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Welcome to Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum. This website documents the history of each viewable TV station, past and present, across mid-Illinois through text, photos, testimonials, and videos, along with each station's current status. This site also includes local radio history and automated analog formats, again told in pictures, videos, and text, along with personal postings by Doug Quick, the host and creator of this site.
This website displays best on a full-size monitor, desktop, or laptop computer. If you're watching on your mobile phone, you can zoom in on the page if needed. Also, you may have to sign in to YouTube to view some videos. Some browsers do not allow some embedded videos to play, so click on the "YouTube" logo on the video to view it on YouTube.
Featured Videos
No Turkeys in this Bunch! (OK, maybe one)
As Thanksgiving approaches, Central Illinois’ On-Line Broadcast Museum displays several first-time-here items and a couple of repeats from previous years. First, a Thanksgiving episode of “Bachelor Father” stars John Forsythe, Sammy Tong, and Noreen Corcoran.
One of the most popular NBC color variety shows during the early days of color TV was “The Kraft Music Hall.” Originally a radio show starring Bing Crosby, the TV version had several hosts, but in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Perry Como hosted the long-running variety show. Although only a few viewers who owned, or were making monthly payments on, a living room color television saw it in color, most of us watched it in black and white. This is a black-and-white kinescope of a live color broadcast, featuring a few popular guest stars from 1961 and some up-and-coming future stars.
Several of you have left positive comments about my occasional inclusion of animated shows in the museum's video collection. This time, the featured animated show is “Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales,” which starred, among others, Don Adams (“Get Smart”) and Larry Storch (“F-Troop”). This particular cartoon has a Thanksgiving theme.
The “Lawrence Welk Show” was a weekly television tradition that began in the mid-1950s, drew many older TV viewers, and continued through the early 1970s. Here is a 1970 program that became the show's final Thanksgiving installment, as it left ABC in September 1971.
Fifty years ago, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade celebrated its 50th annual parade. It was 1976, and Ed McMahon, McLean Stevenson, and Della Reese hosted the event. Unfortunately, as is often the case with live broadcasts involving hundreds of people moving on split-second timing, things can go wrong. You’ll see it during the broadcast shown below.
What do major stars and entertainers do for Thanksgiving? Find out what Johnny Carson and Doc Severinsen planned for 1979, and how it became a classic, totally unplanned comedy bit!
One of the most remembered and loved comedy trios of 1980s television was Larry, Darryl, and Darryl of “Newhart.” Watch to see how those at a Vermont Inn celebrate the Holiday.
The Smothers Brothers returned to TV in the late 1980s with a Summer variety show for CBS. Catch the Thanksgiving Comedy installment of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”
Clip shows are always popular at Holiday time, and the video clips on display through Thanksgiving here at the museum include several “Friends” episodes from 1994 to 2004.
The last featured video is the first episode of “Dharma and Greg” that aired on ABC in 1997. It was the series first Thanksgiving-themed show. The Thanksgiving episodes were so popular that the series continued the chaos each year for its entire run. Watch how it began here now.
The Classic Radio display honors two recent inductees to the National Radio Hall of Fame. Both inductees were heard daily for years in the Chicago market and across Mid-Illinois as DJs on WLS 890 AM in Chicago during the 1970s. Hear some airchecks and see the faces behind the voices. One voice was also heard daily on WICS in Springfield, IL, as the station's voice.
Check out the displays now through Thanksgiving here at the Museum!
Classic Television
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Bachelor Father (1959) NBC “Bentley’s Double Play”
In this episode of “Bachelor Father,” Bentley Greg (John Forsythe) reluctantly agrees to direct his niece Kelly Greg’s (Noreen Corcoran) Thanksgiving school play. The cast also includes Sammy Tong as Peter Tong, Bernadette Withers as Ginger, and Jimmy Boyd (once married to Taylorville, IL native Yvonne Craig).
Another real-life twist of fate was Linda Evans appearing as one of his niece Kelly’s friends. Years later, Ms. Evans appeared as John Forsythe’s fictional wife on ABC’s “Dynasty!”
This is one of the few, though not rare, TV series to switch networks across all three. “Bachelor Father” first aired on September 15, 1957, on CBS, then moved to NBC from June 1959 through September 1961, and finally to ABC, airing its final season from October 1961 through September 25, 1962, the date of its final first-run airing.

Noreen Cocoran, Sammy Tong, and John Forsythe on "Bachelor Father."
(YouTube screen grab)
The series entered local TV station syndication soon after and was not very successful. It later appeared on a few cable and digital broadcast networks, such as the Retro Television Network, before 2011, then moved to Antenna TV, where it aired through January 2015, with a brief return in 2022. Part of the series' lack of syndication success stems from rights disputes between the original production company's successors and distributors.
During its network run, it aired on almost all local stations at some point from 1957 through 1962.
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Kraft Music Hall with Perry Como (1961) NBC Thanksgiving Show
This live broadcast appeared in color for the few people who had color TVs in their living rooms. NBC broadcast it on November 22, 1961. This show would have been seen across central Illinois on WICS, WCHU, WICD, WEEK-TV, WGEM-TV and KSD-TV. WICD couldn't broadcast in color then.
Guests and performers on the show included Dorothy Collins, Gwen Verdon and the Kane Triplets. The regular supporting cast included Don Adams, Kaye Ballard, Jack Duffy, Paul Lynde and Sandy Stewart. Ed Herlihy was the long-time "Voice of the Kraft Music Hall" commercials.

An early appearance of Paul Lynde and Perry Como on "The Perry Como Kraft Music Hall" in 1961.
(YouTube screen grab)
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1965) CBS
One of the most successful Saturday morning cartoon series was “Tennessee Tuxedo and His Friends.” Along with Don Adams (“Get Smart”) as Tennessee Tuxedo, other voices were provided by Jackson Beck, Kenny Delmar, Bradley Bolke, Norman Rose, Mort Marshall, Delo States, Larry Storch (“F-Troop”), and Allen Swift. Many of the voice-over actors imitated other celebrity voices. Even Don Adams seemed to imitate actor William Powell's voice and inflection. Bradley Bolke’s “Chumley” voice resembled Clifton Finnegan on the long-running classic radio series “Duffy’s Tavern.” Larry Storch voiced Professor Whoopee to match actor Frank Morgan (“The Wizard of Oz”).
Along with Tennessee Tuxedo, the other characters were Chumley, a walrus. Animal and human adversaries included the zoo director Stanley Livingston and his assistant, Flunky. Whenever some intelligent advice was needed, Tennessee and Chumley would seek out their friend Phineas J. Whoopee, “The Answer Man.” This also let them insert “educational” segments into the show.
Total Television produced the first TV show from 1963 through 1966, airing on CBS. It would have been seen on Saturday mornings on WCIA, WMBD-TV, WTHI-TV, KHQA, and KMOX-TV.

Chumley and Tennessee Tuxedo.
(YouTube screen grab)
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Lawrence Welk Show (1970) ABC Thanksgiving Show
This Thanksgiving-themed episode of “The Lawrence Welk Show” aired on ABC in 1970. It was the final “Welk” Thanksgiving show to air on ABC; the show was canceled after its last ABC episode aired on September 4, 1971. The show ran for a long time, as it was one of ABC’s earliest and longest-running shows. It premiered on July 2, 1955, and was sponsored by The Chrysler Corporation for years. “The Lawrence Welk Show” went to syndication after ABC canceled it for many years, with re-edited reruns airing on public TV thereafter.
Lawrence Welk, "Thank you, boyzzz-mm"
(YouTube screen grab)

Listing all the performers would be impossible; over 100 appeared. Still, a few better-known members included The Lennon Sisters (singers), Myron Floren (accordion), Pete Fountain (clarinet), Jo Ann Castle (piano), and Lynn Anderson (vocalist). By the way, the Welk had hit records in the 1950s, with three top-20 hits and a number-one hit in 1960 called “Calcutta,” one of my favorite instrumentals.
In the 1980s, when Lawrence Welk and his troupe performed in Champaign at the Assembly Hall, I had the chance to talk with him briefly. He graciously autographed a program from the 1940s that belonged to my in-laws, who were also at the concert. My in-laws saw Welk and his orchestra on their honeymoon in Chicago.
“The Lawrence Welk Show” aired on WTVP (later WAND), WDAN-TV, WTVH (later WIRL), and WJJY-TV (from 1969-1971).
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (1976) NBC
Revisit the event from 50 years ago: NBC broadcast the 50th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, hosted by Ed McMahon, live on Thanksgiving Day in 1976. The broadcast included several, if not many, technical and timing issues right at the beginning and throughout the show. In fact, the production seemed like a real mess. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the post-production meeting NBC had with Macy’s executives!
It looked like Ed took over hosting duties when the production lost contact with the show's apparent “real” hosts. Those hosts were McLean Stevenson and Della Reese. Check out the open mic moment when McLean Stevenson (Bloomington, Illinois native) says, “Those were the worst cue cards I’ve ever seen!” The hosts read the introduction over the opening of “Buffalo Bob,” the “Howdy Doody” star. There were other issues as well. I’ll leave it up to you to watch for them.

McLean Stevenson and Della Reese at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, 1976, reacting to some technical issues during the parade.
(YouTube screen grab)
All that said, this broadcast is a “blast from the past,” featuring many people who are no longer with us, including the show’s hosts and many performers.
Thanks to Obsolete Video for restoring this significant historical broadcast. Visit their YouTube channel by clicking here.
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1979) NBC Thanksgiving Plans
A classic comedy segment in which Doc Severinsen and Johnny Carson talk about each other’s Thanksgiving plans. This segment from “The Tonight Show” first aired on WICS, WICD, WEEK-TV, WTWO-TV, WGEM-TV, and KSD-TV.

Doc Severinson and Johnny Carson discussing their Thanksgiving Holiday plans in a classic clip above
(YouTube screen grab)
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Newhart (1986) CBS Thanksgiving Episode
“Newhart” was a follow-up sitcom starring Bob Newhart as Dick Loudon, a Vermont innkeeper. Mary Frann played his wife, Joanna. This series had a collection of quirky characters like George Utley, played by Tom Poston (the future real-life husband of Bob’s former leading lady in the first “Bob Newhart Show,” Suzanne Pleshette), Stephanie, played by Julia Duffy, Michael, played by Peter Scolari (“Bosom Buddies”), and a strange bunch of brothers best known as Larry, Darryl and Darryl, played by William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss and John Voldstad.

Michael (Peter Scolari), Larry, Darryl, and Darryl with Dick Laudon (Bob Newhart).
(YouTube screen grab)
This Bob Newhart sitcom aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, through September 8, 1990, and was seen across Mid-Illinois on WCIA, WMBD-TV, WTHI-TV, KHQA, and KMOV.
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1988) CBS Thanksgiving Show
This installment of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” aired during the series’ second CBS run on CBS, airing from March 30, 1988, through August 23, 1989, after the troubling cancellation of the earlier series in 1969 when Pete Seeger performed a song he wrote, “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” a Vietnam protest song (Pete Seeger was a former blacklisted performer in the early 1950s-see “Good Night, and Good Luck” theatrical movie or the broadcast of the Broadway show starring George Clooney for background information).
Dick and Tommy Smothers 1988 Thanksgiving Special.
(YouTube screen grab)

After the first cancellation, the brothers moved the series to ABC as a summer series in 1970, and NBC picked it up, airing it from January 1973 through May 1975. The Smothers Brothers returned to CBS in 1988 (I would have loved to be in those meetings!) for another run of the same variety show that originally aired on the network, with many of the same participants, including Pat Paulsen, Jim Stafford, Geoffrey Lewis, and Jennifer Warnes. One of the most memorable segments included Tommy Smothers as “The Yo-Yo Man.”
This series aired on WCIA, WMBD-TV, WTHI-TV, KHQA, and KMOV. This recording was made from WUSA, Channel 9 in Washington, D.C., and includes original commercials and station promos.
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New Stuff at the Museum
New Look for the Home Page
and Offering 2026 Time Capsules for Permanent Viewing
POSTED 2026-1015
New paint job and remodel to the Home Page to include the now permanent TV Time Capsules and Highlights on the Main Menu
Added Old Airchecks to the History of WDNL Page
POSTED 2026-0914
Re posted a large selection of vintage airchecks from the 1980s of the station plus spotlights on two of the most popular RKO syndicated shows of the station, Night Time America and Solid Gold Saturday Night, including airchecks of both shows.
Latest TV
Radio
Headlines

WAND loses it's Danville area Translator in a Tower Collapse!
POSTED 2026-1026
Not since Easter morning of 1978 has WAND experienced a tower failure. However, on Monday, October 26, 2026, the station experienced its latest failure when its translator station W23EQ-D tower, located on the Kickapoo Park's east entrance road just east of the park, fell after a guy wire supporting the 485-foot tower was clipped by what was reported to have been a passing farm implement.
The tower broadcasts 17.1 WAND, 17.2 COZI, 17.3 ION, 17.4 ION-Plus, 17.5 Court TV, 17.6 MeTV, and 55.3 WRSP-Antenna TV to the Danville area to those with receiving antennas. THIS ONLY AFFECTS THOSE WHO RECEIVE THOSE STATIONS LOCALLY ON AN ANTENNA. The main WAND Tower in the Argenta-Oreana area is still in service and may be visible to those in the Danville area with better antennas. This does NOT affect cable, satellite, or streaming sources of local broadcast channels, including that of WAND, Channel 17, Decatur, IL.

UPDATED 2026-1012
ABC in its latest filing in its First Amendment suit against the FCC asserts that the agency's request for early renewal of its local TV station licenses was structured in such a way as to avoid judicial review.
On 18 August ABC sued the FCC and Chairman Brendan Carr (a Trump loyalist) alleging the Commission was conducting an 'extraordinary assault' on its First Amendment rights by the threat of taking away its broadcast licences for eight of its owned and operated stations. The FCC maintains that its order requiring ABC to apply for early renewals of its licences was part of the Commission's investigation into the alleged DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) employment practices at Disney and ABC.
At a hearing on Oct 6, Judge Loren AliKhan (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, presiding over the case) told the FCC to file a supplemental submission on the list of alternative tools to compel discovery in the DEI investigation of Disney and ABC (other than early license renewals).
On Monday ABC issued a response to the FCC's filing. The FCC had at the hearing contended that "the license renewal process is not about the licenses, it's an attempt to deal with what they claim to be a discovery deficiency" in the DEI investigation, according to ABC's response. "Their supplemental briefing merely confirms what they admitted at the hearing: there are 'a number of different tools' the agency could have used to deal with the purported discovery deficiency."
ABC continued: "These are not just 'theoretical' tools. They have been used by the agency for decades. The agency did none of those less intrusive tools here, instead going to the extraordinary step of seeking early license renewal of all eight ABC owned stations at the same time. The defendants' own admissions make it abundantly clear why they did this: they were seeking to apply maximum coercive pressure on the media company whose speech the Administration was attempting to suppress, while at the same time deliberately attempting to escape judicial review."
--from Variety

FCC Plans to Auction FM Radio Construction Permits to
Perspective Radio Owners
POSTED 2026-0512
The Federal Communications Commission plans to auction FM radio construction permits beginning in February 2027.
“Auction 114 would make available for bidding construction permits for vacant FM radio channels,” it said in the announcement.
It will offer 132 CPs, including 99 not previously offered; 33 of them were offered at auction before but unsold.
Most are Class A or Class C; there is a Class B1 in Illinois. That is for 96.9FM licensed to Mattoon, IL. Save your money, though, the bidding begins at $25,000.
Now Streaming Nationally
Click on the image above to listen to MeTVFM. It's the popular music companion to MeTV, Memorable Entertainment Television, America’s #1 all classic television network. Launched at 87.7FM in late February, 2015, MeTVFM features a unique mix of timeless and memorable music incorporating a wide variety of classic hits, deep tracks and softer sounds spanning several decades of popular music.
Previously on Videos of the Week...
If you've missed any of the "Videos of the Week" or "Classic Radio" recordings, you'll find them here. Unfortunately, there's no written narrative to go along with each. You have to visit each week for that.
Other selections include those on Select Area Radio Stations from
WDBR, WLRW, WBNQ, WWTO, and KGRS
WHTT (1976) Drake-Chenault "Contempo 300"
WKDQ-FM (1977) Drake-Chenault
"XT-40"
Demo for Great American Country on WIL-FM
Patty Duke Show (1964) ABC open/closing credits
The Avengers (1967) ABC "The Living Dead"
The Partridge Family (1972) ABC "You're Only Young Twice"
Match Game '73 (1973) CBS Host: Gene Rayburn First Show
The Burt Reynolds Late Show (1974) NBC
Starsky & Hutch (1975) ABC "The Fix"
Police Story (1978) NBC Guest: Glen Ford
30 Minutes of Commercials from the 1970s
CLASSIC RADIO
All are available on the Radio History Pages
Trackdown (1958) CBS “The End of the World”
The Frank Sinatra Show (1958) ABC
Do You Remember These Cartoons (1960s-70s)
The Price is Right (1963) NBC Host: Bill Cullen
A Man Called Shenandoah (1965) ABC Pilot Episode
The Green Hornet (1966) ABC First Episode
The Fugitive (1967) ABC “The Judgment” Parts 1&2, Final episodes
The Green Hornet (1940) 13 Chapters of the Movie Serial
The Green Hornet (1947-48) WXYZ-Radio, ABC Radio Network, Episodes 1-26
Classic Film
Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Friends-Thanksgiving Scenes (1994-2004) NBC
This video collects scenes from the many Thanksgiving episodes of “Friends” as broadcast on NBC from 1994 to 2004.
This video is from the YouTube Friends Channel available here.
Friends was broadcast over mid-Illinois on WICS, WICD, WEEK-TV, WTWO-TV, WGEM-TV, and KSDK.
The Friends cast.
(NBC Publicity Pic)

Click on the image on the left to watch the video directly from YouTube

Dharma and Greg (1997) ABC The First Thanksgiving
“Dharma & Greg” was an ABC sitcom from 1997 to 2002. Jenna Elfman played Dharma Finkelstein, and Thomas Gibson played Greg Finkelstein, an opposite-attract couple. She’s a dog trainer and yoga instructor, and he is an attorney living in San Francisco. Despite their lifestyle differences (and their families), they married on their first date. I guess when you know, you know. On a side note, Jenna Elfman is the niece of Tony Butala, a founding member of the pop vocal group "The Letterman.

In this episode, “The First Thanksgiving,” Dharma and Greg plan the holiday around meeting their parents, who have opposite lifestyles and attitudes. They try to manage the holiday meal, but something unexpected changes their outlook on the future.
The lead characters from
"Dharma and Greg" from ABC.
(YouTube screen grab)
The parents are played by Alan Rachins (“LA Law”), Mitchell Ryan (“Chase,” “Executive Suite,” “Having Babies,” “The Chisholms,” and “High Performance”), Susan Sullivan (“Rich Man, Poor Man-Book II,” “Having Babies,” “It’s a Living,” “Falcon Crest”), and Mimi Kennedy (“3 Girls 3,” “Stockard Channing in Just Friends,” “The Big Show,” “The Two of Us,” “Spenser,” and “Under One Roof”). The series was produced by Chuck Lorre Productions.
If you watch the closing credits, you can freeze the final production credit and read “Chuck Lorre Productions #3.”
This series was seen over Mid-Illinois on WAND, WHOI, WBAK, and KTVI.
Classic Radio

Next Regular Update Comes November 27
Happy Thanksgiving!

So, what does Doug Quick's Golden Classics sound like? Click on the Video above for a sample!
This is a NEW two-hour sample of "Golden Classics" from Friday, Oct 30, 2026, with complete songs, and only the commercials are edited out. The call letters and the radio station are for demonstration purposes only and does not exist.
NEW
Two New Inductees to the Radio Hall of Fame Are Familiar
to Mid-Illinois Residents.
The Radio Hall of Fame Class of 2026 included eight living inductees and nine “legend” inductees. The induction ceremony was on October 9th at the Fairmont Chicago.
Two popular Chicago-based WLS radio personalities were among the living inductees: Charlie Van Dyke and Fred Winston. They both worked at WLS-890AM, one of Mid-Illinois's leading stations in the 1960s and 70s.
Charlie Van Dyke was a morning man in the early 1970s after Larry Lujack left for WCFL. He also worked in many major markets from Los Angeles to Chicago, San Diego, New Orleans, Omaha, Baltimore, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Miami, Charlotte, Tampa, Louisville, West Palm Beach, Detroit, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, and others!
He was also often heard in central Illinois on WICS, Channel 20, as the station’s “news voice,” doing the voice-over intro for all newscasts and even promo tags for topical programs. He did similar work at many other TV stations nationwide.
Fred Winston spent most of his career in Chicago working at WLS, WMAQ, WCFL, WFYR(FM), WPNT(FM), WJMK(FM), and WLS(FM), but began in Denver, followed by Dayton, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh before settling in Chicago in 1971 and continuing through 2013.
Here are airchecks from both Chicago inductees. Congratulations to both! Both had a Central Illinois fan named Doug Quick.
Charlie
Van
Dyke

Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
WLS, 890AM, Chicago (1972) Charlie Van Dyke
This aircheck is from October 9, 1972
Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
WLS, 890AM, Chicago (1973) Charlie Van Dyke
This aircheck is from spring 1973.
Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
KHJ, 930AM, Los Angeles (1976) Charlie Van Dyke
This aircheck is from October 1976.
Fred
Winston

Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
WLS, 890AM, Chicago (1983) Fred Winston
This aircheck is from February 3, 1983
Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
WLS AM/FM Chicago (1985) Fred Winston
This aircheck is from May 1985, when Fred filled in for Larry Lujack on WLS AM/FM.
Click on the image on the left to listen to the radio aircheck
on YouTube
WFYR(FM) Chicago Fred Winston
This aircheck is from August 30, 1979.
Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum and dougquick.com supports the work of the St. Louis Media History Foundation.
Visit their website at:
TV Time Capsule
For November-December 2026
The Holidays always bring a flood of nostalgia to those who experienced happy occasions with family and friends. Many of those memories include hours of special Christmas-themed episodes with casts of programs who, over time, became like family.
For the TV Time Capsule during the Holiday season, I present a variety of holiday-themed shows and specials reaching back to the very early days of television, through the late 1990s. It’s just a small fraction of the total number of Christmas-themed TV shows and specials, estimated at nearly 2,500 during the second half of the 20th century!
So, as we get into the Holiday Season, no matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope you have a safe, secure, healthy, and lovely season with family and friends. I hope everyone’s holidays are as happy, or even happier, for you as they were for those on television!
Click on the picture above to open up the Nobember - December TV Time Capsule



































