Erick - 05/24/99 15:23:39
My Email:ericktul@webtv.net
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
It was Gary's choice to leave 2. He found God after the Catoosa tornado in 1993. Apparently, he had a nightmare that a huge tornado was ravaging east Tulsa, and the traffic was so bad, he couldn't get to the station to warn people. He was at the station that Sunday night, when the tornado struck. Not too long after that, he complained to management that his weathercasts weren't long enough to give people the info they need. Management wouldn't budge, and Gary left after his contract expired in 1995. I'm not sure what he did immediately after that. As I said, he ended up on Sam Jones' show on channel 25 for a very brief period, and went to KWMJ-53 where he could give 2 or 3 weathercasts during the day, and freely worship God on air. He left there sometime in late 97 or early 98, and went to WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama. He's originally from that area, so it was a homecoming. He was the chief meteorologist there, but there is no longer any mention of this on their website, so I'm not sure where he is now. Funny note, Gary's former protege at 2, Dan Satterfield is the chief meteorologist at WHNT in Huntsville.

Thanks, Erick. Here is Gary's website.



Mike Bruchas - 05/24/99 12:04:34
My Email:bruchasm@atlanticvideo.net
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Definitely Z E B!

Comments:
Got a call from a Tulsa friend wondered where Guy Atchley is at.

I don't know - last time I heard and saw him on an ABC affiliates' promo reel feed - he was at KGUN in Tucson anchoring.

Guy is another Sapulpa "guy" made good. He went to TU with me and his cackling laugh I'll always remember.

He started in radio at KFMJ - may have worked at KXOJ in Sapulpa but I don't remember. I think he did news at KAKC but then again my mind is murky. Tried several times to get on at 8 as reporter then produce before he was hired.

He started writing, producing and doing a great job then reporting. He has a SW delivery a touch similar to Dan Rather's. No he is NOT mimicking Rather - he has more of that serious Baptist preacher/cop tone when speaking formally. With groups - he lets his hair down.

I guess he did some anchoring at 8 but went on as both reporter and often anchor in bigger markets - I don't remember all.

Miami - which he loved for the diversity of life. He talked about the rituals of working with his camera crew - hitting the Cuban bakeries and bodegas for food but also that it was a "good news town". Next he went to Minneapolis or Milwaukee - where he anchored but the station he was at - had a revolving door for anchors. I think Ben Boyett who worked in Amarillo and OKC may have hit the same station with "the anchor of the month" club.

He came back home to Tulsa with wife and kids to a house in Kiefer. All the moving around and work was putting a strain on his marriage and family and they are the most important things in his life.

Got a job at 8 in the 80's as talent and producer but got axed in what sounds like a set-up by news mgmt there. I got this second-hand from some ex-8 folks working in OKC. He was to run a news story on drugs and kids I think (maybe it was drinking) and the cover video the editor used (which they say Guy should have looked at) showed clear shots of faces of Tulsa teens but not really in relation to the story. News mgmt said they could be sued or maybe someone threatened to sue 8 for showing video of kids with problems - who DIDN'T have a drug or alcohol addiction. So Guy got canned. The deal smelled.

Guy got a job working in OKC at KWTV 9 doing early morning and Noon news. It was too much to drive up from Kiefer every day and they were throwing some prime time anchor fill-in work his way plus some reporting. He got a hotel room in OKC - I saw him on the air, called him and we split an apartment in Edmond for about a year.

Never saw each other except Sundays and Fridays or at midnight - I worked at 5 on the night shift - he went to work at 2 or 3 a.m. at 9. I might be coming in late after late news on KOCO following Monday Night Football (where I was a director) and he would be getting up to start the "dawn watch" at KWTV.

All was going well till "the Harm factor" got in the way. Guy was filling in for Roger Cooper but Duane Harm - former KOTV mgr. then KWTV GM/President stepped in.

The story is Harm's daughter was married to a guy who wanted to anchor - so they axed Guy for Harm's husband - whatever his name was.

Tried to get him hired at 5 but our then dysfunctional (and other problem-linked) upper mgmt kept hiring bozos from Little Rock (they came from there and proclaimed it the epicenter of ALL creative news production and hated Okies I guess...).

I guess through an agent - Guy got the job at KGUN fairly quickly and the "gypsy" life of a reporter/producer/anchor took another turn.

If any of you know where he is working now - let me know!

We'll see if we can track him down. You have the memory of an elephant...just the thing to have on this site.



Erick - 05/24/99 01:06:59
My Email:ericktul@webtv.net
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
Sam's show died in the ratings, because it was a 11:30pm local live show that only appealed to a small portion of the audience, and they could make more money by sliding in a syndicated show. If KOTV or Belo was concerned about his politics, they wouldn't have kept him on the air for 4 years. Clear Channel canceled him at 41 in 1993 to free up room for syndicated programming. It lasted at 41 for so long because at the time KTFO was owned by a small company, and they saved money by doing a local show at 10pm. Not to mention that it was good competition for the news (except when Sam began telling folks to turn to channel 2 at 10:15 to watch Gary Shore's forecast. Gary was eventually the meteorologist for Sam's show for a brief time when it was at the low-powered channel 25). It was also 41's highest rated show prior to KOKI's takeover in 1993. It's all about which show will bring in money. Sadly, that's a contest Sam's show would never win.

Erick, your answer has the ring of truth.

Speaking of Gary Shore, I didn't quite get the reason that he left. He seemed to be in the catbird seat at 2.



Mike Bruchas - 05/23/99 21:22:18
Location: Trapped in the 70's in TulseyTown
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Steve Pickle + Jeannie Tripplehorn on KOKI
Stupidest local commercial: Reeves Boys

Comments:
Diane Elliott was a decent graphic artist at 8 and I believe she replaced Ginny Johnston as weekend weather talent in the late 70's. It was after I was slogging off to OKC but I remember watching her when visiting in Tulsa.

I think she was Susan Silver's room-mate when Susan was co-anchoring at 8, too.

Someone said at one time she and former KTUL ace reporter Ed Poston were "an item"...

I have an article about "Creature Feature" with Pickle and Jeannie Tripplehorn somewhere around here. When I find it, I'll get some info out here. One of the cameramen on that show was Jack Hobson, a contributor to Guestbook 1.



M. Ransom - 05/23/99 18:41:43

Comments:
Here is an interesting comment about Sam Jones gleaned from the ok.tulsa.general newsgroup:

"I say we need to start a petition to bring him back. Despite what Channel 6 says, he was cancelled because of his politics. Channel 6 is owned by the A.H. Belo Corporation, a conservative company that also owns the Dallas Morning News. Sam was just too liberal for them - and they couldn't dump him immediately, due to his contract. Belo handcuffed his show and let him die in the ratings to a point that they could kill the show and justify it."

Interesting. Is this true?



Mike Smith - 05/23/99 17:53:01
My Email:mjsmith@kskc.net
Location: Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Favorite Tulsa TV show: The Uncanny Film Festival And Camp Meeting
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Mazeppa
How did you find TTM?: A link from TV Horror Hosts Gallery

Comments:
I do enjoy your site a lot!

I do remembered an magician they have on Uncle Zeb on Fridays back in the KTUL days around the mid-1970's, named Uncle Zak. What I do like it most, sometimes, is the big illusions they have from time to time, with Diane Elliot (The KTUL weathergirl) as an sometime assistant. I wish there is more about it. I do love magic a lot, and this is one I like a lot from my memories.

I do enjoy the site, and, I have bookmarked it for safekeeping. Hope you find more memories.

I'm sure we will...thanks. I remember Diane Elliott as being exceptionally personable. Uncle Zak...there was Kent Doll as Cousin Zack, but you may have someone else in mind...anyone remember?



M. Ransom - 05/23/99 17:08:03
Location: Tulsa
Favorite Tulsa TV show: The Bozo Show on Channel 8

Comments:
Hey, Erick...Mike Bruchas just passed a URL on to me from Don Lundy that you will probably like:

http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/7612

It has RealPlayer versions of news themes from all over the country. I have occasionally heard themes out of Tulsa's past on stations in other cities while visiting. Maybe some of those are on the site.



Mike Bruchas - 05/23/99 16:43:03
Location: Way Back East in Delmarvaland

Comments:
Speaking of KELI radio (which I guess bought KTUL radio out) - do you remember the "space station" building they occupied on the Fairgrounds? Really Jetsonsesque!

I got lost one night - while visiting a friend working there - trying to find the control room - went the wrong way 'round inside it. I hear it has been torn down.

Wasn't KELI "20/20 News"? With news NOT on the hour but 20 minutes past and 50 minutes past?

Or do you remember the late 60's KELI mobile "newsroom" - a big ole green 4 door Chevy Caprice with a big orange Mars light on top. Looked like a taxi trying to pass for a police car! KRMG and KVOO always had the better and newer news cars!

From friends at KVOO News - KRMG was the one they tried to beat. That was instilled in them by management. I remember KVOO - in the 70's - spending mega-bucks to put a 2 way radio repeater network all over Green Country - to call in stories from the field rom anywhere, especially during bad weather. Amazing now this is all done the ole cel phone.

From KVOO's Demi Rosenthal - I remember seeing her "road kit" - the trusty Sony cassette recorder and in the days of of screw-off mouthpieces on phones - a special adaptor that she would clip onto the contacts of a phone that had a "broadcast" quality mic and a jack on the unit to feed back audiotape from her Sony with. High tech for the 70's!

That reminds me that I once wandered into the KELi satellite building as a kid. I think I walked round and round for awhile and left before getting thrown out, but I got to see the DJ at work...the man behind the curtain.



Mike Bruchas - 05/23/99 14:38:12
My Email:bruchasm@atlanticvideo.net
Location: Alexandria Media Center, Alexandria, VA
Favorite Tulsa TV show: KTUL LIVE at the TULSA STATE FAIR!
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Don Woods

Comments:
Cy Tuma - I never knew when and why he went from being a news anchor to being relegated to the "voice" of KTUL and a booth announcer/audio engineer. I was told he got to keep his then "enormous" for the 1960's salary of $25,000 a year for this change "in station".

He was an anchor not a reporter - his polio slowed him down a bit but not much. He overcame a lot in his life to get where he did.

Considering KTUL was not then and probably not now ADA compliant - Cy would hoist himself up/down the stairs twice a day. An elevator was on the building plans but never built to run between floors. In the 70's - Jimmy Leake bought him a high-powered/high-priced electric wheelchair (for mis-guided reasons I guess) that Cy fell in love with. Normally he used a walker to get around. After hours and with Cy out of the building - some of the staff would steal Cy's chair and race around the second floor in it. Cy would come in the next morning and say, "All right - who is the $%#@#$# that left me with a chair with a dead battery!!!" We'd plug the chair in, get Cy a cuppa coffee and he'd be a happy boy again!

Cy started as a clarinetist in a band. He came from Grand Island, NE so always had mixed loyalties when OU and Nebraska played football. I think he started playing on radio stations up there. Don't know if that is how he first came to KTUL but he told me one time that his band played at the Hotel Tulsa (as seen in the movie, "Tulsa") and he lived there. Unlike Wayne Johnson at KOTV who still practiced and played from time to time - Cy loved good jazz but I think once he stopped doing music - never went back to it.

I think he said he met his wife Monte at the Hotel Tulsa and she may have worked there, too. (yeah - we used to kid him about life in "the halls of Monte Tuma").

We met his niece once - think she is in advertising or TV somewhere now.

Definitely an interesting character! I lost track of him in the 80's - former KTUL announcer then projectionist Matt Bunyan used to see him in the neighborhood by the old Delman Theatre and report back on how he was doing.



Beverly - 05/22/99 21:50:47
My Email:lmnadelucy@aol.com
Location: South Tulsa
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Mr. Zing and Tuffy
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Betty Boyd
Stupidest local commercial: I'll have to think about that one.
How did you find TTM?: a friend told me about it.

Comments:
I'm enjoying reading everything in here so much! It certainly has brought back some wonderful memories. I particularly appreciated everything about Oiler Park. I remember going there with my Grandpa. We lived close to the fairgrounds and often we would sit on the screened-in backporch and listen to the ball games on the radio. We always had Chipper ice cream while listening to the ball games. I was wondering if anyone knows if Chipper ice cream is still made. If so, where can it be purchased?

When I was in kindergarten, I got to be on the Betty Boyd show modeling for Clarke's. (Remember the commercials..Madge Clarke Wright would say "Clarke's GOOD Clothes...downtown, Southland and Utica Square.") I'm not sure if those were on TV though...I mainly remember them on the radio. Oh well, still a good old memory.

As other writers have mentioned I also loved the Cathey's commericals......."Cathey's, eighth to ninth on Main...."

Chipper ice cream...hadn't thought of that in awhile. I think it was regional, made by Page. Does Glencliff ice cream ring any bells?...I just thought of it for the first time in many years.

Do you remember Pepper Martin, the old Cardinals infielder who did color commentary on the Oiler broadcasts with Len Morton? I got an autographed sour dough biscuit recipe from Pepper...it will soon appear on this site.



Mike Bruchas - 05/22/99 07:23:53
Location: 3:22am and still on the night shift
Favorite Tulsa TV show: "Oil in Oklahoma"

Comments:
Roy (aka Pierre) Pickett of KTUL also worked at KTUL radio - maybe even as on air talent. He should have some good post WWII stories of the station located at "Boulder on the Park".

What station took over the KTUL frequency way back when - when it was sold?

Uncle Zeke of Zeb's show aka Al Clauser of The Oklahoma Outlaws - which was a C&W band NOT a football team may have also worked at KTUL radio. In fact I think his WAS the C&W band there.

At his home in scenic New Prue (old Prue is still under water), Al also had a home recording studio for cutting demos. His record label I think was Alovera - for Al and Vera (?) his wife.

Seems like someone told me both KTUL radio and KVOO both had studio "orchestras" if you can call it that plus C&W bands in the old days. Don't know if this was a way to beat BMI/ASCAP fees for recorded music, too - but this jogs the "little gray cells in my head.

Maybe Ed Dumit or Jim Back might know something on the last note.....

The 1961 TV/radio schedule on this site shows KTUL as 1430. KELi took over 1430 by around '62 or '63, I believe.

Thanks to Mike, we'll be seeing Roy Pickett's picture on the site soon. I'll try to get some more stories from him, too.



Mike Bruchas - 05/22/99 05:17:35
My Email:bruchasm@atlanticvideo.net
Location: Alexandria, VA
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Teen Town Topics
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: His majesty, King Lionel
Stupidest local commercial: 70's era KTEW promos

Comments:
Rex Daugherty - when last spoken with a year ago - was with Vyvx/WilTel aka the Williams Companies fibre and communications division, doing p.r.

To the layman - you think of Williams's pipeline business - to the TV folks, Vyvx is the non-satellite way to move broadcasts around the US via fibre optic cable stuffed in the old pipelines Williams once owned. They also own 4-5 satellite teleports across the country and do scads of ISDN-based videoconferencing in the corporate sector. Where Rex fits in here, I am not sure. He was happy in his job though my e-mail link to him doesn't seem to connect anymore - or I would post it here.

Don't forget Rex also worked at OETA when they finally opened the Tulsa studios on N. Sheridan.

Williams Center side-bar - how many of you remember when it opened? How many of you went down during the open house days and took the elevator to the top for the BEST view of Tulsa? Demi Rosenthal of KVOO News and I went down with hundreds of media and just plain folks to see the place. It IS/WAS the best view of Tulsa for not being up in a chopper or plane of the city! For a non-Williams employee - it will be a lifetime memory for me.



Mark - 05/22/99 03:00:01
Location: Jenks,OK
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Beth Rengel

Comments:
What ever happened to Rex Daugherty, the former KOTV news reporter? Was he the one who did the weekly segment, known as "chuckhole of the week"? I remember some reporter and cameraman would pick out a chuckhole (or potholes as now commonly known) out of many holes in Tulsa's streets and try to interview it as it was alive. It showed someone holding the microphone close to the pothole to see what comments the pothole might say. Kind of funny, isn't?



Ray L. Rivera - 05/21/99 19:46:43
My Email:rlrivera@worldnet.att.net
Location: Louisville, KY
Favorite Tulsa TV show: any Jack Morris diatribe
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Mazeppa
Stupidest local commercial: Now that you mention it...

Comments:
...anybody remember any of Dan P. Holmes' most memorable "commercials?" How about a segment (Web page or link) about his "commercials?"

I just did an internet search on Dan P. and came up with just one reference (other than at this site) that mentioned his involvement with Highway 33. It would be nice to have a picture of Dan and more comments to put with it...to be honest, all I know is that he sold insurance and got angry on TV about the poor condition of 33. Anyone else have some background?



Erick - 05/20/99 08:23:43
My Email:ericktul@webtv.net
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
Late nite commercials...none come to mind here in Tulsa. Seems like late night belongs to psychic friends and phone sex these days. In OKC, I remember the House of Lights. Cute jingle, "The House of Lights, we're the house of a thousand lights". And Ruby' fresh produce. Alot like a cross between a farmer's market, and someone selling veggies from the back of their truck. They had some 70's sounding jingle, which escapes me at the moment. Gene Messer Ford, which had possibly the best jingle I've ever heard ..bear with me, "Little little talk a little little talk a little little more...CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!" Repeat that 3 or 4 times, it then becomes the background music to this "Gene Messer new car, Gene Messer new truck, Gene Messer, 728-FORD". Paul Meade Insu ance was good also, "Protecting all the things you own, like cars and trucks and mobile homes. Accidents or tickets too, call and we'll take care of you, 524-1541...that's Paul Meade Insurance!".



Erick - 05/20/99 04:38:08
My Email:ericktul@webtv.net
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
I hope Mike never sells out with this site, although I agree it's got cash cow appearances. It's one of the last few free things on the net...

Mooooo! Somehow, I think there might be more lucrative topics out there than Tulsa TV...



Tim Stafford - 05/19/99 18:46:45
My URL:http://www.webzone.net/mei/das
My Email:tlstafford@webzone.net
Location: Okmulgee
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Uncle Zeb or John Chick
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: too many

Comments:
Hello, it's me again. Just thought I would check in, see how things are going. This thing is really taking off, isn't it? If you don't watch it, you might end up with a money-maker here! I am really enjoying it.

I DO remember that monster over on Admiral! My folks say I really got a kick when they drove by it. Does anybody remember the commercials that use to play real late on some of the 'old movie shows' I don't even know what they sold but I do remember a man with an accent saying 'Sefco'

Keep up the good, no make that excellent work!

Tim S.

Hey, Tim, always good to hear from you.

We learned in Guestbook 3 from Mike Gleason that the guy who owned SEVCO was Joe Pierre, and his accent was French. He said a daughter of Joe's was a friend of his. "Try it, you'll like it, SEVCO". SEVCO sold stereo equipment; I'm still using the stuff I bought there in 1977. Quite a testimonial...either to SEVCO, or my cheapness.

Late night commercials...how about Buffalo Fine Jewelry or Oz (the head shop)? Of course, we've mentioned the Popeil/Ronco commercials..any other ideas out there?



David Bagsby - 05/19/99 17:24:33
My Email:dcb@utulsa.edu
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
The song used at the end of the Mazeppa show: "Why can't this night go on forever" was released on the RCA Victor vintage series lp: The Great Isham Jones and his orchestra. I don't know if it exists on cd but will let you know if it does.

I've got to hand it to you, David; I tried all sorts of searches and didn't come up with that result. You've rescued another great piece of Tulsa lore from oblivion (I added it to the 2nd Mazeppa page).



Mike (that's Zelbisco) Bruchas - 05/19/99 14:52:27
My Email:bruchasm@atlanticvideo.net
Location: Atlantic Media Center + GoodLife TV

Comments:
Never worked a "siding telethon" with Billy Parker. Sounds like a local version of the Little Rock company's shows.

Mis-said names on movie tags and spots cut out of house were a riot. KTUL often had Cy Tuma or John Chick re-cut these with the key-rect names of towns - which of course we could bill the ad agencies a talent fee for.

We often would try to throw Tuma or Chick when reading 10 seconds of copy tag scripted for a :05 hole. Frougs was often in these "co-op" tags for things - so Cy or John would read, "Available at Gibsons, Howards, Kmart, Reasor's, participating Rite Aid, and Eckerd Drugstores...". And on headset I or another projectionist/slash break director would say to Cy or John - "And at all Froug's Stores". Several times they would parrot us and say this on the air thinking they read the wrong tag copy - throwing the tape engineer and myself or whomever on the floor with laughter.

Cy caught on to this and often after his mic was off - would say to us on headset - "And (long pause) at all Froug's stores!". Chick would go crazy with panic - he never kept up turning his copy pages in "the book" - then would realize he had been had and laugh!

Announcer later tape op and now Chief Engineer at Bell's - Bill Certain had it in for us on 1 spot. Some women's clothing store ran slide spots where they mentioned Butte Knits. Bill always read it BUTT Knits and rolled on the floor afterward. The client never called and complained....

Slide spots were cheaper to buy than videotaped spots, but sometimes the $#@% salesman were more concerned with their commissions than if we could do promised "effects" live. Effects such as flashing supers from 1 slide chain over slides on the other chain involving a fast change-out to live read copy. Or back to back spots with these effects were nightmares if you got 1 slide out of sequence. The RCA slide projectors were notorious for hanging up on 1 side of the drum if you pushed the "change" button too fast. Sometimes we convenience taped them because they were too impractical and should never have been NOT put on tape to begin with....



Mike (Zelbisco) Bruchas - 05/18/99 23:09:47
My Email:jmbruchas@juno.com

Comments:
Trust House Jewelry in OKC! Was going thru the old guest books and it hit me. I can never remember their real names - Jeff Midkiff who grew up in OKC and worked with me at 34, called the husband (Jim?) and his wife -- Snakeman and Voodoo Woman. They were staples of WKY-KTVY every Sunday night. Some of the movies weren't that bad. Then KGMC got them for other nights of the week and I directed their "bits" for "rolling into the movies". In the days of tube cameras - showing off flashy jewelry could burn VERY expensive camera tubes - so we were careful. Their jewelry store was fancy but seemed like folks that wanted to show off fancy jewelry shopped there (the big hair and gold chain set).

Do you remember the "siding telethon" movies? We ran them at 8 and 6 on weekends, also in OKC. A company from Little Rock did these all over the Midwest and Southwest. They would buy time on a weekend or a weeknight during Summer rerun season and the station would show a local movie. In all of the breaks were plugs for this siding/door/aluminum replacement window company. Originally they flew in talent - usually Tom (somebody) who was a biggie Little Rock weatherman and a pretty female co-host. And we had a phonebank of operators - usually station staff wanting o.t. Sometimes it was funny when they murdered local name pronounciations! Later - to save money - they just sent "bit" reels with fake phone ops, which we rolled into breaks in movies. Part of life in Tulsey/OKC TV!

The music I liked from Trust House Jewelry sounded like something played in a smoky bar while martinis were drunk (or drunks were martinized). I wonder if they would be able to tell me what that was. Jeff's nomenclature awakened a few more brain cells.

Siding Telethons...kind of like Bill Haynes windows with Billy Parker? Did you ever work with Billy on those?

Popular mispronunciations were Tuh-LEE-qwuh and MUSK-uh-gee.



David Bagsby - 05/18/99 19:44:11
My Email:dcb@utulsa.edu
Location: Tulsa
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Little Luther
Stupidest local commercial: Doug's Boutique

Comments:
Hello Does anyone out there have an Uncola Underground card? Can you scan it and post it to this site? I was able to locate a tape of Mazeppa's 45 "Scope Them Turkeys Out/What's so funny? and will be sending it in soon.

Yes, please send us a copy of the Mazeppa Uncola card. Finally, Scope Them Turkeys Out has been flushed out!



M. Ransom - 05/18/99 18:12:01
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
Mahcoe Van Dyke, hadn't thought of him in awhile!

David Bagsby added re The Wolfman of Lawton:

Indeed, I vividly remember the Wolfman of Lawton. It was all the rage for about a week on the news. A man with a distorted face peering into windows. Some think it was some kook from a nearby army base. The reason I remember this was that at the end of the week, some reporter (KOTV?) was wrapping up the story with one of those "who know where it will end" type of atmosphere's when they panned over to a boarded up store front where someone had spray painted in giant letters "BEWARE OF GIANT FROGS". Wasn't this story around Halloween?

I'm not sure, but thanks for the details, David.



John Hillis - 05/18/99 13:54:47
Location: Way East of S. Frankfort
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Buddy & Leon behind the cameras
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Mahcoe Van Dyke
Stupidest local commercial: "We're TEW Country"

Comments:
About Woody and the King: A bad producer's dream--they were slotted each night for 1:45, but could trim it to 30 seconds or, as they did sooo many times when that hour got real long, run it out to 3 and a half minutes, with just two minutes notice in the break before the King's segment.

One of my favorite Lionel raps came during the debate over the City of Faith hospital permit. It went something like:

"I'm not sure about all of this religion stuff. One time I was up in the Cessna at 5,000 feet, and the motor quit. I tried to get it going again, but the plane kept falling, 4,000 feet, 3,000 feet, 2,000 feet. Finally, it got to 1,000 feet, and I s id, 'God, you take it!' And He crashed the darn thing!"

I've repeated that line for 20 years now to church groups and Sunday School classes. From anybody's else's mouth, the phone lines would have burned up, but out of Lionel, it was a gentle, if pointed, observation.

And if somebody didn't remind you that Lee's brother Morgan Woodward was one of the stars of "Dallas," well, you hadn't been around channel 6 for more than 5 minutes.

That's a great Lionel story!

There are lots of pics at Morgan Woodward's web site:

http://www.morganwoodward.com



David Bagsby - 05/17/99 13:20:38
My Email:dcb@utulsa.edu
Location: Tulsa, America
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Plenty Scary Movie
Favorite Tulsa TV personality: Poor Old Pappy

Comments:
Hello Just to clarify, the first half of the Mazeppa theme is indeed the Coon Sanders Nighthawks but the second half is something else.

I work at the TU library and we have that Nighthawks album here (I wonder if this is the lp Sartain actually used) and the soundclip at the Sanders site is the entire song. By the way, does anyone have the address to Sparky's Graveyard? I've heard legends of this place for years but don't know where it is. Take care.

David added later:

Mazeppa's closer, "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever?" is from 1933 and written by Isham Jones and Chas. Newman.

Thanks for that info, David. The search continues for the actual version used, and the mysterious 2nd half of the opening theme.



Mike Bruchas - 05/16/99 19:32:34
My Email:bruchasm@atlanticvideo.net
Location: Alexandria, VA
Favorite Tulsa TV show: Cartoon Circus - other than slides and music - straight cartoons!
Stupidest local commercial: A lot of 70's KTEW news promos

Comments:
Was reading on "Ma" Barker's page about KTUL and other stations using gov't films to program fill in the day with.

Did any station in Tulsa ever run "The Big Picture"? It was produced by the Army and I can remember it as a wee kid - growing up in Chicago. That it was the first show on WBBM - the CBS O&O at 7am Saturday morning - before any cartoon programming. Sorry - no VD film references!

Though my Dad was an ILL. Nat. Guard guy in the Pacific in WWII - watching "Victory at Sea" repeat showings with it's great footage and music was a must on Sundays - though I am not old enough to remember the first runs. My Dad felt it WAS the way the Pacific looked when he was there. Dick Hollands - a former boss here in DC - ALMOST went to work on the show when fresh out of college and working at NBC. He thought it sounded like it would be a boring 50's documentary and wanted to do exciting entertainment programming instead. He recommended a college chum at NBC for the job instead. I think that friend is still getting residuals from his work on it...Dick went on to other even more boring mgmt jobs at NBC instead on the legal side including being their rep in Argentina or Chile. The South American countries bought dubbed shows from NBC or had NBC on retainer to "recommend" how to do programming...

I don't remember that...maybe when I get those TV schedules, we'll find out!...I take it back, look at the 1965 schedule..."Victors At Sea"!



David Bagsby - 05/16/99 18:52:35
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
I was wondering if any readers here know the source for the second half of the Mazeppa theme? The first is Coon Sanders Nighthawks (as noted on this page) but the second half sounds like it's from the 1930's...either a monster movie or a serial like Buck Rogers. Any help is appreciated.

David, I sent an email to the Coon Sanders page about that, but no response yet. I'll try again. Weird, isn't it? It appears that the 2nd portion was spliced in, but it is in the same key and sounds like it belongs there. Could it be that the Coon Sanders page is only giving us an excerpt of "Alone in the Rain"?

Also, who did the closing theme? I found one site that referenced "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever?" (not the Journey version!), but the author didn't know about it.

Speaking of movie music, have you heard "Monstrous Movie Music", an album of music from 50s sci-fi music performed by orchestra and recorded with modern techniques?



Erick - 05/15/99 18:58:29
My Email:ericktul@webtv.net
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
Was surfing around the site today...came across the Oiler Park page. I was able to see an exhibition game around 1979 with the Drillers and the recently-defunct OKC 89ers. One thing that stood out was that this was an ooooold stadium. I believe it was called Tulsa County Stadium at the time. I remember a couple of years later when some bleachers collapsed during a game possible killing people?? It was shut down for a few years until Driller Stadium could be built. Does anyone else have anymore info on that incident?

Bleachers at the old Oiler Park collapsed in the later 70s, leading to its demolition. Fortunately, no one was hurt seriously.

A nameless "angel" supplied the money to build the new stadium(I believe you are right, that it was "Tulsa County Stadium".) It was renamed to Sutton Stadium when the identity of the angel was learned. Sutton was later found to have acquired the money illegally, tarnishing the angel's halo enough to spur another rename to Driller Park. This story is told in the video "Things Not in Tulsa Anymore" by Jack Frank (see Links page).

Major league great Warren Spahn managed the Oilers 1966-70. A member of the St. Louis Cardinals "Gashouse Gang", Pepper Martin, was a color announcer for the Oilers in the 60s. I have an autographed Sour Dough Biscuit recipe from him that I will be putting on the web site shortly.



Mike Bruchas - 05/15/99 11:19:59

Comments:
Some other talent from KTUL you need to find - longtime salesman/announcer/talent Jim Hill is now a successful stock broker in Tulsa.

Margaret Radford started as receptionist, then assisted Betty Boyd, became a reporter - has been covering the news in San Diego for years at KGTV and I think also KFMB. She's a local girl made good.

Gil Adams and Monte Toon were both artists and I think Art Directors at KTUL. Both still live in Tulsa. They had a lot to do in the design and look of KTUL.

We need more folks from 2 & 6 to drop in and share stories here!



The webmaster - 05/15/99 08:11:21
Location: Tulsa

Comments:
We just finished Guestbook 7 with a bang: Tuffy the Tiger, Uncle Zeb and director Mike Denney signed in! Also talked with Roy Pickett, 40 year KTUL veteran photographer, John Hillis, former KOTV news producer, and the regular TTM gurus Mike Bruchas, Jim Back, Hurst Swiggart and Erick Church.



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