A Title
from "On the Move" a WCIA public affairs special
(photo from the
Ed Mason Collection)
During the 1970's and 80's WCIA probably experienced it's most
success. My research continues on this period but it appears that
the station was building a reputation of being a real media "mover and
shaker." Several special in depth news programs dealing with
local issues like the Kaskaskia Project which brought about the
building of Lake Shelbyville in central Illinois, agricultural issues
such as one done on the growing of corn and about mental health issues
for example. It was also a time of controversy when WCIA
canceled an episode of "Maude." Be watching for more details on
these issues later on this web site.
A big change was made
during the early 80's
when Paul Davis, long time News Director left the station to be News
Director at WGN-TV in Chicago. About a year before Davis departed
to WGN, Jerry Slabe was hired from WAND to produce and anchor the 10pm
Newscast. His role was to be expanded after Davis' departure to
main anchor for the evening newscasts. When Davis left, .Dave
Shaul was made News Director. Both Slabe and Shaul held their
jobs until a very public dismissal
was made by new owners Nexstar in 2000.
Mr. Wyndham Roberts
passed away in March 1985 to be replaced at 6 and 10 by Judy Frasier,
who had been with the station since 1976. Fraiser continued as
the main weather caster until her role was reduced in the late 00's
when Robert Reese was tapped for the Chief Weathercaster.
It's an incredible situation with WCIA's weathercasters when you
consider there have only been three main weather anchors at WCIA
since 1953!!
Other names in the news or station
personalities over the years include: Dick Adams, Ann Anderson, Susan
Barnett, Judy Brown, Elaine Kagas, Marta Carreira, Mike Cleff, John
Coleman, Chris Curtis, Paul Davis, Pam Hansen, Alan Heymann, Molly
Hall, Dave Shaul, John Paul, Ed Kelly, Daralene Jones, Tom Jones, Ed
Kieser, Cindy Klose, Mary Sue Kruger, Michael Marsh, Gabrielle Martin,
Ed Mason, Joe Mazan, Scott McGee, Matt Metcalf, Amy O'Keefe, Jason
Overstreet, Ted Pretty, Eric Rasmussen, Dan Roan, Suzanne Reed, Wyndham
"Mr." Roberts, Andy Sachs, Martin Savidge, Tom Schoendinist, Jerry
Slabe, Fred Sorenson, Carl Caldwell, Dave Freeman, Rick Sullivan, Mike
Tannura, John Valenziano, Bob Waters, Meredith Walsch, Chris Widlic,
Don Wilcox and Trisha Whitkanack-Shepard.
If
you would like to submit others please e-mail
me (dougquick @ dougquick.com).
How many of these
former WCIA and WMBD people do you recognize? from the upper
left
to right: Paul Davis, unknown, Mary Sue Krugar, unknown, Ann Anderson,
unknown, unknown, unknown, Carl Caldwell, unknown, unknown: 2nd row left to
right: unknown, unknown, Dave Shaul, unknown, Mr. Roberts, Dick Adams,
unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown 3rd row left to
right: Unknown, SteveWilliams(above), unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown
If
you know anyone of the unidentified people above, please e-mail me at :
dougquick @ dougquick.com
At left is video of a conversation between News Director and
6pm anchor Paul Davis with Mr. Roberts. They were discussing
the long time rumor of their relationship.
It seems that just before Paul Davis was to leave WCIA
for WGN in Chicago, they took time at the end of his
last 10 pm newscast to answer two of the more
popular questions they were asked over the years.
This was from the late 1970's.
"When you need to
know, turn to the Channel 3 News." Pictured is Dan Roan, Cindy
Close, Jerry Slabe and Mr. Roberts from the early 1980's. This is
about as close as you can get to having an "all star" lineup. The
chemistry between all the players, and later with Judy Frasier was
superb.
The late Wyndham
"Mr.
Roberts" Roberts who was weathercaster for WCIA from 1953 to 1985.
(Left): Mary Sue Kruger or "Mary Sue" as she was known
by viewers of WCIA. Along with being WCIA Promotions
Director, she also was weathercaster on the News at Noon.
Here she was pregnant, probably the first local weathercaster
or newscaster who ever went on the air while being pregmant.
"Mary Sue" was also the first WCIA staff person to be
broadcast in color in the late 1960's.
Here she is pictured during the late 1970's.
(Picture from the Ed
Mason Collection)
Walter Cronkite's final broadcast on the CBS Evening News
from March 6, 1981. "..and that's the way it is..."
CBS Special
movie presentation...could be "Wizard of Oz" an annual telecast for
many years. This graphic is from 1974.
"Alice" was based on a movie, "Alice Doesn't Live Here
Anymore" in which Alice was played by Linda Lavin. The series
also starred Vic Tayback(as Mel from "Mel's Diner"), Polly Holliday and
Diane Ladd and ran from 1976-1985.
This was a promo graphic for the CBS series "Filthy Rich"
which ran on CBS from 1982 to 1983. It starred Nedra Voltz, Delta
Burke, Dixie Carter, Slim Pickens, Michael Lombard, Forrest Tucker and
others.
"As the World Turns" continued it's daytime run. This
graphic is from the series in it's 1981 through early 1990's
A promo from the early 80's featuring the next episode of
"Dallas."
Here's Mike Wallace on CBS' "60 Minutes" which has run on
CBS from 1968. The news show used a magazine style format to
bring viewers in depth reporting of world and national news, politics,
investigations and commentary. It's most successful time slot is
Sunday nights at 6pm, CT. It has been a regular in the top 10
shows of the season over most of the last 30 years!
CBS Saturday
Night Movies graphic from 1978.
"The Streets of San Francisco" originally aired on ABC from
1972 to 1977. It ran in syndication on WCIA late nights during
most of the late 70's through the 80's. The off network series
starred Karl Malden at Det. Mike Stone and Michael Douglas as Inspector
Steve Keller. It was produced by Quinn Martin.
"Falcon Crest" starred the ex-wife of the then President,
Ronald Reagan, Jan Wyman as the head of a vineyard. It was sort
of, Dallas is to oil as Falcon Crest is to wine. It ran on CBS
rom 1981 to 1990 and also starred Lorenzo Lamas(son of Fernando), David
Shelby, Susan Sullivan, Abby Dalton among many, many more.
This is WCIA's
telecast of the home opener of the Fighting Illini with Kansas State
from December of 1981 with the play by play with Dave Shaul and Dan
Roan. This includes the opening lineup and the tip. Find out which team
won the game at the end of the video.
This is an aircheck of the WCIA Saturday Matinee featuring the W.C.
Fields movie "The Bank Dick" on a Saturday afternoon right before the
broadcast of the Fighting Illini Basketball game shown at left.
It was recorded in December of 1981 on a VHS VCR just like the one
shown in the Curtis Mathis commercial, although mine wasn't a Curtis
Mathis. Mine was a Panasonic. It's interesting to note that
WCIA's character generator didn't seem to work as the opening colorful
graphic at the beginning of the movie didn't show it's normal "Saturday
Matinee" along with the name of the movie. The character
generator wasn't working at the beginning of the Illini game
either(note left).
Syndicated
with local hosts, PM Magazine originated at Westinghouse Broadcasting
and was a mainstay at WCIA from 6:30-7:00pm throughout the 80's and
90's. This was a hybrid of local and national programming.
It aired in many cities throughout the U.S. from 1978 to 1990. It
was a relatively expensive program to produce for many local stations,
such as WCIA. It was a completely separate unit of WCIA and
pretty much did what it wanted throughout it's run
Traynor and
Suzanne Kaye were co-hosts of PM Magazine
in this scene. It was on an episode which told of the final
episode of M*A*S*H that was shot locally at the now former Chanute Air
Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. These were just two of several
hosts including John Valenziano and Carrie White during it's run on
WCIA. If you have anymore
names, just e-mail me at
dougquick @ dougquick.com.
Jerry Slabe(top) hosting the MDA Telethon
over Labor Day weekend in the late 80's from
the WCIA studios. Yea,
that's
me on the MD Telethon broadcast on WCIA in the late 80's with Glen
Natschke presenting a check from the Big R/WDNL Golf Tournament for MD. Glen
Natschke, me and Carrie White(co-host of PM Magazine-broadcasting from
Win C. Smith Oldsmobile, Danville).
(picture above from the Ed Mason Collection)
Traynor and
Suzanne Kaye doing a segment of PM Magazine on WKRP in Cincinnati, so
they visited a radio station which was much unlike the way the
characters on the CBS series "did radio." They picked WDAN in
Danville, which was totally automated to show how radio was some what
different. Also pictured at the control board was WDAN's Greg
Scott and then WDAN/WDNL
News Director Bob Iverson. This was from 1982.
Dialing for Dollars became a late afternoon staple of WCIA from the
late 1960's through the 70's. Hosted by Ed Mason, then Tom
Jones(seen in an ad from TV Guide from 1971) and an ad from the mid
1970's. The feature was hosted later by Ed Kelly shown below.
A "bumper" graphic
for The Early Show" and a
presentation of "The Roaring 20's" starring James Cagney and Humphrey
Bogart.
.
The
Early
Show was a late afternoon movie which ran from around 3pm to 5pm and
featured "Dialing for Dollars" and a chance for local viewers to win
cash just by watching and being able to give the correct "count" if
they were called by Ed Mason or Ed Kelly. If you have
any memories of being called,
or remember any of the many, many films featured, just e-mail me at
dougquick @ dougquick.com.
One
locally
produced show included everyone's favorite movie/game "Dialing for
Dollars" with Ed Kelly. The game worked like this: pages of
local phone books were cut up and placed into a barrel. There
were two other barrels in which one would include a number, and the
other a direction such as "from the bottom" or "from the
top." The host, Ed Kelly, would begin the show by picking a
phone book slip, then a slip from the other two. So the
directions would read something like "9 from the bottom" which would
specify who he would call live on the air, and the contestant would
have to give out the directions like "9 from the bottom" to win the
cash price, which would grow a little after each incorrect response, or
no answer. The Hope-Crosby "road pictures" and Abbott and
Costello movies were a common staple of the "Dialing for Dollars Early
Show."
Pictured
above is Ed Mason in a commercial of the mid 80's. He
hosted the WCIA dance show "The Hop" in the 50's and 60's as well as
"The Early Show" in the first year.
A scene
from an animated graphic for "The Early Show"
in the mid 80's.
Movies were a big part of the
programing at WCIA. From weekend late movies, matinees, "Camp
Night at the Late Show," "Creature Features" and other themes there was
a graphic for everyone of them.
(Above left):
Jerry Slabe with Ann Anderson in the screen. (Above): The Channel
3 News team of the early 1980's: Cindy Klose, Jerry Slabe, Dan Roan and
Mr. Roberts. (Above right): Cindy Klose (Right): A Noon Show with
Dave Shaul and Judy Frasier (Lower Right): Unknown sportscaster, Cindy
Klose, Ed Kelly and Mr. Roberts (Below): Cindy Klose and Jerry
Slabe on set (Below left): An ad from TV Guide with the lineup of the
mid 1980's. (Right): Jerry Slabe,
originally an anchor with WJJY-TV in Jacksonville, WCVS radio in
Springfield, then at WAND in
Decatur before ending up at WCIA.
Ann Anderson was the
Springfield Bureau Chief during the early
80's.
Carol Fowler replaced Ann Anderson as the Springfield Bureau Chief in
the mid 1980's.
"NewsScope" was originally a syndicated concept show, much like PM
Magazine, but after the concept went belly-up, it continued as a
feature driven 5PM local newscast.
The late night after the movie newscast with Nancy Jordan.
Dave Shaul was the Noon News anchor
for much of the 30 years
or so at WCIA. He also served as News Director for much of the
period. He and Ed Kelly are now both on WDWS Radio(1400-AM) in
Champaign, along with other WCIA news staffers.
WCIA had a deep well of talent who could anchor and
report. Ed Kelly was one, who anchored "News Scope" a syndicated
hybrid of local and national news which aired at 5pm weekdays during
the 1980's and 90's.
John Paul was a reporter/anchor at
WCIA for much of
the time through the 80's and 90's. He is now an instructor at
the U of I. These particular photos were taken from a news promo
of the period.
Includes WCIA aircheck includes a few seconds of
Sunday night newscast with Kevin Johnson(sports), Donna Schulte, Ed
Kelly(news) and Mr. Roberts(weather). A weather promo is included with
color weather radar features with Mr. Roberts and Judy Frasier, a
topical promo for More Real People, PM Magazine and voice over promos
with WCIA staffer Jim Steele, the next days Early Show with Goodbye
Columbus, M*A*S*H promo, a news promo with featuring anchors at WCIA at
the time, A Great Moments image promo(which unfortunately is
incomplete). This aircheck was recording the two part Star Trek episode
The Menagerie which is presented from a poor quality 16mm film print.
"One Day at a Time"
ran on CBS from 1975 through the first half of 1984. This video
includes the opening along with a coporate sponsor General Electric.
It starred Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie
Bertinelli. Interestingly enough, the show was created by Whitney
Blake, who starred as Mrs. Baxter, in "Hazel." She was the mother
of Meredith Baxter, and became a writer with her real life husband
Allan Manings. The show was based on her previously signle life
raising Meredith. The show was also developed by Norman
Lear. Among the directors of the show were Bonnie Franklin,
Howard Morris(see "Your Show of Shows" and "Andy Griffith Show"), Alan
Rafkin and Sandy Kenyon. The real life drama in the life of
Mackenzie Phillips whose cocaine addiction and alcohol abuse made
headlines and eventually was the cause of her leaving the show for a
time.
This video is from an outside source and may be withdrawn without
notice.
Here
Chris Widlic, WCIA
Sports Director broadcasts
from an unidentified
swimming event.
Ed
Kelly was the principal anchor for "Newscope"
which was the early title of the 5pm weekday newscasts
1985
was the first year of Farm Aid, held at Memorial Stadium at the
University of Illinois. WCIA covered the event as part of it's
news coverage.
WCIA
was the first Champaign station to broadcast live from remote locations
using a "live truck."
"What Do You Say?" was WCIA's Public
Affiars program. It was hosted by Ramey Becker.
The Channel 3 News at Noon (below) continues from the station's early
days, including a healthy dose of farm and agricultural news and
markets.
Long before Oprah, here was "Donohue" which ran in
syndication daytime on WCIA for a number of years in the 80's
and early 90's.
The off network NBC reality series "Real People" was
reedited in a half hour format and syndicated to local stations
including WCIA.
Even though WCIA was the second station to broadcast an
Illini contest, it continued to be the flagship station of University
of Illinois sports throughout it's 50+ year history. It ends,
though, with the 2007 season, as the U of I broadcasts will all be
handled by the newly formed Big 10 network keeping the broadcasts of
the games on cable subscription.
"Trapper
John, M.D." is a spin off, sorta, of "M*A*S*H" and
ran on CBS from 1979 to 1986. Here is supporting cast
member
Gregory Harrison who played Dr. "Gonzo" Gates appears. The star
was Pernell Roberts(Adam on "Bonanza") whose character was based on 28
years between his work in Korea and his work now at a San Francisco
hospital. "Gonzo" Gates had worked in a M*A*S*H unit in Viet
Nam. This long time series occupied the Sunday night 9-10pm CT
slot.
Tom Selleck was Thomas Sullivan "Magnum" with John
Hillerman, Roger Mosely and Larry Manetti. It ran on CBS from
1980 to 1988 and was produced by the same production unit which
produced "Hawaii Five-O" in Hawaii. It even referred to
characters
on the show and the Five-O unit. This favorite still runs today in
syndication.
"83 Hours til Dawn" was one of the many, many TV movies
produced on CBS during the 1980's. Here is a promo graphic from
the early 80's.
This graphic was from a CBS promotional effort
centered
around "Murder She Wrote." It referred to a special supplement which
was
included in the weekend Parade Magazine in the Sunday newspaper.
"Dallas" ran on CBS from 1978 to 1991 with a large cast including Larry
Hagman, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray,
Steve Kanaly, Howard Keel, Ken Kercheval, Victoria Principal, Charlene
Tilton and others. The "who shot J.R." question brought new
meaning to a season ending "cliff hanger" as everyone speculated who
did the deed. The hot didn't kill the main character, in fact it
didn't even change him much. This was the only series, in which
the goings on for an ENTIRE season was written off as a "dream" when
the show required a coarse readjustment. Pictured below: Larry
Hagman as J.R. Ewing and his wife Sue Ellen Shepard Ewing.
"Knots Landing" was a spin off of "Dallas" and featured the
exploits of the black sheep of the Ewing family, Gary played by Ted
Shackelford. Here is neighbor Karen Fairgate played by Michelle
Lee and Anne Sumner played by Michelle Phillips in the
background. This nighttime soap, as with Dallas, had a huge cast
which included Joan Van Ark, James Houghton, Kim Lankford, Don Murray,
John Pleshette, Constance McCashin, Donna Mills and more.
"Kate and Allie" starred former SNL star Jane Curtin
along with Susan Saint James with Frederick Koehler(shown here with
Curtin), Ari Meyers and Allison Smith. This one ran on CBS from
1984
to 1989. Curtin and St. James were divorcees who were long
friends
who
moved in together to save money.
What a lineup for CBS on Monday nights! "Murphy
Brown," "Designing Women" and "Cagney and Lacy." This is a
promotional graphic from 1990.
"PeeWee's Playhouse" ran on Saturday mornings on CBS.
Paul Reubens created the "adult" character, but changed it to appeal
more for kids. It did have a
somewhat tongue-in-cheek attitude and appealed to adults as well.
"M*A*S*H" aired on
CBS beginning in 1972 and continued until
1983. It was a strong commentary of war in a comedy,
sometimes drama series. Stars included: Alan Alda as Hawkeye,
Wayne Rogers as Trapper John, Loretta Swit as Hot Lips, Gary
Burghoff(the only one from the movie) played Radar, McLean Stevenson
played Col. Blake(a U of I Fan, a fact which endeared the WCIA audience
to the series), Jamie Farr and Klinger, Mike Farrell as B.J. and David
Ogden Stiers as Winchester. Many cast changes took
place during
it's run, but none
of the changes hurt the appeal of this long running comedy/drama.
It was based on the movie of the same title. Here is the only
steady cast member Alan Alda(above center) as "Hawkeye." McLean Stevenson(left)
played Lt. Henry Blake from 1972 to 1975
when he quit the series. The producers made it tough for him to
ever come back, in that they killed off his character after he
left. It brought about one of
the
most tear jerking episodes as "Radar" played by Gary Burghoff told the
surgeons of Blakes death. "M*A*S*H*"
ran on CBS from 1972-82, while running in syndication at 10:35pm for
many years on WCIA. It was later delayed to 11:35pm after the
premiere of
David Letterman in the 90's. This particular graphic(center
above) is from the
early 80's
A Monday promotional graphic from 1986.
"Cagney and Lacy" ran on CBS from 1982 through 1988.
The stars were originally Tyne Daly and Meg Foster. Foster was
replaced by Sharon Gless(shown above with guest star Brian
Dennehy). This was a female cop buddy show which reflected a more
realistic look at police work in New York City.
WCIA made several summertime appearances at local events as
sponsor of the Johnsonville Brat Wagon. This one at the
Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois in Danville during the late 1980's
and early 1990's.
"Wiseguy" starred Ken Wahl as Vinnie Terranova and later
Michael Santana as undercover agents for the Organized Crime
Bureau. It ran for one month when it premiered in September of
1987 and was immediately moved to another time slot. It floated
all over the CBS schedule during its run from 1987 to 1990. Here
it was on Wednesdays at 9pm CT from June of 1988 to Apri 1990.
More coming soon
"The Young and the
Restless" (left) continued to dominate the ratings at the 11AM CT
time slot on WCIA, right after "The Price is Right."
"Designing
Women" ran on CBS from 1986 to 1993 and starred four actresses(Delta
Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts and Jean Smart) along with Meschach
Taylor. There was a cast change which brought Julia Duffy, Jan
Hooks and Judith Ivey into the fold during the 1991-92 seasons.
Burt
Reynolds returned to series TV in 1990 with "Evening Shade" in which he
plays a former professional football player turned high school football
coach. It also starred Marilu Henner, Hal Holbrook, Ossie Davis,
Charles Durning, Michael Jeter and others. Both "Designing Women"
and "Evening Shade" were created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.
"The Muppet Show" was in syndicated and became a weekend staple during
the 1980's.
WCIA co-anchor
Suzanne Reed who anchored with
Jerry Slabe for most of the 1990's.
"Capitol"
ran on CBS from 1982 to 1987 as part of it's daytime lineup. This
soap was based on politics and starred Rory Calhoun, Carolyn Jones,
Richard Egan and a very young Terri Hatcher.
This
one starred British actor, Edward Woodward as a former CIA agent who
acts as an investigator. It ran on CBS and WCIA from 1985 to 1989.
A
promo graphic for a CBS TV Movie "Menu for Murder" of the late 1980's.
"48
Hours" premiered in 1988 where it continues on CBS. The series
began with a docudrama format with correspondents like Harold Dow, Bill
Lagattuta, Maureen Maher, Erin Moriarty, Troy Roberts, Susan Spencer
and others. It was revamped to a different format in 2002.
"Newhart"
was a series much unlike the original "Bob Newhart Show" on CBS, but
ultimately had a series connection! If you were watching the
final episode of this series which ran from 1982 to 1990, you saw
Newhart wake up, roll over in bed, and find his co-star from the
original show, Emily played by Suzanne Pleshette, where he says,
"Honey, you won't believe the dream I just had." This tops the
Dallas "dream" season, as this entire series was a "dream."
This
informational reality based TV series was addictive at least. You
saw people injured from extreme accidents and then virtually all of the
victims were rescued by firefighters, police and other authorities only
to recover from their injuries. The show featured reenactments,
and was narrated by William Shatner. "Rescue 911" ran on CBS from
1989 to 1996.
This WCIA
Aircheck was taken from around 7pm to 8:05pm on a Monday night in
December of 1987. Look for long time WCIA anchor Jerry Slabe with a
topical news promo, Oprah promos, long promo for CBS High Moutain
Rangers with Robert Conrad, CBS News promo with Dan Rather, PM Magazine
promo and Newhart program open.
This video
shows that the broadcasts of Simon and Simon as well as Knots Landing
were preempted by CBS Special Movie, a rebroadcast of The Homecoming-A
Christmas Story which served as the pilot show for The Waltons which
ran on CBS during the 1970s. This is from December of 1987.
More to come
More
to Come
One of CBS longest
running dramas from recent years, "Murder She Wrote" starred Angela
Lansbury, Tom Bosley, Ron Masak and William Windom. The series
ran from 1984 to 1996 and became a Sunday evening staple. It
revolved around the life of a former English teacher who turned mystery
author who always ended up somewhere where someone was murdered.
It was up to her to solve the mystery. Pictured above is Ron
Masak as Sheriff Mort Metzger and Angela Lansbury.
