Misha, Misha, Misha!

Rise & Shine each Saturday morning with Southwest Florida's favorite morning personality
T o the average person, a TV show airing at 6 a.m.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Naples paramedic firefighter Tim McGeary helps Misha into firefighters gear for a shoot. on Saturday sounds like

a less-than-ideal time. After all, the sun isn't even up yet!

But then, Misha McK (pronounced MEE-sha Mick-KAY) isn't your average person.

Her new weekly half-hour show on NBC 2, "Wake Up With Misha," could air later, but she embraces the 6 a.m. time slot.

"Yes, there's an 11:30 time slot available," she says. "There's a 9 o'clock time slot available. But guess what happens by 11, 9 o'clock? Dog's gotta go out, baby's gotta be fed, phone is ringing, someone wants breakfast. There's no time for TV. I can't sit down and listen.

"I love 6 a.m.! I love it! I love it!" Misha exclaims.

"I'll tell you what else I love, when people say, 'Oh Misha, I tried to wake up.' I say, 'That's OK, you'll get there.'"

One viewer told her that she'd woken up, watched Misha's show, then fell back asleep.

That was fine with Misha.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO Ron McK, left, directs taping a segment of "Wake up with Misha" with Naples paramedic firefighter Tim McGeary and a camaraman. "She saw a positive show on TV that motivated her to say, 'You know what, life is awesome!' My whole objective with the show is for people to wake up to positivity. You need that dose. Then you can handle that phone call. You can handle that dog, the baby crying. You need that extra Umph! You need that iron, that energy.

"Wake up, let's get going in the morning! God wakes us up when the sun shines."

A bundle of energy, Misha radiates optimism the way the sun throws off heat. She's so naturally bubbly she'd make the best sparkling champagne seem flat in comparison. Misha peppers her speech with exclamation points and high-fives. And her trademark phrase is: "Positivity rules!"

She and her producer husband Ron McK are prone to greeting people with enthusiastic hugs. Even before they've met you, they've pre-determined that you're going to be great friends and have a fabulous time together.

At an Estero restaurant, Misha greets all the wait staff as if they're relatives at a

family

reunion.

Handing out her card

like a philanthropist handing out money at Christmas, she reminds everyone to watch her show. Many wince at the 6 a.m. time.

"That's OK, that's OK," she assures them. "If you can't get up, set your machine and watch it later! Set your TiVO!"

"The 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. time slot is the fastest and largest-growing time slot on Saturday," Ron McK says. "The group at 6 a.m. is a very loyal group. Once you are able to get them to watch, and they get used to it, they stick with it. It's an open field. They become a very loyal group of people. We've already had that experience."

"We're inching up in the ratings every week," says Misha, "as more and more people get that dose of positivity."

The show broadcasts to six different counties - Lee, Collier, Hendry, DeSoto, Charlotte and Glades - and is currently watched by approximately 175,000 viewers. That's more viewers than Larry King

gets locally, Misha says.

The show varies from week to week.

One recent show highlighted Chef Martin Murphy at the Robb & Stucky/KitchenAid Culinary Center who demonstrated how to cook a healthy fish meal at home. The pilot show, which ran on Mother's Day, focused on Barbara B. Mann and her namesake theater.

"I liked it very much," says Barbara B. Mann, who bought copies of the show to give to her children and grandchildren. "I thought she did an excellent job. She was very well organized and efficient. We had many good contacts and conversations [while taping the show.] I'm delighted with her."

The McKs thought up the eclectic format. Depending upon the week, Misha's show will be about food, a local charity, the arts, or a local person. Focusing on one subject allows Misha to cover it in depth. For example, when talking about a charity, she'll go behind the scenes and also interview those who benefit from the charity.

"The vision for the show was to create a variety staple," says Ron. "Because this is a community that likes variety. [My vision was] to create a show that is like individual shows unto their own. And they each deal with specific content. We have a cooking show, we have a charity show - people here like a lot of charities. And we've got Centerstage, that deals with interesting people that people don't even know exist, bringing those people to the fore, and understanding what kinds of talents are available here in Southwest Florida. Sometimes we will bring celebrities here, but the celebrities have to connect with what's happening locally."

While her emphasis is always positive, Misha doesn't shy away from tackling life's difficulties. A couple weeks ago she interviewed Naples paramedic firefighter Tim McGeary, a musician who has a group called Wonderful Johnson. McGeary talked about how he helped in Louisiana and Texas after Katrina hit and worked at Ground Zero after 9/11. He also spoke about dealing with the sudden death of his teenage son, who was killed in a car accident. Part of what is helping him heal, McGeary told Misha, is helping others. No matter how bad things get, keep going on, he urged viewers. As a paramedic firefighter, he's seen the aftermath of what happens when people commit suicide and feels that no matter how bad life gets, suicide is not the answer. "A permanent solution to a temporary problem" is how he describes it.

Misha and Ron, who've been married for 11 years, met at Syracuse University; Misha was an English major, Ron was studying film and television. After school, Ron made educational shows for the United Nations Department of Educational Communications and then went on to make documentaries for the History Channel. He also did some acting, appearing on Broadway in "Sarafina!" and on TV in "Matlock" and "It's a Different World." Misha co-starred in TV's "Me & Mrs. C," which ran on NBC after "The Golden Girls."

"I was the 'me,'" she says.

She also acted in the movie "He's My Girl," which she describes as an updated version of "Some Like It Hot."

But Ron always wanted her to have her own talk show.

"He'd say, 'You talk too much to not have your own talk show,'" Misha jokes.

"She's at home (on the show,) she loves doing it," Ron says. "She likes to reach out to people. A TV show must be connected with the person's personality."

Misha just signed up for 52 weeks with NBC 2. She and Ron have big plans for the show. For starters, they hope to book Michael Bolton, Ashford and Simpson, Carlos Santana, Billy Dee Williams. She also plans to interview celebrities who are also children's book writers, such as Julie Andrews, Will Smith, and Jerry Seinfeld. She also wants to do a series of "place" shows, visiting NYC, the rain forests of Washington State and the Florida Keys.

And, they have their eyes on expanding their market. They plan on eventually going national.

"I don't think that only us here in Southwest Florida should wake up to positivity," Misha says. "I would love for the show to go national, and Ron's working on that.

"This is the best. I love people! We're telling people's stories." ¦