Here at Delaware County Magazine, eight out of ten of us watch some part of Good Day Philadelphia in the morning before work. We discuss the different personalities and news over coffee and breakfast. I noticed how nice it was to have a joke or a laugh on your lips to start the day. Attitude is contagious, and the personalities and team spirit of this show really affected the personalities in my office! My sales manager, Jim Henry, lives by Sue Serio’s weather reports, Steve Keely, Sheinelle Jones & Mike Jerrick, Jennaphr Frederick, John Anderson and SallyAnn Mosey feel like our neighbors, people we know. Choosing Mike Jerrick for the cover of our February issue was a no-brainer. The very morning we chose the cover story for February, Mike Jerrick was just so entertaining, funny really; everyone in the office was talking about him. We push here at Delaware County Magazine to give you, the readers, fun and entertaining interviews and stories, things to brighten your day, ways to save you a buck and help you find the new, interesting stuff that is right here in your neighborhood. Mike and the rest of the team at Good Day Philadelphia do just that and give you the news on a daily basis. I requested this interview because Mike has so much energy & enthusiasm; I knew it would be fun, and it was.
After Mike met with my photographer and I, we went up to the news room, stopped at his desk to drop a few things off, then we headed over to the conference room for our interview. He is very much the man you see on TV--full of energy and ready to meet the next opportunity. I had several questions lined up and he was totally present and answered in great detail.

DCM: Do you get involved with the choice of content you get to present?

Jerrick: Yes! We have a meeting after the show every day to go over what we’ll cover the next day. We all bring ideas to the table. People share things with us all the time, “Have you heard of this thing, have you seen that place?” Viewers get us interested to cover a thing. After the meeting, if you are producing the piece, you dig some to put the details together, then the producers overnight get more info and we all meet again in the morning to go over the show. Different team members start at different times. The show (Good Day Philadelphia) starts at 5 A.M. We meet with production (they start at 4 A.M.) and go over what we’re going with. Some stories are green, they can go any time; others are timely so they need to go right away. Then we just go with it!

DCM: What is your typical day like?

Jerrick: My day starts at 4:04 in the morning. I set my alarm for exactly 4:04 so I can feel like it’s not really that early. I live just a few blocks from the station so I walk to work. After the show, the meetings, and the follow-up, I try to get a nap in the afternoon and get back for the evening show and do it one more time. I’m usually in bed by eleven o’clock.

DCM: Do you ever get in trouble for what comes out of your mouth off the cuff?

Jerrick: Not yet! I have someone in my ear all the time. He feeds me info to get on the air and I deliver it with my personality attached.

DCM: Do you study or do any type of specialized reading?

Jerrick: I don’t consider what I do studying. I hate that word, studying, ew. I love to learn about things that I can use for my career! I watch ALL the news and keep up on current events, read the papers, and people tell me things they think I might be interested in, it is what I do! It all goes into the job. It’s fun! That way when the man in my ear says to say something regarding breaking news I can deliver it from a position of actual knowledge instead of an enthusiastic parrot.

DCM: You all obviously have fun on the job. When you watch, it feels like you’re all family. Your team delivers not only fun stuff with great positive attitude, but the tough stuff with compassion and real feeling. Do you all plan the show with the banter or is that off the cuff?

Jerrick: We just go with it. We know what we are covering but a lot of the show is just us giving you the story. The chemistry is real! After working with Sheinelle Jones, my co-anchor, for a while I found out she is from Wichita, Kansas, too! We’re from the same little town in Kansas!

DCM: I guess that’s why you seem so seamless. You grew up in the same town!

Jerrick: Maybe, we’re just a couple of Mid-Westerners. (Laughs)

DCM: So you grew up in Witchita, Kansas. What got you started in this business?

Jerrick: Well, when I was in grade school, my mom would get me up for school and I would lie in bed and listen to the morning radio guy. I just loved it and knew that was what I wanted to do. I’m from a good, Catholic family and the youngest of 6 kids. I kept my mouth shut about it because that wasn’t a ‘real job.’ My oldest brother was a straight “A” student; tons of scholarships, aced college, and now he is a scientist! Imagine each of us trying to out-do the next to make our parents proud, with him setting the bar! I still try to make my parents proud. I went to college to be a teacher because radio/entertainment personality was not a job or career, but teaching qualified. It wasn’t for me. My father-in-law was the announcer for all the local football games and was always trying to get me to apply at the local TV station, but I was really shy then. (Picturing Mike as a shy person?) I would drive to the station all the time but never went in, I was painting or something at the time.I decided I had to try something, so I drove out to the station again. The day I got my first jobin the buisness, I drove around the building for awhile afraid to go in. I finally parked and went in. Someone had just quit that day, that very day! The manager asked me to read and that was it! I had my first TV job at the tiny Kansas station!

DCM: Fate I guess it just goes to show you, never give up without at least giving it a shot. You never know what could happen.

DCM: I really believe attitude is contagious; you translate that to the viewers, you have such great energy all the time, how do you keep that up?

Jerrick: It’s my job to be up and have energy. People don’t want to see me having a bad day. I believe that even if you are having a bad day, as long as you act the way you want to feel, ramp it up a notch, attitude is contagious, and before you know it you’re not having a bad day anymore.

DCM: So, act as if.

Jerrick: Yup!

DCM: Speaking of ramping it up a notch, are you that way all the time? Were you the kid in class that was always bouncing your knees driving the teacher nuts?

Jerrick: YES, that was definitely me! Today they would probably medicate me. (Laughs)

DCM: I see you hosted the “Sci-Fi Buzz” for USA Network for six years. Are you a big sci-fan?

Jerrick: No, not really. (Laughs) Just after I started, they had me dress up in a Star Trek uniform (spandex yeah). When I came out of the dressing room, I had the chest badge on upside down and the producer freaked out. I did learne a ton about it as I went along though. We went to Comic Con, sci-fi shows, and other different places to represent the show and I had to know my stuff. The fans are real fanatics about detail and if I didn’t know the facts they were disappointed.

DCM: Can you tell the readers a little bit about what you like to do with your spare time? That is assuming you have any of that.

Jerrick: Well yes, I do get some time off. My daughters visit from Kansas & California; both are doing so well, making their dad proud. I also like abstract art; living in Center City I go out to different shows. I will go to Longwood Gardens for the Orchid Extravaganza that we covered on the show this morning. From grade school to 11th grade, at home in Kansas, I worked at the local garden center and still appreciate plants and gardens.

Mike is such an animated person, just as you see him on TV! I really can’t translate that in plain wordage so be sure to watch the show and check out the morning crew for yourself if you haven’t already. I think you will enjoy it as much as we do!

From The FOX 29 web site:
Mike Jerrick re-joined the FOX 29 team as co-host of “Good Day Philadelphia” in July, 2009. Long-time viewers will remember him as a show co-host from 1999 to 2002.
Prior to his return to Philadelphia, Mike was co-host of 20th Television’s “The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet,” a nationaly syndicated morning show aired around the country.
Prior to that, he was the co-host of “DaySide,” Fox News Channel’s daily live audience daytime talk show and he appeared as a recurring guest co-anchor for the WNYW-FOX 5 morning program, “Good Day New York.” Mike joined FOX News Channel as weekend co-host of "FOX and Friends" after leaving “Good Day Philadelphia” in October 2002.

Before coming to FOX 29, Mike was managing editor and anchor on "America Afterhours," a live, national newsmaker and celebrity interview program on CNBC. He also hosted “What’s News” for the national cable television network, America’s Talking.
Earlier in his career, Mike hosted "Sci-Fi Buzz" on USA Network’s Sci-Fi Channel from 1991 to 1997. He also produced and hosted HBO’s "World Entertainment Report” from 1991 to 1994. He produced and reported for KCAL-TV and for “Evening Magazine” on KPIX-TV (CBS) in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Prior to that, he spent five years as the host of "Alive & Well," a national program on the USA Network that focused on health and fitness. He began his career in 1981 as the producer and host of "P.M. Magazine," at WNYW-TV in New York.
A two-time Emmy Award winner, Mike earned his Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.