To celebrate Valentine’s Day, ABC’s “Good Morning America” turned to one of the most popular stunts on TV: the live wedding proposal. “GMA” added a twist, however: the couple had to get married live on the show… less than an hour after the proposal.

Jezebel’s Jessica Coen takes issue with the stunt, noting that the bride, Melissa, clearly was thinking about a wedding, but that at the end of the day she had no say in it. The bridesmaids, the flowers, the officiant and the colors were all chosen by “GMA”. The only input Melissa had in the wedding was choosing between four dresses that were pre-selected based on pics to her Pinterest page.

Update: Her now-husband was the one who came up with the idea: “While a “wedding in a flash” was slightly risky, it was in keeping with the couple’s adventurous courtship, Bondy assured.”

The gist of Coen’s critique is after the jump, though it is worth noting that Melissa told ABCNews.com once the cameras stopped rolling:

“They say your wedding day is one of the most amazing days of your life and this is one of the top two now for me,” Cohn said. “I never thought I’d get married on television. This is amazing to get married on ‘GMA.’”

Read more

ABC’s and CBS’s morning shows are going beyond the normal 9am end time covering the run up to the ceremonial Inaugruation — the real one was yesterday. Anchors and correspondents are in place for the 57th Presidential Inauguration. “CBS This Morning’s” Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell are broadcasting from a temporary booth on the National Mall. “Today” anchors Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker are at the network’s 400 North Capitol studios, also home to Fox News and C-Span. ABC’s “Good Morning America” is a split show, with George Stephanopoulos at ABC”s Newseum studio and Josh Elliot on Pennsylvania Ave. while the rest of the team was in New York.

Fox & Friends, as observed by @GabrielSherman, also mentioned that today is Blue Monday. “The most depressing day of the year,” said Steve Doocy. “It has to do with drab weather, holiday bills and resolutions we have not met,” he explained.

Forbes‘ Jeff Bercovici interviews ABC News president Ben Sherwood. “Good Morning America” was a significant part of the conversation, and Bercovici pressed Sherwood on whether “GMA’s ratings wins were coming at the expense of hard news, citing the recent guest-hosting appearance of Ann Romney, and Sarah Palin on competitor “Today.”

[Long pause] I think that “Good Morning America,” every morning, comes right out of the box at 7 a.m. with an incredibly aggressive mix of everything people need to stat their day. You’ve got George Stephanopoulos explaining the political world, you’ve got Sam Champion chasing the biggest weather around the country, you’ve got Josh Elliot telling folks what the big news around the world is, you’ve got Lara Spencer with all the entertainment and lifestyle information, and you’ve got Robin, who is the heart and soul of our program, who is on medical leave right now.

Once in a while…we book all kinds of guests on the program. Typically they’re newsmakers and they’re there to add some life to the program. I think the audience gets it. I think the audience understands what they’re there for. While Robin’s away healing from her bone marrow transplant, we’ve got an entire range of people coming in who want to be there for her, want to support her and want to show some solidarity for what she’s going through. Whether that’s Oprah Winfrey, or Sofia Vergara, Ann Romney — I think the audience understands what that’s about.

The debut of any show has the potential to be a little rocky, and yesterday’s “Good Afternoon America” was no exception. In his review, the AP’s David Bauder breaks it down segment-by-segment, noting the “GAA” producers “might want to hold on to their alarm clocks”:

The debut edition of “Good Afternoon America” ended abruptly in mid-anecdote from singer Liza Minnelli, who was being interviewed after performing “New York, New York” in the show’s Times Square studio. Host Lara Spencer interrupted her to wave goodbye.

Minnelli, backed by a band and dancers, performed to tout a new live disc of a 1974 recording. In the interview following, [Josh] Elliott asked her, “What was it like watching Liza Minnelli back then?”

A slightly bewildered Minnelli replied: “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her.”

TVNewser will be on hand for tomorrow’s edition of the show, so look for our story on Thursday.

Oh, the hazards of the morning show cooking segment. As ABC “Good Morning America” news anchor Josh Elliot learned this week, banana custard pies are not actually known for their pleasing aroma:

ABC’s “Good Morning America” is adding a new senior producer to its ranks, just days after announcing a new newsreader.

Ethan Nelson is joining “GMA” as senior broadcast producer. Nelson joins “GMA” following the announcement that ESPN’s Josh Elliot and “The Insider”‘s Lara Spencer would be joining the program as newsreader and lifestyle anchor, respectively. The moves come after James Goldston assumed senior EP duties on the program in February. Tom Cibrowski is still EP of “GMA.”

Nelson had been a producer for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” where he worked closely with the former “Today” and “Early Show” anchor.