Good Day L.A. debuted on June 18, 1993. At its inception, it was a two-hour newscast utilizing the then-traditional 'overnight headlines and traffic/weather' morning news format that was originally anchored by Antonio Mora and Susan Lichtman. Mark Thompson moved from the station's 10 p.m. newscast to serve as its weather anchor; Dagny Hultgreen served as the entertainment anchor; and Suzanne Dunn was the traffic reporter, reporting from the station's news helicopter Sky 11. A weekend public affairs show with the same name aired during the 1980s. The format was unsuccessful, and the show had suffered from frequent anchor turnover. Mora left for ABC News and was replaced by Thompson and later Tony McEwing. Hultgreen was replaced by Lonnie Lardner; Dunn was replaced by Will Kohlschreiber. The show was retooled in March 1995 when Steve Edwards was brought in as anchor alongside Jillian Barberie as weather anchor, and Dorothy Lucey handling the entertainment reports; Rod Bernsen took over the traffic reports from the helicopter, and McEwing reported headlines from the newsroom. In mid-2012, the show saw its first major lineup change in nearly two decades with the departure of Lucey, whose contract was not renewed in May. Around the same time, Reynolds was offered to work on a freelance basis and began appearing less frequently on the program. Unsatisfied with the demotion, Reynolds chose to leave completely in September of that year. At the same time of Reynolds' departure, frequent guest host Maria Sansone was made a full-time co-host of the program, alongside Edwards. The two were later joined by Araksya Karapetyan who served as a third host/anchor with regular contributions from Lisa Breckenridge, Marla Tellez and Tony McEwing. Both Lisa Breckenridge and Maria Sansone were let go from the show in January 2017 unannounced. For a short period the broadcast was hosted by just Edwards and Karapetyan before the latter was moved to the channel's early morning newscast. Liz Habib then joined as the show's new co anchor. On December 4, 2017, Megan Colarossi joined the show as the new co anchor alongside Edwards replacing Habib who returned to be a sports anchor. The teaming lasted just one week, as Edwards was let go by KTTV.
''Good Day Live''
In 2001, Good Day L.A. spun off a nationally syndicated program called Good Day Live, which was an hour-long version of the local show with the same hosts; the program, which featured the same format as Good Day L.A., was distributed by Twentieth Television and was originally launched on the Fox Television Stations, the parent of KTTV which operates Fox's owned-and-operated stations. Jillian Barberie was fired from the show and Dorothy Lucey left the syndicated version in 2004, yet both continued to host the L.A.-based version. They were replaced by Arthel Neville and Debbie Matenopoulos. Good Day Live was cancelled a year later due to low ratings.
Expansion to 3 hours
Following the cancellation of Good Day Live, KTTV expanded Good Day L.A. to three hours, running until 10 a.m. local time. Also in 2005, Good Day L.A. added a Sunday edition of the program that was hosted by Robb Weller, Nischelle Turner and Elizabeth Espinosa.
Expansion to 5 1/2 hours
KTTV expanded Good Day L.A. to five 1/2 hours on December 10, 2018, incorporating the morning news program that began at 4:30 a.m. into the show. The 4:30 a.m.-7:30 a.m. part of the show is anchored by Araksya Karapetyan & Tony McEwing. The 7:30 a.m.-10a.m. is hosted by Elex Michaelson, Megan Colarossi, Rita Garcia, Vanessa Borge, weather anchor Maria Quiban, entertainment reporter Julie Chang and traffic reporters Rick Dickert and Soumada Khan. On March 4, 2019 Good Day L.A. changes its Anchor lineup. The 4:30-6:00am part is hosted by Dan Cohen & Rita Garcia. The 6:00-9:00am is hosted by Araksya Karapetyan & Tony McEwing. The 9:00-10:00am is hosted by Megan Colarossi & Vanessa Borge.
Expansion to 6 hours
KTTV expanded Good Day L.A. to six hours on April 1, 2019.
The station's early morning newscast, Fox 11 Morning News, premiered alongside Good Day L.A. in June 1993; it was originally anchored by Diana Koricke and Tony McEwing, with veteran KTTV reporter and former anchor Tony Valdez serving as an occasional fill-in anchor. Koricke left television news in June 1996 and was replaced on the broadcast by Jean Martirez. The show originated as an hour-long newscast beginning at 6 a.m., but was later expanded to 90 minutes, with a 5:30 a.m. start time. In 2004, an additional half-hour was added, expanding the morning newscast to two hours beginning at 5 a.m.. The morning newscast was expanded to 4:30 a.m. in April 2010. On July 14, 2008, KTTV debuted a half-hour late morning newscast that immediately follows Good Day L.A. at 10:00 a.m. The program is currently anchored by McEwing and Araksya Karapetyan. In December of that year, a half-hour noon broadcast debuted on the station, which was reformatted in September 2011 from a traditional midday newscast to a mix of news and features with Good Day anchors Edwards and Sansone brought in to anchor the broadcast. In December 2018, Good Day L.A expanded from a 3-hour show starting at 7 a.m. to a 5 1/2 hour show starting 4:30 a.m. On April 1, 2019, Good Day L.A. expanded from a 5 1/2 hour show starting at 4:30 a.m. to a 6-hour show starting 4:00 a.m.
Reception
Critics of Good Day L.A. have praised the show for being "so wonderfully bonkers", particularly in comparison with its competition, including KTLA's morning newscast as well as the national network morning shows seen on ABC, CBS and NBC.
In other media
Clips from Good Day L.A. are frequently shown on the E! comedic television roundup series The Soup. The show features their logo and often showcases interviews or funny moments either in studio or from the field. Clips from this show have appeared on late night talk shows like The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
