ABC News Staffers Flashmob Diane Sawyer (With Some Of The World’s Worst Singing And Dancing) For Her Birthday

If you saw the terrific flashmob sequence in a recent episode of ABC’s Modern Family, be advised: the dancing-and-singing (especially the singing) flashmob talent does not–repeat NOT–extend to ABC News.

But give the worldwide staff at the news division their due props: they’ve got a great sense of humor. To celebrate World News anchor Diane Sawyer‘s birthday, New York producers and senior managers alerted Sawyer to imminent breaking news. To Sawyer’s immense credit, she smelled a rat right away: “you better not be punking me.”

Not exactly. What follows is a surprisingly enjoyable–though at times painfully harsh demonstration that some of ABC’s biggest stars can’t sing or dance to save their lives (I’m looking at you, Jake Tapper). There are, like the recent viral video on TODAY, seemingly neverending producers, graphics designers and technical crew flowing through the flashmob, along with a cameo from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and a champagne-pouring George Stephanopoulos.

As they say on Modern Family, the flashmob’s like a love letter. Here’s the letter Diane Sawyer got:

Watch it here, from ABC News:

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