Last updated July 5, 1998

Mark Kriski

Vital Signs

Hometown: Nova Scotia, Canada
Birthday: June 29
Nicknames: Markeesh, "Mark in the Dark"
Given name: Mark Krzyski
Pre-Morning-News Doings: Radio DJ
Family: Wife Sherrie; kids Jacqueline, Danielle, Derek; dog Lady
KTLA.com page on Mark

About Mark

Mark is the weatherman for the Morning News. He also does interviews, and during sweeps he does travel reports from some far-off exotic land (most recently for the November '97 sweeps he went to Berlin and Amsterdam).

Mark likes to claim that he's from Montréal, but no one buys it, mainly because he doesn't speak much French. He tries valiantly, though. :)

Running jokes about Mark

Oh man, where do I start? :) Mark has a knack for creating, shall we say, unique expressions. For example, after a story about how Fergie was looking for TV work in the US, Mark suggested that the station invite her on the Morning News, and see if she could "cut the cheese." The correct expression, of course, is "cut the mustard." (Carlos and Barbara had a good time with that one.)

Mark also comes up with some really bad jokes but has no shame and freely shares them all with us. The one most often mentioned is the polar bear joke, which you can find at the end of this page.

Other on-screen appearances

Mark hosted a game show called Gotta Sing!, in which amateur singers participated in karaoke contests, and were judged by a panel of celebrities. His ambition in life is to host The Price is Right. When the last nighttime version of TPIR was being created, Mark almost did get the emcee job. He was a finalist along with a daytime soap actor whose name I forget right now (sorry!)

Mark has appeared in several movies and TV shows, including Speed, Speed 2: Cruise Control, and The Jackie Thomas Show.

Other tidbits

Mark was radio DJ in Montréal before he got into TV. One of his nicknames whilst in radio was "Mark in the Dark," since he worked the late-night hours. Another name he once went by is "Bill Kosky." He recently showed a picture of himself from those days... he had the big ol' sideburns and everything!

Once, before he headed off to Montréal for a vacation, he reported in from LAX before he went into the terminal. While he was on, a limo pulled up behind him, and he walked over to see who it was. And out stepped... Fabio! It turns out that he was going to Montréal too.

Before Roland Galvin joined the station, Mark occasionally popped up on News at Ten too.

Mark's favorite French expression is "La plume de ma tante" (which means "my aunt's pen").

The polar bear joke:

One day a baby polar bear goes and asks his dad, "Dad, am I 100% polar bear?" His dad replies, "Of course you are! I'm 100% polar bear, your mom's 100% polar bear, your grandmom's 100% polar bear, your granddad's 100% polar bear... of course you're 100% polar bear."

The baby polar bear, not convinced, asks his mother, "Mom, am I 100% polar bear?" His mom replies, "Of course you are! I'm 100% polar bear, your dad's 100% polar bear, your grandmom's 100% polar bear, your granddad's 100% polar bear... of course you're 100% polar bear."

So the baby polar bear, still not convinced, asks his grandfather, "Granpa, am I 100% polar bear?" His granddad replies, "Of course you are! I'm 100% polar bear, your grandmom's 100% polar bear, your mom's 100% polar bear, your dad's 100% polar bear... of course you're 100% polar bear."

But the baby polar bear still isn't convinced, so he asks his grandmother, "Grandma, am I 100% polar bear?" She replies, "Of course you are! I'm 100% polar bear, your grandfather's 100% polar bear, your mom's 100% polar bear, your dad's 100% polar bear... of course you're 100% polar bear. Why do you ask?"

"I'm freezing!"