Perkins takes look at WJLA

So Tony Perkins, tell us: What were you doing hanging around the WJLA-TV (Channel 7) newsroom the other day?

“I have had a standing invitation to visit the station, and I had a real desire to see their news operation,” the “Good Morning America” (GMA) weatherman explains. “It is absolutely gorgeous. It’s got to be the biggest local TV newsroom I have ever seen.”

Uh huh. And it’s just a coincidence that you paid this friendly visit in the middle of your contract talks with ABC, right?

“I really cannot comment on that. I’m in negotiations. That’s all I can say.”

Mr. Perkins’ future is a touchy subject these days.

The New York Daily News reported March 23 that “GMA” co-anchor Diane Sawyer and executive producer Shelley Ross think the program might need a new forecaster.

An ABC spokeswoman dismissed the report as “rumors.” The article so rattled Ms. Sawyer that she called Mr. Perkins from her vacation and assured him that she wants him to stay.

WJLA — the ABC affiliate that collects high-priced news stars the way people used to collect green stamps — would love to have him, too.

No one’s talking on the record, but people in the know say Mr. Perkins could become WJLA’s morning forecaster. He could also become its man-about-town and movie critic, a beat Arch Campbell of WRC-TV (Channel 4) has had to himself for 15 years.

“’GMA’ is a very good place. No one has ordered me to say that. I have a great relationship with the people I work with, and it would be nice if it could go on,” Mr. Perkins said.

Still, a lot of folks are enchanted by the idea of Tony Perkins, the affable hometown boy made good, coming back to the District. Mr. Perkins, 44, was born in New York, but raised in Southwest Washington and Fairfax County. The American University graduate worked as a standup comic until he caught the eye of Donnie Simpson, who made him his radio sidekick.

At WDCA-TV (Channel 20) in the late 1980s, Mr. Perkins hosted “Breakaway,” a Saturday afternoon block of cheeseball sitcoms. His sly barbs about the shows he introduced — “Small Wonder” was a favorite target — eventually brought him to WTTG-TV (Channel 5), where he became the wisecracking weatherman on “Fox Morning News.”

Mr. Perkins and his wife, who runs a homeless charity in the District, had just moved into their dream home in Reston when ABC came calling in December 1998.

“I remember thinking, ’I’m happy doing the local thing.’ They treat me well. Most people think when a network calls, you automatically go. That wasn’t the case with me.”

Since March 1999, Mr. Perkins has lived weekdays in New York, flying home on the weekends. The commute has gotten tougher since the birth last year of his son, Connor.

Fatherhood has put the whole career thing in perspective for Mr. Perkins.

“In the end, every job is a job. We don’t call it playtime. There’s a reason for that.”

• Call Chris Baker at 202/636-3139 or send e-mail to cbaker@washingtontimes.com.