Think you had a tough day at your radio station? You have nothing on a crew in Brazil. They were on the air Tuesday when gunmen stormed into the studio, pulled out pistols and – despite knowing they were going out live – proceeded to rob the hosts and the guests of all their valuables.
 
No one was hurt but I wondered how they got in. Turns out the manager opened the door thinking it was a food delivery they'd ordered from a local restaurant. Thankfully no one was hurt, but what a weird day at the office.
 
It reminds me of something a friend of mine who worked at City TV once told me back in the pre-911 days. They were still at 99 Queen St. E. back then and the control room was just off the front entrance. Anyone could see it as they walked in because it was directly opposite the front reception desk and the sliding glass door that separated it from there was usually wide open.
 
It’s where the director, producer, graphics person, PA and technical director all sat as the news, then called CityPulse, was going on. Owner Moses Znaimer had set it up that way deliberately because he wanted people coming into the place to see how television was made.
 
Well, you can already guess what happened. And as my friend who was there relates, one day during the 6 o’clock cast, a bum with a long black beard, unkempt wild hair and very shabby clothes wandered into the front lobby, turned left and walked straight into the control room.
 
The late Clint Nickerson was producing that night and watched stunned as the homeless man started circling around in the back of the control room. Finally, he turned to him and said in that great radio voice he had, “Can I help you?”
 
And in a response a comedy writer couldn’t craft, the bum looked over at him and said, “No thanks. I’m just looking.”
 
And then he left the room and the building, never to be seen again.
 
The Brazil robbery obviously wasn’t funny but I always thought that story was. And needless to say, they beefed up security after that. But the fact it happened at all still stuns me. You can watch the video in the linked article below. 

Brazilian talk show hosts robbed live on air by gunmen who steal valuables as horrified viewers watch