community of the moment, it was not terribly important to know that Jafargholi is a 12-year-old Welsh-Iranian who has performed as young Michael in the Thriller-Live stage show and competed against Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent.
Good job, Fox and NBC. And good job to you, too, choreographer-director Kenny Ortega (Dirty Dancing, High School Musical) and producer Ken Ehrlich (Emmys, Grammys, and bucketfuls of TV concerts) for putting on such an emotional, spiritual, unprecedented TV memorial on such short notice.
CBS and ABC insisted on filling the empty spaces with commentary. Katie Couric was so badly victimized by ambient noise and lousy audio that you frequently couldn't understand what she was saying. Charlie Gibson did get to point out that Barbara Walters, as ubiquitous as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, had observed that Michael's children, excepting daughter, Paris, 11, weren't much being moved by the proceedings.
Paris got the whole world crying with her when she sobbed at the end, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine." That was just after the multitude of Michael Jackson's family gently nudged Jesse Jackson off the stage.
