WPVI - The New Action News Theme - 1996 HulkieDs Media Archive 2026-09-17 | WPVI - The New Action News Theme - 1996
WCAU NBC 10 News Today, 8/22/2005 (missing last 5 minutes) HulkieDs Media Archive 2022-05-01 | WCAU's 5am news from August 22, 2005.At this point the morning news is anchored by Lori Delgado and Terry Ruggles. Bill Henley presents your EarthWatch forecast, while John Ogden handles Traffic Pulse. Reporters include Aditi Roy and Kristen Welker (now with the network). This is a few weeks before the NBC O&Os replaced this package, designed by Novocom but internally dubbed "Look A", with a new package designed by their internal Arthouse graphics hub dubbed... "Look A". (For simplicity's sake, we just call this "Novocom".) Novocom gfx are all over promos, and would remain even years after the station switched to the new group package.The recording begins at 4:55 to capture the brief weather update before the actual start of the news, and thus ends at 6:55, cutting off the last five minutes. The audio is not great, exhibiting notable crackling noises, so apologies for that.
Breaking News Coverage (CBS/NBC/CNBC/FoxBiz), 9/15/2008 HulkieDs Media Archive 2022-05-01 | An hour of breaking news coverage, flipping between channels, from the financial crisis of 2008. I'm fairly sure this is from September 15, the day after Lehman Brothers collapse, but let me know in the comments.
WPVI - 2012 - Midnight Update HulkieDs Media Archive 2012-07-28 | During the games, WPVI is running a midnight edition of Action News to compete with WCAU's delayed late newscast. It's not a full newscast, but rather a condensed six minute update of top stories, weather, and sports. It feels like a GMA cutin, only longer, meatier, and presented by Jim Gardner.The idea is that if you're watching the Games, but prefer Action News to NBC 10, you can switch over to Channel 6 and watch them and not miss any of the games. Whether this is a good idea is up to you - it feels kind of questionable to me, honestly, because the coverage doesn't always end at midnight. Moreover, Action News is so entrenched that anyone who wanted to see it likely clicked over at 11 regardless. It's not an ABC corporate move - 6 seems to be the only O&O who did it - so why they're doing it is anyone's guess.Here's highlights of the update.
KYW - Break, 1986 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-10-01 | Let's do a rundown of the promos and spots, nearly all local:1.) David Hasselhoff and Stephanie Kramer track down Jack The Ripper, who can apparently now time travel. If there is a list of bad TV movies I have to see, "A Bridge Across Time" surely tops it.2.) Evening Magazine with a Joan Rivers profile, where she speaks of replacing Johnny Carson. (heh heh heh...) KYW wasn't exactly a well-funded or well-run station in 1985-86 and the graphics do show it. They also show the 3 next to the Proud N, which is unusual. (The 3 was VERY rarely used alongside any NBC logo.)3.) Jerry Penacoli with the tease for what's coming up at 11. They've clearly gone to the "Turn To News" music and branding, but with nearly no on-screen graphics. Jerry mentions a blooper package; a similar one in the 2000s heavily milked the infamous Larry Mendte flooding blooper.4.) Woolite. You make me feel brand new.5.) A long Philadelphia Inquirer ad pimping the Sunday TV Week insert. It trumpets whopping 34 channel grids and a fancy-for-1985 VCR. Anyone know the voice? He did KYW-3 and Cartoon Network for a long while and he seems to voice nearly every negative campaign ad in the area.6.) Gary Geers teases the Case Of The Shifty Sailor for The People's Court. Note the new time of 5pm, likely replacing news. Starting around the late 1980s, 3 and 10 only did half-hours at 5:30, ceding the full hour to Action News at the height of its dominance.
KYW - 1999 - Eyewitness News at 5pm HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-09-29 | Philly's best news opening. Ever.
WPVI - 2006 - For The Engineering And Production Crews... HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-09-15 | A series of clips from about January of 2006. WPVI was in the midst of preparing for HD news; this involved the installation of new equipment and the building of a new set. While working on this, something went wrong - a series of technical problems rendered the studio at least partially unusable. This did not deter them from doing the 5pm and 6pm news as scheduled.This is a fascinating example of "guerilla newscasting". Rick and Monica are shoved into a corner of the newsroom, with no prompter, desk, or more than a single camera shot. OTS graphics are likewise out of the question. All weather forecasts came from the patio, not just the 5pm "weather outside". Traffic also originated there, and not from the recently-installed greenscreen. Any other segments that would have originated from the studio were done in wherever part of the building they could shove a camera into.By 5:45, things had recovered enough so that the late Gary Papa could deliver his sports update, and at 6 Jim Gardner was in studio. But there were still some problems; camera movement was limited and Dave Roberts remained at the patio for his weather forecast. I think there were some prompter issues as well as Jim seems to be looking at his script a little more than usual.At the end of what had to have been a grueling 90 minutes, Jim Gardner delivers his closing.... with one notable addition.
WPVI - Sept. 13, 2009 - 6pm Close From New Studios HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-09-13 | The famous WPVI Move Closer To Your World close. Weekends are the best time to hear it these days as they usually rush towards the ending on the weekday newscasts. Unfortunately, Rob Jennings is talking over the family of friends so we really only get to hear the last portion of the close. Note the VizRT-powered graphics. The Action News logo animation at the end is not pre-rendered; it animates out on-air live, which is cool.
WPVI - Sept. 13, 2009 - First 6pm From New Studios HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-09-13 | WPVI's new building, years in the making and planning, finally debuted on September 12, 2009. This is from the following day, and is the first 6pm newscast from the new facilities. As you can see, they didn't choose to do a dramatic overhaul of the general look and graphics; in some aspects the only thing that seems to have changed is that the news team has a lot more room to work with. The most major changes have been made behind the scenes, with high-powered new equipment and software to work with.The one thing you'll notice is the graphics look slightly different - and that's because 6 installed a VizRT system. Everything renders in and out in real time now; hence the graphical elements animate like crazy. Unfortunately, instead of commissioning a new graphics package or reworking parts of the current 2006-era look to fit VizRT's strengths, they chose to recreate the old stuff in-house from scratch. The result is not up to par and some of the graphics just don't look as good as they did in the old facilities. Hopefully, as 6's graphics staff learns the equipment, the on-air look will improve immensely.The set, though, more than makes up for the shortcomings of the graphics. It's very similar to the old set and indeed incorporates a number of elements and concepts from that old set, but is much bigger. There is more room to move, the anchors are spaced much farther apart, and there is an impressive sense of scale. One way you can tell is with the glass skyline, a fixture carried over from the old set. In the old facilities, it was packed into a corner with elements overlapping each other. In the new studio, it's spaced farther apart and expanded (hello, Comcast Center!). The backdrop is still Action News Blue but with more definition and objects in the background. It's little elements like these that elevate the new set over the old.One last gripe, they apparently moved the location for The Weather Outside, closer to the new studio where it's just non-descript trees as the background. No more patio and no more honkers. :( I hope it's not permanent, just temporary as they knock the old building down.Keep in mind, this was a soft launch - they always make major changes on a Saturday - and I expect the real hoopla to occur with the first weekday newscasts on Monday. There's still some work to be done but it's a promising start. Not a perfect start, but a promising one.
WPVI - June 23, 2009 - 5pm Open Old Studios HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-09-13 | I'm putting this up as a comparison to the refreshed look that debuted September 12, 2009, so you can see what they changed and what they didn't. This cap is DVD quality but not full HD, and the slight glitch in the open is due to WPVI's crappy over-the-air signal.From June 23, 2009, the first day of Summer and consequently the first day of Summer Opens for Action News. With the digital switchover complete, the legal id was modified back to WPVI-TV Philadelphia. I've included the pre-open Remembering Gary Papa ID. The Breaking News graphic features the in-show Move Closer To Your World update that 615 made for promos, topicals, and stings. Other than that... it's Action News, so there's no point in analyzing it to death.
WTXF - 2000 - Fox Morning News HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-27 | From 2000, the Fox Morning News. You can tell this broadcast was treated as a complete afterthought. First, the voiceover is John Young. Nevermind the fact that this was two years after he stopped voicing any promos for the station... I included a Scott Chapin-voiced Judge Judy promo to hammer that point home. This is also a separate broadcast from Good Day, but does that stop them from putting up the Good Day bug anyway? Hell no.If you're wondering why the news is being done by a desk (the original news desk?) slammed against the newsroom monitor wall, they were redoing the studio. Even though the anchors promised they were getting a "brand new studio", all remodeling was slight. They redid the lighting, ditched the daytime skyline for Good Day in favor of an ugly Fox pattern, redid the interview area and... that was it.Theme music is NewsEdge. This goes with the open way better than Streaming News.
WABC - 1982 - Eyewitness News Brief Sponsored By Acme HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-26 | From 1982, an Eyewitness News brief - also known as the "Tonight at 11" promo. Bill Beutel is subbing for Ernie Anastos aside Rose Ann Scamardella. They're on the 1979 woodpanel set.This Eyewitness News Brief is brought to you by... Acme! For the uninitiated, Acme Markets is a supermarket chain predominantly located in the Philadelphia metro area. In 1982 it had enough of a presence in the greater New York area to advertise on the local television stations. The chain has since retrenched to the point where it is mostly concentrated in Philadelphia and its suburbs with a few stores in North Jersey and Maryland. It was the East Coast arm of American Stores, which owned Alpha Beta in California; Acme used the same great Alan Hamel ads during the early 1980s. American Stores was acquired by Albertsons in 1998, which in turn was purchased by Supervalu in 2006. The Acme/Alpha Beta ad, unfortunately, was cut off like this in the tape I had.
WTXF - 2003 - Fox Morning News w/ New Theme HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-22 | The 5:30 to 6:30 Fox Morning News from April 2003, before the Fox 29 switch. The opening theme is Streaming News, but a customized orchestral version not used on WBBM in Chicago. The new them, however, is simply dubbed over the program's original 1997 open; I think that says a lot about where this broadcast fit in the pecking order. From 1997 to late 2003, WTXF's morning news block was divided into two; Fox Morning News, and Good Day Philadelphia. Fox Morning News was a straight newscast, and used a variation of the graphics and themes recently created for the Ten O'Clock News. Good Day was meant to be a more freewheeling news/features hybrid. By 2003, this distinction had blurred considerably. With Mike Jerrick gone, Kerri-Lee and Christian Farr anchored a far newsier Good Day that de-emphasized features and banter... essentially a three and a half hour Fox Morning News in form if not name. This is pretty much considered to be the most sub-par era of Good Day. This newscast shortly became "Fox 29 Morning News". Later that year a new format for Good Day was instituted, making the 5:30-7 portion straight news and returning 7-9 to a more freewheeling format. Despite the distinction being clearer than ever, they just made the whole morning block "Good Day".
Fox Kids/WTXF Ad Break - 1995 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-22 | Since I think people want more Fox Kids stuff, here's another batch of commercials from a Saturday Morning in 1995. It's a joint national/local break, therefore there's some good Fox Philadelphia stuff as well. --"Loafy" bump to commercial. Someone needs to do a history of their commercial bumper sets from 1993-97. --Goosebumps commercial for "Welcome to Camp Nightmare", unmistakably voiced by Brian Cummings. I loved how Fox Kids would customize their logo for many of their shows; Goosebumps gets a nice green and slimy version. --"Next" promo for Saban's Masked Rider that makes it seem like a good adventure show, and not a crappy sitcom with henshin elements added in. I don't know the voice but this guy does a lot of work for Starz. --Space: Above and Beyond promo, Fox Philadelphia version. You can't get a better voice combo than Don LaFontaine® and John Young. John would always cut in a little early because he would repeat the show name. --"It Takes Two" promo; you know, the kind that has obviously staged "I LOVED THIS MOVIE" testimonials that I don't see too much of anymore. I'm not into Mary Kate and/or Ashley so I can't tell you about the movie. (Well, okay, it has The Guttenberg but still.) --Ertl. Just like the real thing. Only smaller. --Ralston's Spider-Man cereal. You may also know this as Ralston's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cereal. They just changed the Ninja Nets to more appropriate Spider Webs. --A short Fox Philadelphia Coach promo. National part is voiced by Doug Paul, local part is John Young. --Loafy bump into show.
KYW - 2003 - WBBM-esque Morning Promo HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-22 | From January to September of 2003, KYW used a graphical look that recalled - but did not duplicate - the minimalist look of WBBM adopted the previous October. This promo is interesting because it is the one and only piece of presentation on 3 that adapted some elements of WBBM outright. The boxed EWN logo only appeared on this series of promos; it was never used on a newscast. (Actually the actual EWN logo was barely used as well.)
Best Going Out Of Business Ad. Ever. HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-13 | From 2001 and the Going Out of Business sale of HomeLife Furniture. Most of these sales follow a strict script - same graphics, same big announcer, same "EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!!!!" mentality. HomeLife followed this. In the first few weeks of the sale.Then, for some reason, they decided to bring in the singing fat guy. I guess the yellow futura wasn't working, but this is total win regardless.
KYW - 2003 - CBS 3 Eyewitness News This Morning HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-12 | KYW from October 2003, a few weeks after Larry Mendte and Alycia Lane began their ill-fated pairing as main anchors. To make room, anchor lineups were changed significantly, a new look was adopted (the second in nine months), and several longstanding KYW elements (such as the signature theme) were dropped. The replacement for the KYW signature was "News in Focus", by John Hegner. The station used this theme package *amazingly* well, using almost every major cut and theme - a huge variety of cuts. The best part was mornings, where they adopted those great acoustic cuts, my favorite themes in the package. This clip features Ukee Washington back on the morning shift, paired with Amy Caples. Regular meteorologist Paul Deanno is working late, but that's okay because the always-great Tom Lamaine is subbing. Any Tom Lamaine is a good thing.
WGBS Philly 57 - 1993 Junction HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-08-12 | Stuff from Philly 57, circa 1992-93. Short but fun clip:--The end of "Heathers", from New World Pictures. I'm saying that because yes, that is a Saban logo at the end of the clip - it plastered over the New World logo at the beginning as well. Obviously Saban had TV rights but I wonder why they bothered to replace the logos.--The Columb-- wait, I'm not saying it right. The COLUMMMMMBO MYSTERY MOVIE! Pure awesome, from the reduced framerate (or as I like to call it, the "ECW Effect"), to the generic stock rock music, to Kim Martin's delicious voiceover.--The station ID used from 1991 to 1993. They color-coded the dayparts... If I'm right, daytime was yellow, early evening used pink, primetime was blue. (I vaguely recall green was used for something... maybe afternoons?) A few different announcements were used, including one proudly trumpeting its independent status. This was the last really slick graphical look they used.
WTXF - 2003 - The End of Fox Philadelphia HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-18 | The open to the final WTXF newscast as "Fox Philadelphia", from April 26, 2003. Beginning the next day, the station would revive its old "Fox 29" moniker with a brand new look and feel. George Mallet, Karen Thomas, and Billy Vargus present their segments from different locations with varying degrees of dinginess while the main set was reworked. The music is interesting, but I'll elaborate on that in a future post. Two promos precede this newscast; one is branded Fox Philadelphia, the other is branded Fox 29. That new name was phased in over the course of a week or so, until everything was redone. In 1995, just around when Fox bought WTXF, the station decided to change its identity to "Fox Philadelphia"; the number 29 was dropped from all on-air usage. Station management, led by Roger LaMay, pinned the reason for the new name on cable. He was right in that regard, as I've seen WTXF on 2, 5, 15, and others depending on the cable system... any channel except for 29. Newscasts were collectively titled "Fox News", but more often promoted under the specific program name, i.e. "Fox Ten O'Clock News". This remains the case (actually it's worse now; I get to watch it in HD on 234), but WTXF switched back to "Fox 29" in 2003. The abrupt switch was never really explained, although there are a couple of plausible reasons. LaMay left the station a few months prior to the name change. Fox was pushing a more standard look and logo for their O&Os. And, of course, there wasn't a Fox News Channel in 1995. My gut feeling is that it had more to do with the departure of LaMay than anything.
WPHL - 2001 - Philadelphias WB17 News HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-18 | The WPHL 10pm news from 2001, when they were still producing the newscast themselves (nowadays it's outsourced to WCAU). This was from the period where they were doing an hour at 10 - this was a disaster and they were back to just 30 minutes after a year or two. The promo at the beginning - which aired before the credits, I didn't edit anything - reflects this.This particular open and graphics were adopted in 2000. It's all aerial shots, remniscent of WPIX's then-current look (I think there might be a shot in this open that is lifted from that one), tied together with a unique purple scheme.And yes, they were actually calling the newscasts "Philadelphia's WB17 News" at this point.
WABC - 1997 - Beutel Outro HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-18 | Most newscasts end with a kicker - a light, often offbeat, story. Others end with one last, final check of the weather. Few, I'm sure, ended like this. Bill Beutel summarizes each of the main stories of the day, in one sentence each, and less than one minute total. This became something of a hallmark in his later years - not long after this example he would modify this so each sentence would flow into the next.Few stations could get away with this because few of them have anchormen with the delivery and writing skills that Beutel had, even at this late stage of his career. The strength of his writing and anchoring flourished even moreso after Roger was gone, and became one of WABC's biggest strengths during the 90s.
KHJ - 1981 - 3:30 Movie HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-15 | From Los Angeles, the open to the 3:30 Movie on KHJ-9.Movie opens in Los Angeles didn't have the flair that the New York versions had - this being one of the notable exceptions. This is just simply a great open, great shots of a movie marquee accompanied by a fantastic disco score. I think a number of RKO stations adopted a 3:30 or 4:30 movie after the ABC O&Os cancelled their versions, right?
WTXF - 5pm News - 2009 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-13 | This is a little bit of a project: all the current Philadelphia-area news opens.This is the current open for WTXF, aired 7/13/2009. They refreshed their graphics a few months ago as Fox tightened their standardization even more, instituting a graphics hub. The new stuff is cleaner-looking than the old but they haven't worked out all the kinks yet. I capped a few minutes of actual newscast so you get an idea of what the redone graphics look like on TXF.The 5pm news is co-anchored by Thomas Drayton and Kerri-Lee Halkett. Drayton co-anchors the 10pm news with Dawn Stensland, and Halkett sort of randomly appears throughout the 10pm news.
WPSG - 2009 - First 10pm Eyewitness News HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-07-01 | WPSG finally launched a 10pm newscast on February 2, 2009. Some form of a 10pm newscast on the station had been long-speculated ever since it moved in with KYW. The only surprise is that it took this long. Dave Huddleston, formerly of Fox 29, fronts the half-hour newscast. Not sure about this look, honestly. It's a cheap in-house modification of the superior stuff found on KYW. The announcement is bland. And they commissioned Enforcer NG3...
Supermarket Commercial Montage HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-06-08 | Here's a batch of supermarket commercials, dating between 1979 and 1985 and mostly consisting of New York and Los Angeles area chains. Lotsa good stuff here, and I'll refrain from my usual annoying patter so you can be surprised - a full writeup will be coming on madubs.com/blog
Joel Siegel on Airplane Fares and Movie Ticket Prices (WABC 1979) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-06-06 | Joel Siegel saw a movie while flying to Los Angeles, "which led to this report somehow" as Rose Ann so elequently puts it. In his scientific analysis, by April of 1985 it would be cheaper to fly an airplane rather than see a movie in a theater.Age has made this funnier because of the quaintness of the arguments. Joel is complaining about $4.50 movie ticket prices and $1 popcorn prices in Manhattan, which most people would gladly pay today, with a comparable movie ticket going for $12.50 (and popcorn starting at $4 minimum). This is, however, still cheaper than a New York to Los Angeles flight.The visual accompaniment is likewise funny, because Joel uses handmade charts to prove his point. Had a similar report been attempted today, fully animated and choreographed computer graphics would be used.But then, there is no way any station would do this - effectively giving Joel Siegel two minutes to analyze something completely trivial - on the 11pm newscast. And in a way that's truly sad.
WGBS Philly 57 - Dinosaucers Ad Break 1988 (Better Quality) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-17 | Haven't uploaded anything from Philly 57 in awhile. Let's change that. I don't typically upload full commercial breaks, but in this case I think I need to. It's the first commercial break from a January 1988 airing of Dinosaucers on 57. They ran long introductions to virtually every one of their programs, in lieu of a promo and/or a station ID (the calls are tastefully positioned along the bottom). I've always liked the graphics - colorful star animation and that killer 57 CGI animation. The announcer is female, and they only used her for I think this season - Kim Martin took over announcing for the kids shows as well. This break runs from the Philly 57 intro to the episode titles. If you watch closely, you'll notice something's missing. To be more blunt, you'll probably go "hey, where's the opening theme song?!" That's right... the Philly 57 intro *replaced* the Dinosaucers opening credits, presumably so they could sell more advertising and/or insert the Captain Power and Comic Strip promos that seemed to air at every single break. It also has the side effect of denying us a typically awesome 1980s Haim-N-Shuki theme song. For those interested, the playlist: 1.) Philly 57 Intro 2.) Super Golden Crisp 3.) Captain Power promo 4.) Comic Strip promo (see what I mean about the every break thing?) 5.) Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and all three bakers before the other two sold to the white haired guy with glasses 6.) Cabbage Patch Splashin' Kids 7.) Dinosaucers bumper and title.
The Best Of WGBS Philly 57, 1986-1988 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-14 | www.madubs.com/blogFull discussion and analysis there. I've got a lot to say about this one, which represents the "bible" of television presentation, past and present.CLIP PLAYLIST:1.) Station ident circa 1987-1988, proudly touting stereo.FROM 1986:2.) Shogun promo - Monday at 83.) Godzilla 1985 promo - Friday at 84.) WMMR/WGBS Contest promo, with Joe Bonnadonna. (They couldn't use DeBella because he was the kids host at WTAF)5.) Kim Martin Odd Couple Promo into Philly 57 jingle/ident6.) Honeymooners promoFROM 1988:7.) Dennis The Menace bumper8.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles promo, for the pilot - rare Kim Martin voiceover for a kids show9.) Comic Strip promo10.) Captain Power promo11.) Charles... is in charge? (Great, great announcing by Kim Martin)12.) George Washington day promo13.) Queens of Comedy promo - Jeannie and Gimme A Break14.) Fame Live show promo15.) Bionic Six promo16.) Dinosaucers promo17.) Saber Rider promo18.) Fame promo/ID19.) Teddy Ruxpin promo20.) Smurfs promo21.) WGBS Stereo ID
WGBS Promo for POwerful Women of Wrestling ( and Fame, Dinoscaucers credits, Dennis intro) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-13 | Some more Philly 57 stuff. I could probably get away with uploading the first one separately, but I'll treat everyone. This is the epitome of great television presentation.The first one has Queen Kong cutting a memorably hilarious promo for POWW, the Powerful Women of Wrestling. She mentions Philly 57, so it's obviously a promo produced specifically for the local station. I've always liked how she takes the station slogan, and turns it into a sinister threat. Add in the no-budget atmosphere and bad acoustics (this looks to be shot at a local gym) and you have a winner.Then, it's a generic promo for Fame, voiced by my personal favorite announcer Kim Martin. This is why - "Tune up your piano, get out your dancin' shoes, and start rehearsing your lines because.... you're going to night school!!" Since that line can't be topped, he wisely shuts up until the Philly 57 graphics kick in.A bumper for Dinosaucers brings us to the end credits of that show, which I'm presenting to back up my claim that it's another typically awesome Haim-N-Shuki effort.Then, it's Dennis and the Philly 57 kids girl pops in to introduce today's episode. Unlike the Dinosaucers, the intro credits are left intact.
USA Movie - 1994 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-12 | End of a USA Update, then a "Remote Stops Here" ident into Puppet Master II.USA had a slick, CGI-heavy style introduced around 1988/89. They had several movie opens running - this is the flashiest one, though, used to introduce the primetime movies. I always thought this was awesome, with the dramatic music and effects. It also illustrates just how many unique ways you can depict the words "USA MOVIE".Also love the dramatic Alan Kalter disclaimer towards the end.
CBS Special - 1992 - Variant HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-10 | The CBS stairstep special open from 1992 - but with an important twist.Listen closely to the music (it's obscured by a Marc Elliot voiceover)- it's not the usual one, but for some reason the CBS Miniseries theme! I believe this one was used to open a circus of the stars special, but I'm not certain - though it wasn't a movie or miniseries.It followed a special - "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown" - which may explain the variation. I remember that if there were two specials in a row the second special open would open with this music.
WPIX - From WB to CW - 2006 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-09 | This is probably the single coolest thing I've ever seen a television station do.It's September 17, 2006. The WB has just aired its farewell montage. The CW is to premiere the night after. WPIX is about to transition to its new branding, with the first "CW11 News At Ten" to premiere after the final night of the WB. Instead of letting the moment pass quietly, they decide to mark it. This clip is how they did that.In a nutshell - it's just about every logo the station had ever used, shown with date and era-appropriate music (you probably can imagine the music choice for 11 Alive). Most of them are VERY accurately reconstructed, down to color and font - they even use the two distinct versions of the circle 11 from 1969 and 1985 respectively. They only made one major omission: the first generation WB11 logo from 1995, which put a smaller WB on the black/gold "11", is missing. Aside from this, everything is here - even the short lived "Circle 11 Alive" logo from 1984 can be seen very briefly!It all culminates to a grand reveal of the new CW11 logo and the first open to the newly-named CW11 News at Ten, which is a modified version of the graphics set they were using previously. All of this seems ironic now that they ditched this branding for the return of the circle 11 and "WPIX"...
WPIX Near Full Close - 2006 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-05-06 | This is the close to the last-ever edition of the WB11 News at Ten - CW11 News debuted the next day - so WPIX decided to treat us to a long close. And I mean long - this piece runs nearly two minutes and contains nearly the entire news theme.So much has been said about this fantastic piece of music - easily one of the best news themes used in the city of New York - that I'll refrain from gushing over it. It's composed by Non-Stop Music and was introduced around 1998.
WTXF Good Day Blooper - 2001 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-04-21 | Hit "more" if you want the full story. I want to keep some of the surprise of this clip intact for those who haven't seen it or heard about it, and I think part of the fun is just seeing it happen for the first time. I put the basic story in the video, though.So there be spoilers.Okay, I think I've gone over the cutoff, so here we go. WTXF was running a promotion called "Manic Monday", in which local workers could drop off their business card at the Fox studios. Donya and Mike would then draw the business card on air and the winner would have the station show up at the workplace, cameras in hand, and treat them to lunch. As noted in the clip, most of the cards were from businesses that were located in the downtown area, near WTXF's studios at 4th and Market. This is part of the reason why, that morning, Donya and Mike happened to pick the business card of an employee at KYW-3, which was located one block away at *5th* and Market. This would have made for compelling television. Unfortunately, I have to use the term "would have" because the employee in question was, in fact, the spouse of a Fox employee, thus rendering him ineligible.Part of the reason this works so well is because of the two anchors. Their reactions are *priceless*, particularly Mike's slowly expanding grin as he notices the large CBS eyes on the business card. Good Day was fun to watch precisely because of moments like these; this was before they went to the larger studio, the tighter format, and heavier use of features and interviews. The program was largely free-flowing and a lot of that had to do with the natural, goofy chemistry between Donya and Mike.
WCAU/CBS Promos 1987 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-04-20 | A promo and local ad break, CBS and WCAU, from January 24, 1987. Here's the list.1.) CBS Special Movie bumper - part of what is, in my opinion, one of the best CGI animations ever used on television.2.) A promo for Hard Copy - but not the Hard Copy you probably just thought of! This was a short-lived 1987 series that debuted after Super Bowl XXI. The young reporter is actually Dean Devlin, in his acting days and before he made the most awesome movie of all time (Independence Day).3.) A "Hey, we can use a DVE!" promo for Cagney and Lacey. The 1986-87 "Share the Spirit" designs used by CBS have always been a favorite of mine.4.) A promo for the also short-lived "Wizard".5.) "This is CBS". Gaylord Avery announcing, I think.6.) Local ad time: Patrick O'Neal for WEAZ EAZY 101. WEAZ is now the very successful WBEB B-101, but is still owned by the same local ownership; one of the last of its kind.7.) A New Jersey Lottery ad with Governor Tom Kean - if you play the lottery, do you know your gambling money helps handicapped children?8.) WCAU promo and ID - "Challenger: One Year Later".
WPVI Action News Topical 1996 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-04-20 | Another one bites the dust...An 11pm news topical on the day Strawbridge and Clothier was sold to May Company, 1996. The voice is Roger Thompson; by this time 6, like all the other stations, began to use piped-in voice talent for voiceovers. Thompson, however, was never heard on the Action News open - Jeff Kaye, of course, still does it.Note the music, which isn't Move Closer To Your World... but obviously based on it. Starting in the mid-1990s, 6 started to use new musical themes that were based on the classic anthem, but only in promos. It actually sounds pretty decent... I think if they made a theme that sounded closer to this, instead of the orchestral version, it would have probably lasted.
WCAU - 1987 - The Way It Was HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-04-20 | Probably one of my favorite news promos. In 20 seconds, it evokes the images of Ed Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and local legend John Facenda; then invokes the names of Larry Kane, Alan Frio, and Stan Stovall, 10's top anchors at the time.This was when 10 was doing a massive promotional blitz for the new look and feel of its newscasts. The purpose of the campaign was to tie in the current Channel 10 news with the legacy of not only the local station, but CBS as well: thus "The Way It Is". They went a little too far with the slogan, though, as anchors were required to say it at the beginning of EVERY newscast. (Probably to compete against Action News' "Big Story" terminology.)
Big Game XXVIII Recap - Harry Kalas HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-04-14 | Well, I've got to post a Harry Kalas clip, don't I?This is another Cartoon Network Big Game clip, this time from 2001, Big Game XXIX. It's a Kalas-narrated recap of the previous year's Big Game. It's completely off the wall and focuses on basically everything *but* the game - Kalas takes a few minutes in the middle to complain about his mother calling and him missing parts of the game as a result.You can basically hear the Cartoon Network promo department going, "Hey, we have the best voice ever, let's have some fun with it!" And that is precisely why this works - it's something completely screwy, but it's something completely screwy told by the Voice.I don't think I'll ever be able to get over the words "the late Harry Kalas".
This is CBS? (1979) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-31 | The end of a 1979 Late Movie, recorded off of WCBS New York. So we have the bumper, into a Death Wish promo, and into the Eye - but wait... the announcer's not supposed to say "Channel 2 New York"! I'm encoding this and a batch of promos for elsewhere, but I'm interested to know... is this a slip-up, or was it intentional? And for that matter, did it go out nationwide?
Cartoon Network - The Big Game XXXVIII Open (Roadrunner vs. Coyote) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-25 | Len, Cris, Nick, and Jerry make their picks for who will win the Big Game, then it's off to Chuck Jones Stadium where Pat Summerall and John Madden are there to call the action. Sideline reporters are Bubba Smith and Scott Hamilton. Like I said in the pregame clip, this is probably the best iteration of The Big Game - not only because it seems to have had the biggest budget, but because they really took the idea and ran with it. This is the only one where you actually see John and Pat, and the only one with sideline reporters. What makes this even funnier is that all of the overblown graphics elements that are used for comedic value here... are used with utmost seriousness on Fox and ESPN. I like the little touches they put in the script as well. Madden goes on a long analysis on the value of the Desert Division vs. the Living Room Division... and mentions that they've been watching the Road Runner and Coyote with interest "since we began televising their games in October". October 1999 was, in fact, when Cartoon Network got the rights to air most of the Road Runner shorts, which had previously been the domain of Nickelodeon.
Cartoon Network - The Big Game XXVIII Pregame (Roadrunner vs. Coyote) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-23 | From 2000, a special presentation of Cartoon Network Sports. This is the Slate Rock and Quarry Pregame Show for The Big Game XXVIII: Roadrunner vs. Coyote. Announcer Harry Kalas runs down the list of topic to be discussed, then we go into the majestic open. Then it's to the studio, where Len Dawson, Nick Buoniconti, Cris Collinsworth and Jerry Glanville are our studio analysts and break down how the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote got to where they are today. Thus begins the two to three hours of intense coverage of the Big Game.As you've probably guessed by now, this is completely fake - essentially classic Roadrunner cartoons edited together, with dubbed-over football sound effects and commentary. It is also a ridiculously brilliant, perfect satire of TV sports broadcasting in general and the Super Bowl in particular, complete with over the top graphics and music, fake event commercials, and "expert" commentary (here provided by no less than Pat Summerall and John Madden). The whole thing was produced not by Williams Street, but Cartoon Network's promo department and, in my mind, is the best example of the quality of the work they were churning out at the time.There were four of these events - Tom vs. Jerry (1998), Sylvester vs. Tweety (1999), this one (2000), and Bugs vs. Daffy (2001). Tom vs. Jerry was simply little more than the game itself, supplemented with a "game film" marathon beforehand. Sylvester vs. Tweety built upon this, adding a pregame show interspersed with the old cartoons, an ersatz halftime show and fake commercials. Bugs vs. Daffy - which aired the year after this - used the Sylvester vs. Tweety format but was scaled back from this one. That was the last one; in lieu of a 2002 Big Game the promo department decided to spoof an award show instead, with the "Fancy Anvils" (which I do not have on tape).The 2000 edition, Roadrunner vs. Coyote, is by far the most elaborate. The total run time of this was four hours - encompassing a brilliant "Look Back" retrospective on the history of the Big Game (which I will probably post), the old cartoons, an uninterrupted pregame show, the game itself, and the Spacely Sprokets Halftime Show Spectacular. EVERYTHING that characterizes a modern Super Bowl telecast is here - from the endless pregame show to the overhyped halftime show to the over the top graphics - it is all here.I'm going to post the most brilliant bits from the Big Game XXVIII so stay tuned...
The New Encore Junction - 1999 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-23 | "The New Encore" from 1999, a few months after the channel's first refresh in five years. The presentation has certainly become a little more conventional - the plugs for other premium channels (well, other than Starz) are gone, and hosted segments became more sporadic by this point. Yet this is still a very attractive redesign, with a nicely redesigned logo and all-gold motif.Included are the "next" and "tonight" menus, a few promos, two idents, and the movie open. Interestingly there were more than five versions created of the movie open - to go along with the varied ident applications - but the gold one seen here was used the vast majority of the time. The whole look was designed by TZ Design - the same people did the white BBC America revamp of 2001.All of the idents mention "The New Encore" as opposed to just the plain name. This was the name for the change in programming philosophy from 1998, when Encore began showing more recent movies. If I remember right, the "Great Movie Every Night... Guaranteed" slogan was an actual guarantee. Unsurprisingly, when they redid the voiceovers later in the year and changed the new Encore into just "Encore", they dropped the guarantee entirely.
Cartoon Network - Bugs And Daffy Show Open - 1995 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-09 | This was the open used for Cartoon Network's "Bugs and Daffy Show" - their general umbrella title for "the Warner Bros. cartoons we own". It was instituted in 1995 as part of a general relaunch of the network's on-air look. Lots of 2D checkerboard effects with cartoon characters pasted on - it really looks quite nice for the time. The music is library music.To condense a really long and convoluted history, essentially every color Warner Bros. cartoon made before 1948 ended up in the possession of Ted Turner, while Warner retained control of everything made after that date. This is why, say, you'd see Road Runner cartoons on Nickelodeon but not TBS or Cartoon Network, and why TBS always tended to show the really funny Bugs Bunny cartoons. It was also why the Turner cartoons, frankly, looked like crap - just look at how pink those circles are!What's funny about this open is how prominently both Pepe Le Pew and Sylvester and Tweety feature... even though Turner owned a grand total of three cartoons with Pepe and three cartoons with Sylvester and Tweety paired. Also note that Sniffles - Sniffles! - gets a nice big closeup.The issue about short ownership eventually became completely moot in 1996 when Time Warner bought Turner, bringing the entire Warner Bros. film library back under one roof. Cartoon Network was the beneficiary, as they could now show titles from both the Turner and Warner libraries.This open was used until 1998 and another big revamp of Cartoon Network presentation.
ABC Sports Outro, 1993 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-03-05 | When the afternoon sports programming was done, ABC would air a long outro that included sponsor plugs, a promo for the next sports programming on the network (Professional Bowlers Tour FTW), and of course, "World News Sunday is coming up over most of these ABC stations". Everything is rolled into one cohesive one minute piece, announced by ABC's Dan Foley.And what a piece it is. The whole ABC Sports look was a major departure from the fancy CGI-heavy stuff favored by CBS and ESPN at the time, but you can't argue that it is very professionally executed. The graphic design is bold, destinctive, and probably could be used today. But I have to particularly mention the music - that incredible, inspiring, utterly fantastic music that in my mind is amongst the best ever used for televised sports. I don't know who did it (It sounds like either Score Productions or Edd Kalehoff), but they need to be recognized and applauded. The whole look only lasted two years until they went for something more corporate (understandable - there wasn't even a set logo for ABC Sports when this was used).And you have to love Dan Foley's announcing - "This has been a presentation of ABC Sports... Recognized around the world... as the LEADER... in SPORTS TELEVISION!"
Roger Grimsby RIP pt. 4 - Tom Snyder on Roger Grimsby HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-19 | From the end of a "Late Late Show" in 1995, not long after Roger Grimsby died, Tom pays tribute to the man who was once his coworker. It's short but contains a few choice clips, including the infamous "Composure" blooper. It also contains what is, by far, my favorite Roger Grimsbyism ever:Reporter: What is the most embarrassing thing to happen to you on the air?Roger: I mispronounced "count".If you don't get it right away... come on. THINK about it.
Roger Grimsby RIP pt. 3 - Memories of Roger (WCBS 1995) HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-19 | Continuing with the Roger Grimsby obits...Not only did WCBS run the nicely put together roundtable report at 5, it also ran a well-produced Lou Young piece on the 6pm news. This one goes really into the whole Roger Grimsby "mystique" and features comments from Kaity Tong, Milt Lewis, and Jasha Silberstein (Roger's Friend). Fittingly enough, it delves into Roger's drinking habits. Apparently ABC firing him didn't affect him as much as ABC buying the property across the street from the station and closing three of his favorite bars.Lou Young is still at the station and did a similar piece on Bill Beutel upon his death; that one you can find on the wcbstv.com website if you search for "Bill Beutel" in videos.
Joel Siegel Reviews Highlander - WABC 1986 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-19 | Yup, another movie for Joel to tear into, but the Highlander is much more well known than Yor. It's also a documentary where the events happened in real time.Again, this is another critic-proof movie where you could probably find a thousand things wrong with the thing but still enjoy it. It's also another chance to see Joel just go nuts on how bad the movie is, although it's not as entertaining overall as his riff on "Yor".If you're looking for unintentional comedy with the "Highlander" name, though, you would do well to just go and seek out the Highlander animated series. That one was unintentional comedy genius.
WABC 1980 - Bruce King Gets Pinned HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-19 | This was the first night for Bruce King on Eyewitness News, and to welcome him to the team Ernie Anastos officially "pins" him - applying the ubiquitous circle 7 logo pin to his blazer. Then, a few minutes later, Ernie and Rose Ann chide Storm Field for being out of uniform - he forgot to wear the pin that night.Through the 1970s and 1980s, the male anchors on WABC (and on all of ABC's channel 7s) had to wear a circle 7 pin as a subtle way of reinforcing the brand. This is probably one of the few times I've seen it mentioned on the air. I'm not sure when the practice stopped.Ernie, Rose Ann, and Storm are all New York broadcasting legends - but Bruce King isn't. Bruce was the guy who replaced Warner Wolf when the latter accepted a lucrative offer to go over to WCBS-2. I don't think he lasted more than a year... and 7 went through a bunch of sportscasters until Scott Clark came on in the late 80s. (For a period they had Spencer Christian - yes, that Spencer Christian - on sports. That just was weird.)
Roger Grimsby RIP pt. 2 - WABC Obit 1995 HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-14 | Roger Grimsby died in June 1995. Not unexpectedly, WABC noted this on air, through a Bill Beutel report. This video compiles two versions of the report - one used at 5pm and one used later (11pm I think). Both cover substantially the same ground but the 5pm report features a live intro from Bill, while the 11pm report uses different footage and clips from Milt Lewis and Al Primo. Also included are Bill's closing remarks at the end of the 6pm news. Note the overall low-key tone of the report. Grimsby had been fired from WABC nearly 10 years prior, so the station had more or less moved on. The report is interesting because the tone is less celebratory and more contemplative, exploring the man's nature rather than what he did. Also note - again - WABC's revisionist history as far as Eyewitness News is concerned. Roger and Bill did not start Eyewitness News - Roger was there first, then Bill. It's worth noting that when Bill Beutel himself passed on in 2005, the station devoted far more airtime to that story.
Roger Grimsby RIP pt. 1 - WCBS Roger Grimsby Stories HulkieDs Media Archive 2009-02-14 | Roger Grimsby died in June 1995. It's somewhat surprising that the best coverage of this came from the one station he did not work at - WCBS. But by 1995, WCBS employed key members of the 1980-1986 Eyewitness News team - so they were in better position than anyone to provide reflection. Michele Marsh chairs this discussion with Lou Young, John Johnson, John Slattery, and Magee Hickey. John Johnson was just hired at WCBS to be the 6pm and 11pm anchor - he had not even started his new job yet. The discussion features some very interesting anecdotes and revelations about Roger Grimsby. Included here is in-depth discussion on the Mara Wolinski incident. Young and Slattery are still with the station today; Johnson, Marsh, and Hickey were all dispatched as part of 2's infamous 1996 mass firings although Hickey was later hired back.
