Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Here's the second half of a broadcast of an episode of the long-running ABC soap General Hospital as aired over WLS Channel 7.
This was during the whole Luke and Laura hubbub, which catapulted the show to the top of the ratings heap for most of the decade. It is in this installment (the third part of a story arc that had begun on January 13th) that Laura disappears into the fog during a photo shoot, and a major search for her commences, with numerous scenes in the fog and mistaken identities abounding.
Aside from Genie Francis, who played Laura (and who would be off the show for the next two years), the cast also includes John Beradino as Dr. Steve Hardy, Emily McLaughlin as Jessie Brewer, R.N., Denise Alexander as Dr. Lesley Webber, Rachel Ames as Audrey Hardy, R.N., Peter Hansen as Lee Baldwin, Chris Robinson as Dr. Rick Webber, Leslie Charleson as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, Stuart Damon as Dr. Alan Quartermaine, Anthony Geary (R.I.P.) as Luke Spencer, Douglas Sherman as Joe Kelly, Susan Platt as Anne Logan, R.N., and Kin Shriner as Scotty Baldwin.
Includes:
Recording coming in (another show had been taped over the first half) at point in Act IV (?) where Luke is enquiring about Laura's whereabouts
Bumper (voiceover by ??)
Commercials for:
Golden Griddle syrup (voiceover by Les Marshak)
Lay's Potato Chips (with founder Herman W. Lay)
Pillsbury Supreme Chocolate Fudge frosting
Bumper
Promo for "The Onion Field" (voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
Commercials for:
Mary Kitchen Hash - from Hormel (at Ordmann's Park & Shop)
Promo for "the new" Eyewitness News at 4:30pm and 10pm (with Fahey Flynn, Mary Ann Childers, Tim Weigel, Al Lerner and Dr. Dave Eiser in restaurant)
Manor House Lite reduced caffeine coffee (ending voiceover by Al Parker?)
Station ID / promo for United Cerebral Palsy Weekend with the Stars Telethon (voiceover by Gary Gears)
Act V (?)
Commercials for:
Flintstones Plus Iron multi-vitamin supplements
Four-stage Style shampoo
Sine-Aid for sinus headaches
Stayfree Maxi-Pads (with Cathy Rigby)
Act VI (?)
Commercials for:
New Lighter Wesson pure vegetable oil
Sugar Free Breath Savers peppermint
Eveready Energizer Batteries (with children at a sleepover - and a portable radio/tape player)
Start of promo for The Edge of Night (voiceover by Dick Tufeld) before station cuts to local promo for the "new" Eyewitness News at 4:30pm and 10pm (with Tim Weigel, Fahey Flynn, Mary Ann Childers, Al Lerner and Dr. Dave Eiser in book study)
Beginning of Venture commercial before station realizes they went over and need to get back to the network feed
Act VII (?)
Commercials for:
Colgate Winter Fresh Gel toothpaste
Ajax Real Lemon Juice dishwashing liquid
Tampax tampons
Ending credits (with actors on this show listed)
FYI with Hal Linden - about how to shovel snow without ruining your health (same segment as aired on a different day posted separately here: youtu.be/NljZmCiF8Jc)
Promo for "Fantasies" (main voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
Eyewitness News Brief with Mary Ann Childers (voiceover by Al Parker?) (recording ends midway)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, January 15th 1982 (copyright date 1981) during the 2:29pm to 2:59pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!
Here's the second half of a broadcast of an episode of the long-running ABC soap General Hospital as aired over WLS Channel 7.
This was during the whole Luke and Laura hubbub, which catapulted the show to the top of the ratings heap for most of the decade. It is in this installment (the third part of a story arc that had begun on January 13th) that Laura disappears into the fog during a photo shoot, and a major search for her commences, with numerous scenes in the fog and mistaken identities abounding.
Aside from Genie Francis, who played Laura (and who would be off the show for the next two years), the cast also includes John Beradino as Dr. Steve Hardy, Emily McLaughlin as Jessie Brewer, R.N., Denise Alexander as Dr. Lesley Webber, Rachel Ames as Audrey Hardy, R.N., Peter Hansen as Lee Baldwin, Chris Robinson as Dr. Rick Webber, Leslie Charleson as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, Stuart Damon as Dr. Alan Quartermaine, Anthony Geary (R.I.P.) as Luke Spencer, Douglas Sherman as Joe Kelly, Susan Platt as Anne Logan, R.N., and Kin Shriner as Scotty Baldwin.
Includes:
Recording coming in (another show had been taped over the first half) at point in Act IV (?) where Luke is enquiring about Laura's whereabouts
Bumper (voiceover by ??)
Commercials for:
Golden Griddle syrup (voiceover by Les Marshak)
Lay's Potato Chips (with founder Herman W. Lay)
Pillsbury Supreme Chocolate Fudge frosting
Bumper
Promo for "The Onion Field" (voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
Commercials for:
Mary Kitchen Hash - from Hormel (at Ordmann's Park & Shop)
Promo for "the new" Eyewitness News at 4:30pm and 10pm (with Fahey Flynn, Mary Ann Childers, Tim Weigel, Al Lerner and Dr. Dave Eiser in restaurant)
Manor House Lite reduced caffeine coffee (ending voiceover by Al Parker?)
Station ID / promo for United Cerebral Palsy Weekend with the Stars Telethon (voiceover by Gary Gears)
Act V (?)
Commercials for:
Flintstones Plus Iron multi-vitamin supplements
Four-stage Style shampoo
Sine-Aid for sinus headaches
Stayfree Maxi-Pads (with Cathy Rigby)
Act VI (?)
Commercials for:
New Lighter Wesson pure vegetable oil
Sugar Free Breath Savers peppermint
Eveready Energizer Batteries (with children at a sleepover - and a portable radio/tape player)
Start of promo for The Edge of Night (voiceover by Dick Tufeld) before station cuts to local promo for the "new" Eyewitness News at 4:30pm and 10pm (with Tim Weigel, Fahey Flynn, Mary Ann Childers, Al Lerner and Dr. Dave Eiser in book study)
Beginning of Venture commercial before station realizes they went over and need to get back to the network feed
Act VII (?)
Commercials for:
Colgate Winter Fresh Gel toothpaste
Ajax Real Lemon Juice dishwashing liquid
Tampax tampons
Ending credits (with actors on this show listed)
FYI with Hal Linden - about how to shovel snow without ruining your health (same segment as aired on a different day posted separately here: youtu.be/NljZmCiF8Jc)
Promo for "Fantasies" (main voiceover by Ernie Anderson)
Eyewitness News Brief with Mary Ann Childers (voiceover by Al Parker?) (recording ends midway)
This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, January 15th 1982 (copyright date 1981) during the 2:29pm to 2:59pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help!
![CNN - Special Assignment - Doomsday Government (Complete Episode, 11/17/1991) ☢️
In light of the recent death of its founder, Ted Turner, heres a complete episode (except, no ending credits?) of Cable News Networks (CNN) series Special Assignment, titled Doomsday Government, reported by David Lewis.
This is an exposé of a super-secret government agency that directs what has been referred to as a shadow government, operates with no oversight whatsoever (to the point fraud, wrongdoing and abuse mushroomed), and the various sub-agencies that serve under this entity.
[NOTE: This is from a master tape, and thus is shorn of any commercial breaks]
Includes:
Show opening titles
Preview (with comments by Tom Golden [who comments on and off during the entire show], Chief of Counter-Intelligence, Strategic Defense Command, nuclear arms expert William Arkin, and people only identified as Bob and Ralph), and episode title
Part I, with shots of super-secret sites and jets flying; infrastructure of spy satellites, eavesdropping antennae, weapons programs - and Special Access (Black) programs, including COG (Continuity of Government), meant for government to survive a nuclear attack and run by NPO (National Program Office, authorized by Ronald Reagan in 1982 and partly started up by Oliver North), described by Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN), also involves Presidential Successor Support System, and is carried out by the CIA, State and Defense Departments, and FEMA; Adam, and Bob also reveal details, and Bruce Blair of Brookings Institution gives more background; a look at their gravely flawed communications system (amusingly (or not) this portion uses scenes from the 1983 telefilm The Day After to represent the attack)
Part II: Recapitulation of COG and NPO, before going into a litany of contract irregularities (including no competitive bidding on contracts), security breaches (used to hide embarrassing problems) and cover-ups; plus a look at year-by-year budgets for these secret programs, with more comments from Rep. Hamilton and additional comments from Rep. Dave McCurdy (R-OK), Frank Conahan of the General Accounting Office, and attorney Bruce Fein
Part III: A look at two people - Tom Golden and former military intelligence officer Fred Westerman - who blew the whistle on the fraud in COG and NPO, and paid a dear price; John Marsh, Army Secretary from 1981-89, speaks of Tom, while security consultant David Mann speaks of Westermans situation
Part IV: A look at how, in the NPO structure, an unelected official outside the legal line of succession could somehow end up as President of the United States, starting off with clips related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22nd 1963; this plan dates to four decades of Cold War nuclear escalation; Ralph gives the details of this scheme (including a program called PSQ); those once considered under this system included such names as Sen. Howard Baker, former CIA Director Richard Helms, UN Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, Dick Cheney, Edwin Meese, former House Speaker Tip ONeill and Dick Thornburgh; an official is quoted as saying this plan does not jibe with the Constitution; Arkin speaks of the implications, as does William Van Alstyne of Duke University Law School; a clip of the fall of the Berlin Wall is shown, along with Boris Yeltsin taking over Russia, which David suggests may make the whole COG scheme moot - but then clips of Operation Desert Storm are shown, bringing this spectre back from the dead; after which David sums up the entire premise of this edition
No ending credits in the copy we were given, unfortunately - but we would like to note that one verified source mentions that Mary Whittington was the producer of the program.
This aired on local Chicago TV (via cable) - and everywhere else in the U.S. - on Sunday, November 17th 1991.
Special thanks to Bill Geerhart and the fine folks at the CONELRAD YouTube channel for sharing this video with us and allowing it to be shared here. https://youtube.com/@CONELRAD6401240
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help! CNN - Special Assignment - Doomsday Government (Complete Episode, 11/17/1991) ☢️](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nSzEu6ye2QM/mqdefault.jpg)


![The CBS Late Movie - Parts: The Clonus Horror (First 1 Hr. & 15 Min., 4/9/1982)
Heres part of, Parts (or rather, the first hour and 15 minutes of the broadcast of The CBS Late Movie presentation of Parts: The Clonus Horror [1979] on WBBM Channel 2).
In this flick (yet another shown on this showcase to later be skewered on Mystery Science Theater 3000, in 1997) about a supposedly perfect society in the future, one member discovers the truth about the outside world and its ultimate purposes. Starring Timothy Donnelly (formerly of Emergency!), Dick Sargent (ex-Bewitched), David Hooks, Keenan Wynn, and Peter Graves (formerly of Mission: Impossible, and a year from co-starring in Airplane!); co-starring Frank Ashmore, Lurene Tuttle, Eddy Carroll, Zale Kessler, James Mantell, and introducing Paulette Breen.
All CBS Late Movie voiceovers (preview, promos and bumpers) by Norm Stevens.
Includes:
Preemption notice for The CBS Late Night Movies (as on the slide), followed by opening and closing titles for CBS Sports highlights of the 1982 Masters golf tournament in Augusta, GA, which delayed the movie by about 15 minutes (all voiceovers by Don Robertson)
CBS Eye-D (voiceover by Don Robertson)
Commercials for:
WLAK FM 94 - My Soft Spot (posted separately here: https://youtu.be/Byh8hwcilak )
BusinessWeek magazine (with Hewlett-Packard President/CEO John Young and TWA President/CEO C.E. Meyer, Jr.)
Station ID / Donahue promo (with Phil himself)
Show opening and preview, followed by Act I (with opening credits melded in)
Commercials for:
Renuzit adjustable air freshener - Renuzit Dooz It
Endust furniture spray (with interior decorator Paula Gans)
Campho-Phenique (voiceover by Joel Crager)
GMAC - 12.8% car and truck financing rates through May 31st
Promo for next weeks lineup including Quincy, McMillan & Wife, and The Bees
Act II
Commercials for:
Jobes Tree and Shrub, Fruit Tree, and Evergreen Spikes (fertilizer)
Heinz 57 Sauce (use with honey to glaze ham)
Rainbow Fresh Yes Heavy Duty Detergent
Weber Fine German White Wine
Kodak Kodacolor II film
Illinois Instant Lottery Lucky Numbers game (sung to tune of Pop! Goes the Weasel)
Promo for Monday double feature of Quincy and Columbo
Commercials for:
The Gap - Yellow Tag Sale
ON TV - Pay $25.95 less
Maries Blue Cheese Dressing
Promo for Donahue (with Phil Donahue)
PSA for Pro & Con Screening Board Grant a Wish Program (voiceover by Bob Carrington)
Bumper
Act III
Commercials for:
Arm & Hammer Cat Litter Deodorizer
Volkswagen Rabbit (voiceover by Richard Kiley?)
Star Kist Tuna (Charlie drinks natural spring water)
American Express Card (with Itzhak Perlman) (voiceover by Peter Thomas)
Promo for Tuesday lineup of Alice, WKRP in Cincinnati, and McCloud
Commercials for:
Van De Kamps Breaded Fish Sticks
Kraft La Creme whipped topping (with Skip Hinnant)
Theatrical trailer for Some Kind of Hero (ending voiceover by Jerry Harper)
American Express Card
Act IV
Bumper
Commercials for:
Future acrylic finish - for no-wax floors
Promise toothpaste for sensitive teeth
Pollenex Pure Air 99 cleaner/deodorizer (with George Burns)
Honda Civic Wagon (voiceover by Burgess Meredith?)
Promo for The Bees on Wednesday
Commercials for:
Uncle Bens Converted Brand Rice
Spectrum Pay-TV
Burger King - Arent You Hungry for a Whopper? game (with a young Meg Ryan)
Dynamo laundry detergent (with housewives Rebecca Jo Wiley, Donna Pekich and Joan Kraft)
Bumper
Act V
Bumper
Commercials for:
Congoleum vinyl flooring (voiceover by Norman Rose)
Maybelline Fresh Lash mascara (with Lynda Carter)
Heinz 57 Sauce (repeat)
Nestlé Toll House cookies
Promo for Quincy, Columbo, McMillan and Wife, and McCloud
Commercials for:
People magazine - April 12th issue (with Henry Fonda on cover)
Browns Chicken - It Tastes Better
Spectrum Pay-TV (repeat)
Wonder Family Wheat Bread
Bumper
Act VI (recording ends midway) :-(
Aww, we missed the part where Keenan Wynn explodes unexpectedly while arguing with his wife.
This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, April 9th 1982 within the 10:30pm to 12am timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help! The CBS Late Movie - Parts: The Clonus Horror (First 1 Hr. & 15 Min., 4/9/1982)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nlsHDVtLPhY/mqdefault.jpg)
![KXAS Channel 5 [Fort Worth-Dallas, TX] - Emergency Broadcast System Test (7/30/1979)
Heres another example of how Emergency Broadcast System tests were handled by local stations back in the day - in this case, from KXAS Channel 5 in Fort Worth-Dallas, TX.
(NOTE: Another EBS test from another Dallas-Fort Worth station - WFAA Channel 8, from 1978 - can be seen here: https://youtu.be/_9SvldZ8zs0 )
Includes:
Ending of PSA for The Family Place (a shelter for battered women) (voiceover by ??)
This is followed by the obligatory Emergency Broadcast System test (voiceover by ??)
The test - two tones, played simultaneously at 853 and 960 Hz, per FCC guidelines - only lasted a bit more than 23 seconds. The rest in this 60-second test were the This is a test... intro at the start, and the outro script at the end (both of which were also shown on screen as they were being read). However, there is no indication (between the actual emergency spiel and This concludes this test...) of which area this station serves (which would have been the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex).
Station ID / promo for The Muppet Show (voiceover by ??)
First few seconds of Act 5 of Days of Our Lives
This aired on local Fort Worth-Dallas TV on Monday, July 30th 1979 within the 12:00pm to 1:00pm timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help! KXAS Channel 5 [Fort Worth-Dallas, TX] - Emergency Broadcast System Test (7/30/1979)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oGJOsPDG-k8/mqdefault.jpg)

![WPIX-TV - Dinah! - Barker/Farrell/Kaye/Grassle/Byrd et al. (Complete-ish Broadcast, 9/25/1978)❗
Heres a (mostly) complete broadcast (well, missing the last half hour actually - the show was an hour and a half (!) at this point) of Dinah! as hosted by Dinah Shore, and just moved in New York City to WPIX Channel 11 (sister station to Chicagos own WGN Channel 9). (Dinah! had previously been on WCBS Channel 2, going back to its 1974 debut). The guests (in order) are Bob Barker (The Price Is Right), Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H), Caren Kaye (Whos Watching the Kids?), Karen Grassle (Little House on the Prairie), Del Martin (author of Battered Wives and coordinator of the National Organization for Womens Task Force on Battered Women), survivor Sally Bennon, and ventriloquist Kenny Byrd.
(Incidentally, besides this being the 90-minute version, some stations ran a 60-minute edition.)
Includes:
Recording coming in after show opening and intro (and, for first 30 seconds, shorn of color), Dinah welcomes you to the new season, after which Bob pops out and brings out Mr. Orlando from Wilkes-Barre, PA and Mr. Mike Bignacolo from Argentina (husbands of two female audience members), then brings out the wives, before recording cuts to Dinah with Mike and Bob, introducing Caren
Commercial: Federal Builders
Promo for Tic Tac Dough, You Dont Say, Lets Make a Deal and To Tell the Truth (voiceover by Bill Biery)
PSA for the NAACP (posted separately here: https://youtu.be/iPGgwaiab-I)
In Segment 2, Caren speaks of a 20-year game plan in her career, before Dinah introduces Karen, who comes to speak of her coming TV-movie Battered (in which Mike co-stars) and the road to it getting made; a clip from it is shown (mostly removed to prevent blocking)
Commercials for:
TV Guide (September 30th-October 6th issue) (voiceover by Taylor Grant)
New York Business School
Chap Stick Lip Treat flavor gloss (with Suzy Chapstick - played by Suzy Chaffee)
Promo for Sanford & Son (voiceover by Bill Biery) (incomplete, as . . . )
. . . recording cuts to Segment 3, as Dinah, holding Battered Wives, introduces Del and Sally, the latter of whom who speaks of her experience as a battered wife while Del cites some statistics
Promo for Tic Tac Dough, et al (repeat)
Commercials for:
Harrows Swimming Pools - Fantastic Cover-Up
Promo for Gemini on Broadway at Little Theatre (with Danny Aiello and the cast)
Brooklyn magazine (3 ads in a row)
PSA for USDA (Farmer Brown with Harry Hound) (posted separately here: https://youtu.be/b4WyW8eHDCM )
In Segment 4, Mike speaks about the issue of spousal abuse, with Del making some explanations, before another scene from Battered is shown (again mostly cut), after which Karen and Del bring up more points
Commercials for:
Marywood College of Scranton, PA (main voiceover by ??) (ending voiceover by Ralph Lowenstein)
Waverly and Hemingway mens stores (with president Louis Wachtel) - Be a Comparison Shopper
Preview of coming segments (voiceover by Johnny Gilbert?)
Commercials for:
Albert Merrill School
Chap Stick Lip Treat (repeat)
Promo for nighttime game show lineup (repeat)
Segment 5: Kenny (currently opening for Ben Vereen) does a ventriloquist act with his bird, Mr. Byrd; after which he joins Dinah and her guests and speaks about working with Ben and their experiences together (first part of which is posted separately here: https://youtu.be/WaYv57_OvGg)
Commercials for:
Betty Owen Secretarial Systems (with color-coded typewriter keys)
Pippin (at Northstage Theatre-Restaurant in Glen Cove, Long Island)
Mount Airy Lodge and Pocono Gardens (Have a summer of fun in the Poconos) (posted separately here: https://youtu.be/PsqhS_E0K0U)
Segment 6: Kenny Byrd does a routine with Freddie the Frog whos joined by Doug the Dog
Promo for Fish, Sanford & Son and The Odd Couple (voiceover by Bill Biery)
Commercials for:
Awnair Aluminum Awnings
WPIX FM Rock 102 - Rocks New Champions
[about 20 seconds of dead air!]
Segment 7: Dinah speaks more with Karen about Battered, more specifically where battered women can go to for help, but recording ends as shes speaking about a bill in the Senate dealing with shelters for them
This aired on local New York TV on Monday, September 25th 1978 during the 10am to 11:30am (Eastern) timeframe.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: tapes@fuzzy.tv We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help! WPIX-TV - Dinah! - Barker/Farrell/Kaye/Grassle/Byrd et al. (Complete-ish Broadcast, 9/25/1978)❗](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p0K4F37pepA/mqdefault.jpg)



![ON TV - Orson Welles at The Magic Castle (1978) [LOST Special] 🏰 📺
A spooky treat! 🎃
Sourced from a relatively-good Betamax dub, (who knows where the original recording went? Not us) heres the (seemingly) complete broadcast of a heretofore long-lost pay-tv special — Orson Welles at The Magic Castle, as shown over the ON TV subscription service (research found that it also aired on Showtime in September 1978).
A remembrance by Abb Dickson, from the book Orson Welles Remembered - I picked up the phone, I called Orson, I said, “Look, I’ve written this Magic special...” I said, “I need for you to do the introduction and the in-and-out. It will probably be one day of shooting, at the most two, and I’ve only got, I think, $25,000. Will you shoot this?” And he said, “Sure! But I get the extra film.”
We go across the street to Columbia Pay Television and in less than an hour we have sold a special called Orson Welles at the Magic Castle. Orson and I worked out all of the intros and outros. So he showed up, we did our tape, we did our intros, we shot for that one day, and the next morning we were to finish the outside shots where Orson arrived at the Castle — full of fog — and he gestures and the doors open and he walks into the Castle. Well, Orson called me at about 7 o’clock in the morning and said, “I’m not coming. I’ve shot everything they need, you can shoot the rest of it. I’ll send you my wardrobe, but you’re going to have to have a hat made because your head is smaller than mine and my hat won’t fit you.” So I’m the one outside, gesturing in the cape and wandering through the fog, and I was the one who finished the shot.
(NOTE: Several library music cues featured in the special had to be modified for posting here)
Includes:
Our host (surreptitiously played by Abb Dickson in disguise) introduces us outside the castle and describes what - and who - are allowed in it, followed by the opening title
Orson enters the building where strange things are happening, and Abb Dickson (in fez) explains about, and demonstrates, the Indian rope trick
He then turns the program over to Abb who introduces the following guests:
- Peter Pit, from Holland; does various tricks and jokes
- Ger Copper, who does various tricks
- Kuda Bux, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes from Pakistan
- A look at piano player Invisible Irma (a ghost) on display at the Irma Room
- More magic from Peter Pit (with magical floating cane) at the Palace of Mystery
- Jay Marshall, in the Conjurers Corner, does tricks involving large rings
- After his piece ends, we hard cut to Abb (in a King Tut costume) presiding over it
- Hard cut again, bringing us inside the Parlour of Prestidigitation, with Albert Goshman, who does tricks with two women, Wendy and Eileen, in attendance
- Abb does tricks with an Oriental theme
- A filmed segment with Orson doing magic
Orson then closes the program (I remain as always, obediently yours...) with credits:
Orson Welles at The Magic Castle
Starring Orson Welles
Featuring Abb Dickson
With Kuda Bux, Ger Copper, Albert Goshman, Jay Marshall, Peter Pit
Produced by Joe Butt, Brad Schreiber
Directed by Tom Trbovich
Written by Abb Dickson, Orson Welles
Lighting Consultant - Greg Brunton
Associate Director - Chris Darley
Production Stage Manager - Paul Miller
Camera - Larry Heider, Bob Keys, Wayne Orr
Video - Mark Sanford
Audio - Larry Stephens
Technical Director - Harvey Berger
Videotape Editors - Gary Princz, Max Curtis
Make-Up - Greg Nelson
Production Assistants - Wendy Charles, Kathi Heller, Wendy Macintosh
Still Photographer - Bill Sandidge
Production Coordinator - Barry Kaplan
Lighting - Imero Fiorentino Associates, Inc.
Videotape Facilities - Compact Video Systems, Inc.
Post Production - E.U.E./Screen Gems Video Services
Film Sequences - Orson Welles
Special Thanks to The Magic Castle
Executive Producer - Joe Butt
A BMR Production
Extended A Columbia Pictures Pay Television Presentation bumper (posted separately here: https://youtu.be/eQ5nbj53U6o)
Coming ON bumper
Beginning of preview for “Women in Love [1969] (recording cuts out)
Take my word for it. Im a magician myself.
This originally aired in 1978. (one confirmed airing on the Los Angeles ON TV station was in December 1978)
This footage was donated to the Museum of Classic Chicago Television as part of the Richard Gough Collection.
About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:
The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. We preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present, for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail tapes@fuzzy.tv Thank you for your help! ON TV - Orson Welles at The Magic Castle (1978) [LOST Special] 🏰 📺](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pO3b2PsnSgI/mqdefault.jpg)