Rena and Jana try their hand at replacing 'Entertainment Tonight' with news on KARE 11

Bad news: "Entertainment Tonight" is moving to an earlier time on KARE 11. The good news: Weekend anchor Rena Sarigianopoulos and reporter/anchor fill-in Jana Shortal are co-anchoring a new broadcast at 6:30 p.m. on KARE 11.

"It's going to be great. I'm very, very excited," Sarigianopoulos said Monday. "Julie [Nelson] and Randy [Shaver] will do from 6 to 6:30, and Jana and I will do from 6:30 to 7 p.m."

This means that KARE 11 is going after some of those hungry newshounds now enjoying the extended 6 p.m. news on KSTP-TV, the only local station providing news from 6:30 to 7 p.m. (That KSTP news is so annoyingly alluring I sometimes forget to switch over to "ET"on KARE. How long before WCCO-TV joins the 6:30 p.m. spot, and moves "Wheel of Fortune" into outer space?) Sarigianopoulos said the new show will "be slightly different but still news. We're not going be doing 'Entertainment Tonight' or anything."

Bup, bup, bup. I told Sarigianopoulos she and Shortal were going to have to put a different twist on their news broadcast.

"I know, people will miss 'Entertainment Tonight,' " said Sarigianopoulos, "but I promise, Jana is very entertaining."

That's true! She is much less laconic than she once was on air. I hope Shortal does the sports segment at 6:30 because filling in as sports anchor is what helped people understand her style.

There simply aren't enough Wohlenhauses in the world for Dylan not to be related to KARE 11's former meteorologist Steve.

You may not remember Steve Wohlenhaus from the late '80s because station bosses forced him to use the stage name Sunny Haus.

Since March I've noticed Dylan Wohlenhaus' solid work — Saturday he won a regional Emmy — and recently I tweeted a question about whether he was related to Steve. "He's my uncle," Dylan replied.

Dylan, a Buffalo, Minn., native, was working at the NBC affiliate in Spokane, Wash., when the opportunity to follow in his uncle's TV footsteps presented itself. He laughed when I asked if he appreciated his place in KARE 11 history as the second Wohlenhaus on air.

"It's funny because, I know, you know there are a lot of people who have been here a long time. They were here when he was here. They've been sending me pictures of when he was working here, hanging out in the hallway, doing funny things."

Tell me more about those pictures. "Nothing much, just goofing off," Dylan minimized.

Uncle Steve now lives in an east Twin Cities suburb where "He's still running Weather Eye, his business after he got out of TV."

I asked Dylan to give Steve my number but he did not call back; he also has ignored me on Twitter. "He is notoriously bad on Twitter," said Dylan. "I would not count on hearing from him. He's in that generation."

When asked about his uncle having to endure the indignity of that stage name, Dylan said, "It was one of those things; a pretty good job close to being out of college. You know there are worse things that could happen."

Sunny didn't let on how irritating he found the forced name change until he left KARE for a job in Washington state: "That Sunny Haus to me is absurd. I mean it's absolutely ridiculous. … Right now it's a little painful [too]. You kick yourself in the head. I obviously didn't have to accept that. But then again, when you're in North Carolina (at a 93rd-market station), and someone from your hometown, a 13th market, calls and says, 'Hey, how'd you like a job — one stipulation. You've got to be Rod Lightning and wear Spandex pants.' Sure! No problem!"

With the temperature around 53 degrees Saturday night, I thought there was a chance of Ron Isley arriving for his Orpheum performance in a fur coat. But the Isley Brother frontman just had on a jacket.

What, no fur? When I saw you in the Atlanta airport a couple of years ago you had on a fur coat, I yelled to Isley. He looked back and I think gave me a smile.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.