NEW YORK - When the red light is off, Katie Couric gets annoyed about her microphone, jokes about her husky voice and -- the shock! -- asks questions of her colleagues.
A video of Couric unplugged, while on the set covering the New Hampshire primary, was posted on Harry Shearer's "My Damn Channel" website and quickly made the Internet rounds Tuesday.
They appear to be shots taken in between live reports on Jan. 8, material that is occasionally available to people with powerful satellite dishes.
Most of it is unremarkable footage of a journalist in the midst of a story, asking colleagues about Barack Obama's poll numbers and checking the date of the Michigan primary.
There's also some entertaining asides and more shots of Couric's famous grin than are usually seen on the air on CBS. She makes a cutting motion to her throat to discuss Rudy Giuliani's chances in New Hampshire and lets loose a stream of expletives about her rush to get everything in one brief report.
And she admits to being transfixed by John McCain's wife's eyes.
"She looks like a husky, those weird blue eyes," she said. "Cindy McCain has the most intense blue eyes . . . They were so intense, I couldn't stop staring at her. She must have thought I was weird."
It's the second time since her stay at CBS that such off-air video has made it to the Internet. The first time, she was mocking predecessor Dan Rather.
CBS had nothing to say Tuesday about the video, which provided some entertainment for computer users during breaks from work.
"I hope this video gets a lot of airplay," wrote one poster on My Damn Channel. "It's about time we realize the mediocreness of the conventional media."
Another viewer was more impressed, at least according to a posting on Gawker.
"If Katie was this entertaining when she was actually on the air," the person wrote, "I might even watch her little newscast."
