Northwest Afternoon  Northwest Afternoon (also known at times as NWA) was a local television talk show in the United States. It aired weekdays at 3PM in the Puget Sound area of Washington. It was produced locally by Seattle TV station KOMO-TV Channel 4, and debuted in September 1984. The series ended its run on September 5, 2008 after a run of nearly 24 years. The show's format, unchanged since its debut, began with a 15-minute daily recap of soap opera serials aired that day, with the last 45 minutes being a talk/variety-type show. In the latter portion of the show, subjects could vary from show to show. In one show, a famous TV, movie, or newsmaking celebrity may make an appearance as a special guest (usually discussing their latest work, etc.), while the very next day could focus on a guest who has survived against all odds. The show originated from Studio C of KOMO-TV's old building until it was demolished to make way for Fisher Plaza in 2000. On June 10, 2008 KOMO-TV announced that "Northwest Afternoon" was cancelled because of increased competition against first-run syndicated fare from "Dr. Phil" on KING-TV, "Rachael Ray" on KIRO-TV, and "Maury" on KCPQ. These shows had made inroads into Northwest Afternoon's once-comfortable ratings, making it difficult for station management to continue producing the show. The stunning announcement came after the series won a local Emmy. A 24-year retrospective send-off was aired on September 4, 2008, with the last show airing on September 5. The show was replaced by "The Doctors", a syndicated show that premiered on September 8, 2008. The cancellation of "Northwest Afternoon" came as a surprise considering many stations across the country are adding more local programs to their daytime schedules including KGO-TV in San Francisco with "The View from the Bay", KSTP-TV in Minneapolis with "Twin Cities Live", KUSA-TV in Denver with "Colorado & Company", WXIA in Atlanta with "Atlanta & Company", KXTV in Sacramento with "Sacramento & Company", and KSDK in St. Louis with "Show Me St. Louis", just to name a few. The original hosts of the show were Dick Foley and Dana Middleton, with the soap-opera recap portion of the show hosted by Cindi Rinehart.