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INTRODUCTION: This is a post I did for Daily Diatribes last year. With the holiday season here again, I thought it would be something good to repost here. My thoughts coming from now are in italics. Hopefully more holiday content to come... Fond Memories of WOR Posted by James Fabiano on January 16th, 2005 (Views: 133) Another non-secret about myself is the respect I have for memories of classic television. A big part of that involves remembering the “vintage” days of the local stations we received…for us, those would be the ones coming from New York City. There were the network affiliates for CBS, NBC, and ABC (Channels 2, 4, and 7 respectively), of course. But you REALLY got that New York feeling when you got to the independent stations. Nowadays, they’re all Foxes, UPN’s, and WB’s. Back then, we simply had WNEW-TV Channel 5 (then owned by Metromedia Television, now FOX 5, WNYW); WOR-TV Channel 9 (then an RKO General property, has since added an extra W to its call letters and is a UPN station), and “11 Alive,” the name given to Tribune Broadcasting’s Channel 11, WPIX (yes, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, a few stations out there took part in this trend of calling themselves “Alive.” If anyone can enlighten me on the origin of this, please do. Anyhow, aside from now being commonly called the WB 11, this station is the only one that survived with its original name intact) Some of the most memorable moments of these stations came around the holiday season, as they’d doll up their station identifications, create spots related to the coming festivities, and feature programming and special promotions to get people in the Christmas spirit. With the holidays just a few weeks behind us, I figured I’d do a write up of something I received from Jerry Roche: a short tape with these glimpses of classic Yuletide, New York style. [NOTE: Also soon to be available on upcoming editions of the Closing Logo Group Megamix . Stay tuned for further information...] - WOR “Sleigh Ride” spot: One of the perennial favorites of some New Yorkers, children wave to the viewers on a set of cottony snow, evergreens, presents, and a giant apple (cause New York is the “big apple,” see?), all with the Leroy Anderson rendition (or an amazing facsimile thereof) of “Sleigh Ride.” This must have left an impression on my memory, as whenever I heard the Anderson “Sleigh Ride,” somehow I’d identify it as that song from the old WOR Christmas commercials. - WOR Thanksgiving: Robert Fennimore, vice president and general manager of WOR-TV, tells us how in America, we’re free to make choices and to grow. What different times we lived in… - WOR Holiday Movie Special commercial outro: Something nostalgic about a title slide with an announcer-minus-dramatic-music saying, “We’ll return to ‘King Kong’ after these messages”? And better yet, remembering when a lot of local television’s programming was based around these classic movies (as in “classic” classic, or “B-movie” classic. Speaking of which, anyone remember the WPIX Chiller Theater?) - The WOR Children’s Christmas Fund: WOR newscaster Tom Dunn encourages us to make donations for children who are “in hospitals and other institutions.” This one brought back another of my really strong television memories: the WOR Head. This was a weird yet strangely fascinating logo used when the RKO General stations were running special promotions such as this. The other one I remember the best was a Santa in shorts on the beach promoting a “Christmas in July” fund. The logo itself was a half circle with a square area (with a pointed wedge on top) cut out in the bottom middle that had an abstract face drawn in it. The end result was the head of a helmet-haired child. Around the cranial protection-like ‘do were the names of RKO’s three New York TV and radio stations: WOR-TV, WOR-AM, and WRKS-FM (aka 98.7 KISS FM). Besides being on television, I also recall spotting the Head on baseball caps and/or tote bags. [NOTE: In reviewing this footage for said CLG Megamixes with a friend, the WOR/RKO/Christmas Children's Fund Head inspired some spirited conversation. Among it was the idea of this logo being made into a Bobble Head doll...wonder if any other fans of the Classic Element of TV would undertake this project? Also, my friend's lady friend tried to come up with how to describe the logo's hairdo. Before remembering "bowl cut," she wondered if the Head had a mullet! - No full commercials here, but a glimpse of commercials for NBO and a “Call Santa” hotline turned up before the next clip. Before the days of 900 numbers were the “976” numbers, and the one I came to learn by heart was 976-3636, which at this time of year granted access to a recorded message from Santa. Outside of Christmas, I believe you could call the same number for Dial-a-Joke or for daily interesting facts on geography and such. As for NBO, that was the National Brands Outlet, a New York/New Jersey chain of clothing outlets fondly, and oddly, remembered for boasting that they sold “everything…except shoes!” And to me, also for a catchy jingle sung by an unnamed female singer: “National Brands Outlet! Ennnnnnnn-Beeeeeeeeeeee-Ohhhhhhhhhh!” Other memorable NJ/NY stores included the infamous Crazy Eddie (“His prices are INSAAAAAAAAANE!”); Coronet’s, which prided itself on not requiring any talking orangutans; and Two Guys, the later shorter name of the “Two Guys from Harrison (NJ)” chain. Originally, they wanted to call it “Two Bastards from Harrison,” but…well, come here for the whole story. - John Davidson for the WOR Christmas Children’s Fund John Davidson, if you’re not familiar, is basically the prototype for Eric Bischoff, and the host of the second stand-alone incarnation of Hollywood Squares that you may remember for always featuring Jim J. Bullock and Alf. Here, he is sitting on a sleigh with falling “snow,” essentially trying to give the same spiel that Mr. Dunn did just one promo ago. Only…1) It’s JOHN DAVIDSON doing it, so I can’t shake his stereotypical game show host image when he’s trying to be serious, and 2) The only way his “performance” could be scarier is if he wasn’t in fact reading from a teleprompter. Here’s some sample excerpts, typed to closely match his actual speech patterns: “Hi this is John Davidson, you know, Christmas is a…wonderful time of year.” “…children in hospitals…andotherinstitutions….so please don’t let that happen.” [NOTE: An urban legend I wanted to confirm...on another board I frequent, someone recalled John Davidson's talk show, and that one time he supposedly showed a film of Adolf Hitler giving children Christmas presents or something similar. After it finished, he commented, "If only he showed that side of himself more often!" True story?] - WNEW Movie Plug: A short teaser for the Bing Crosby movie “Holiday Inn,” hailed by the announcer as “A Channel 5 CHRISTMAS Special!” (again trying to match his inflection). A word on this announcer, as he’s just not any. The is the person we know as the “Metromedia Man,” a gruff, New Yorkish voice that became an identifying feature of Channel 5. We don’t know his name yet (help, anybody?) but if you grew up on ‘80s New York television, you’ll know him once you hear him. Another great soundbite with the MM can be accessed if you join the Yahoo! Groups channel5fan and vintagenyctv , in which he reads a sign-off spiel for WNEW (TV stations weren’t always 24/7 things, you know). You haven’t lived until you heard MM mention that “some programs and POOOOOOORTIONS of programs on this station, have been recorded!” [UPDATE: As per Channel 5 Fan on Yahoo! Groups, Metromedia Man was actually a gentleman by the name of Lou Steele. Sadly, he passed on some years ago. And if you want even more clips of Mr. Steele's work, and more from all of NY's local stations, I highly recommend TV ARK . I can't believe I missed that plug last time around.] - Happy New Year from 11 Alive: WPIX’s turn to wish us happy holidays. Random (I assume) station employees greet us from various locales, including a carriage in Central Park and a children’s playroom complete with, well, children, as well as an electric train and a yellow panda who seriously looks like he’s about to lose his lunch. - Happy New Year from 11 Alive II: Same concept as above, but this time it’s from the news team of Independent Network News. - 11 Alive Yule Log Commercial: Us New Jerseyites have to fight a little to name things the rest of the world owes us for. One such thing is the idea of watching a burning fireplace on TV on Christmas Day. And even that honor comes by proxy, with us being next door to New York and all. At the time of this commercial, the Log was also seen on Christmas Eve from 8-12 at night, followed by the traditional Midnight Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Then again on Christmas morning. Today, however, the Yule Log has enjoyed a comeback these past 3 years, and can be seen Christmas mornings on the now-WB 11 and other Tribune-owned stations. Between that and their “Pix at Night” prime-time Saturday block of ‘70s sitcoms, WPIX is truly sticking to its golden age roots. [NOTE: Sadly, the Pix at Night block is no more, but the Yule Log is still burning for Christmas. Just for a reminder, Joe's excellent site on the Yule Log has been updated, and can be seen here at the NEW Yule Log.com. Some new bonuses and a new message board there, and speaking of 11 Alive, Joe has posted a recreation of the "Holiday Movie Special" opening from the glory days. It also includes a much-ridiculed (by me and another friend) 11 Alive Station I.D. with listless singers. As he said, it sounds more like, "Uhhhheeeeeuhhhh, uhhhhllluuuhhhhh!" Back to the movie opening, it uses a catchy instrumental called "Santa's Got A Brand New Bag" and has colorful early-CGI trails in the font of what you see in that 8:00 Movie clip on TV ARK. All the stuff you love about '70s bumpers, basically. And WPIX had some GREAT ones. It is a shame the "Sunday Movie Special" open has not turned up yet, that is a great one with some funky music.] Well that’s it from this New York City Christmas. Hope you enjoyed, and if you have any reactions, to quote WPIX’s Richard N. Hughes, “What’s your opinion? We’d like to know.” Post a comment in response: |
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