Video taking off 13x its usual first day

Tom Skerritt, the 'Top Gun' instructor and 'Picket Fences' sheriff, dies at 93

ABC7's short report recalls a career of steady authority figures and his nonprofit work helping veterans through writing.

Channel:

ABC7 Story of October 23, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 271,157 views a day, 13 times a normal first day on this channel (20,460).

Tom Skerritt, actor known for 'Top Gun' and 'Picket Fences,' dies at 93

"The entertainment world is mourning the passing of Tom Skerritt," Phillip Palmer tells ABC7 viewers, adding that the actor's family says he died of natural causes at 93.

The report runs well under a minute. In that time it moves from a clip of "Top Gun," where Skerritt played the flight instructor Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf opposite Tom Cruise, to footage of him accepting an award. Palmer also names "A River Runs Through It" and "Alien," in which Skerritt played Dallas, the captain of the Nostromo. As the station's description puts it, he was the solid, wry authority figure in very different worlds. That was true on television too, where his Sheriff Jimmy Brock in "Picket Fences" won him an Emmy in 1993.

Palmer ends with work away from the cameras: Skerritt ran a nonprofit that helps veterans work through PTSD, anxiety and depression through writing.

The Short reached about 139,000 views in its first eight hours, far more than ABC7's Shorts usually draw in a full day. In the comments, viewers add their own titles to Palmer's list, from "MASH" and "The Dead Zone" to "Steel Magnolias." Several say they grew up watching him. A good number say they had assumed he was younger.

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What viewers say

And, he was great in The Dead Zone (Cronenberg). Sad to see him go. Very unique actor.
@Bat_BoySee it on YouTube
I think the earliest thing I remember seeing him in was the movie MASH.
@tujungadaveSee it on YouTube
LOVE Tom Skerritt! He was so good at making the viewer feel good! Like everything was okay in his presence.
@futureselfnowSee it on YouTube

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