January 28 2009 at 15:58:09 Name: Webmaster Topic: Cemetery in a parking lot
Comments: Featured in
Boing
Boing today:
Tullahassee
Creek Indian Cemetery(link to interment.net info) in Sand Springs
comprises about 1/4 acre of isolated turf in a parking lot.
January 28 2009 at 13:26:18 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: DTV update
Comments: This just in....
House Republicans managed Wednesday to defeat the so-called "DTV delay"
bill—and that means that the planned Feb. 17 date for the digital TV
transition is still on, barring any last-minute maneuvering by Democrats
and the Obama administration.
I'm kinda glad to hear that, because I wrote a sidebar for a coming Tulsa
World article on the topic.
January 28 2009 at 12:47:25 Name: Mike Miller Topic: Mary Lou Wiley
Comments: Got to be the same intimidating director. I didn't realize
it at the time, but Mary Lou Wiley apparently WAS among the very first female
directors in the country.
This
photo from her website is as I remember her.
January 28 2009 at 12:14:55 Name: Mike Miller Topic: More Director Anger
Comments: Does the name Mary Lou Wiley ring a bell? She was a
director at Channel Eight when I was a TU intern on the floor crew around
1957 or so. She used cuss words I had to look up in the dictionary. Mary
Lou was tough as nails on camera operators in general and me in particular.
Looking back, I encountered a lot of supervisors and bosses in TV and politics
with hot tempers. Of course, it's possible it had something to do with my
incompetence at a variety of jobs.
"Ma Barker"
(link to her web site) was a director at KTUL in the early days. Could she
be the person you are talking about? I think so, because I just found on
her Hawaii pix page the name, Mary Lou Barker.
Bob Hardie said in GB 113:
"Mary Lou Wiley...fell on the famous 'circular iron stairs' and broke her
arm one night. I was leaning over her to help her ease the pain when Gene
Lyon leaped over us both heading for the director's podium to switch the
break. Mary Lou was in a hurry to get to the podium for the break when she
fell."
January 28 2009 at 01:04:05 Name: Doodah Bagel Topic: Fantastic Theater Theme Comments: Whirling (known in the US as Sonik Re-Entry)
is now available on
iTunes
for 99¢.
January 27 2009 at 21:58:40 Name: Karen Topic: Outsiders Pictures Comments: We still have not identified the locations
for pictures
#5 and #12. Can anyone help us on these locations? Thanks!
#5 is a distinctive-looking house, #12 is a street scene.
January 27 2009 at 20:27:53 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: "Professor" Bardgett Comments: I call him that because that was his calling
after leaving KOTV.
I enjoyed meeting with him and spent about 4 newscasts with him. He was funny
and knowledgeable.
There should be a KOTV wall of fame and his name should be on it!
Dave Davis I worked with much later and did not initially know the KOTV
connection - he, too, was a great guy
January 27 2009 at 16:09:03 Name:
Jim Ruddle Topic: Bardgett
Comments: Sorry to hear about Ralph Bardgett. He and Dave Davis
were the two directors at KOTV who did just about everything when I worked
there. They were the second generation of Channel 6 directors, following
Rick and Ronnie Oxford, Herb Lightman, and one or two others.
Their task was to make bricks without straw, because there was little expenditure
on sets and such flummery. They were tasked with making everything from cooking
shows, kiddie shows, dance parties, news, Perry Ward grocery spots, and car
commercials for every fender banger in Tulsa County. And it was all live
with no re-takes.
They did it pretty well.
The only calamities I remember were snakes getting loose in the studio from
a Mohawk Park herpetologist's appearance, a girl fainting when the red light
went on for a refrigerator commercial, and the assorted klieg lights that
exploded over the news set.
There was no blood that I recall.
In the rear view mirror, it was a great time.
January 27 2009 at 13:07:29 Name: Jim Reid Topic: Outsiders Comments: I just read the post about
the Outsiders pictures. They brought back a lot of memories. I remember
the ice sculpture from the party they gave for the neighborhood. They had
everything from games to pony rides, and tons of food!
I never went to the Git-N-Go or the out of town locations, but we went to
the house set several times. I really hate that the probably 15-20 hours
of tape we shot was probably thrown away.
January 27 2009 at 12:58:16 Name: Webmaster Topic: Ralph Bardgett Comments:
January 27 2009 at 12:52:55 Name: Jim Reid Topic: Director Anger Part Deux Comments: I just read Mike's post about the use of rough
language when directing. It must be the stress. In all the time I had with
my father, I never heard him cuss. I always admired that and the fact that
he always got his point across. I very rarely use foul language any more.
I have found that when I do, I tend to get people's attention. When I was
directing, my language would have peeled the wallpaper off the wall.
January 27 2009 at 12:08:55 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: Celeb photogs
Comments: Yes - Sammy Davis Jr. was a lifelong photog. He owned
Leicas and Rolleiflex cameras. There are several books out now of his work.
At one point in his career - Frank Sinatra was a big Nikon fan and shot several
big fights for Life.
Jeff Bridges does a lot of movie candids for stuff that he works on with
his WideLux camera.
------
Massad's after the Delman Building - didn't they move way South on Lewis?
Massad's is at 2647 E 15th St, near Oz Outlet at 2627 E 15th St.
Oz ad in free newspaper "Osmosis", Nov. 1972, from the
Honest John's, Starship and Oz TTM page.
January 27 2009 at 12:03:34 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: DTV Switch-over date moved Comments: Congress approved a delay in the switch-over
to DTV to June 12th, 2009 as of today.
I live in a non-cable, non-dish home with an antenna on the roof. I have
2 DTV boxes, but have found that a lot of other folks have not been able
to get them via the US government coupon. The country ran out of funding
for coupons.
Most of my neighbors have the pricey Comcast local service but I hear from
older friends that either they are buying a new TV or thinking of not bothering
with DTV.
Strange world, isn't it.
January 27 2009 at 06:12:29 Name: David Bagsby Topic: Massad's
Comments: Va va va voom you crazy cats...(and chicks). The Candy
Man indeed!
January 27 2009 at 00:54:31 Name: Webmaster Topic: Massad's matchbook
Comments:
An observation to warm up this icy cold Tuesday in Tulsa: future film
star Charlotte Rampling ("Zardoz", "Stardust Memories") was the cover girl
on this vintage Massad's matchbook, as evidenced by the photo on the right
from this European
site, obviously from the same shoot...by
Sammy
Davis, Jr.?! (Vanity Fair link)
A Beryl Ford photo of Massad's was seen in GB
277.
Gary Chew's review of Charlotte's 2003 movie,
"Swimming Pool", was one of his first on TTM.
January 24 2009 at 09:01:49 Name: Mitch Gray Topic: Darrell Huddleston Email: North Of You Comments: I became aquainted with Darrell Huddleston in the
late 70s while working at KMUS in Muskogee. Darrell ran a small ad agency
and frequently stopped in to use our production facilities.(I say facilities...
it was one room.)
Darrell had a great set of pipes. However, every time we aired a spot of
his, when he pronounced the consonant "S" (ESSSS), the transmitter would
trip off! I guess the high frequency hiss was too much for the old Harris.
Other talent at the station during that time were Jim Kissee, Rick Skaggs,
Sam Tyler, and Nick Hampton. Rick Parrish of Madill Ok. owned the place back
then. Hello to any of you guys who may come across this post.
Another unmentioned TV person who was mostly behind the scenes, was a photo
journalist named Gaylord Herron. Gaylord was my step father's brother-in-law.
Gaylord's work was humorous and thought provoking. I believe he has published
a book or two, and operates G.
Oscar Bicycle Shop.
Here's a 1967 Gaylord Herron photo inside Arnie's Bar in
GB 140. There is a nice one of Coney Island
on his web site.
January 23 2009 at 23:44:49 Name: Ricardo Topic: Northland part deux Email: riccolites@yahoo.com Comments: Some of the stores I remember there were: Otasco,
Zale's, a hardware store, I believe there was a Crown Drug Store, the Laundromat,
a Warehouse Market, later became a Piggly Wiggly, or maybe it was the other
way around. I was only 10.
Seems like a furniture store was there in the west end of the mall (outdoor
mall with covered sidewalks).
Froug's was a free-standing structure that was the anchor store for the center.
There very possibly was a restaurant of some kind. It was a pretty happenin'
place.
Santa Claus arrived in a helicopter one year. Thank God Mr. Carlson wasn't
anywhere around, although Marvelous Marv would have been the perfect substitute
for Les Nessman.
Stop me before I remember again!
January 23 2009 at 23:35:38 Name: Ricardo Topic: Northland Email: riccolites@yahoo.com Comments: My dad was the manager of the shoe department at
Froug's Northland Shopping Center when it opened
in the 50s, so I was privileged to get to go to the construction site many
times with him as the stores went up.
The family also used the large, luxuriously appointed (for a laundromat)
laundromat in the center for several years, while we lived on Reservoir Hill,
and it was always a treat to go there.
There was always a lot of traffic in the center, and all the stores there
did a land office business in its early days.
I remember the folks buying sacks and sacks of 5 cent hot dogs at the grocery
store there, and Solly Hemus's Northland Bowl was right across the street
on the easternmost end of the center. It was the site of a Telecast of ABC's
Pro Bowlers' Tour at least once in the late 50s, with the famous commentator
"Whisperin' Joe Wilson" there to the play...er...ball by ball description.
It was quite an event.
The Froug's store sustained heavy damage one night at about 2 am when a tornado
roared through the center, and as I was on my way to film the devastation
in my Orange Volkswagen Squareback News Car, I encountered deep water in
the railroad underpass on North Lewis by the Coke plant, and DROWNED THE
CAR.
The air intake for the engine was on the bottom of the engine, and it sucked
water up into the cylinders. Some unnamed samaritans in a pickup truck gathered
me and my camera equipment up, and they got a treat when they became an
unofficial "News Crew for a Day!" Kind of like Queen for a Day, but nobody
won a refrigerator.
ANYWAYS, the general manager of the Froug's Store was a fella named Tom
Lottinville, a genuinely wonderful guy, and the father of one of my earliest
heart-throbs. Tom went on to become the head of the Chamber of Commerce,
and (I believe) Downtown Tulsa Unlimited.
There is a Tom Lottinville that was quoted in an article in the World about
Digital Cameras recently. Surely it is not the same guy, but it may be his
son.
Ahhhh Northland... I had my very first encounter with a black widow spider
in the construction site of the Froug's store, and there was a farm directly
across 36 St. North, to the south of the center that had a rooster that crowed
almost constantly, no matter what time of day I happened to be around there,
even at night!
But then, in its heyday, Northland was something to crow about!
January 23 2009 at 22:14:24 Name: roy lee Topic: Building smashing Email: royleeshouseatgmail.com Comments: I went back to Sheridan Village today and took a
few more photos. It's about half down and the crane guy was just finishing
for the day.
I had quite a talk with this fellow and he didn't know what the plan for
the property is, but assured me that there was so much asbestos and falling
bricks that it pretty much had to come down.
Theirs is a thankless task, that's for sure.
I asked about the escalator and roof terrace signs and he said he tried to
save them but it was impossible. He told me that if historical societies
just bothered to ask him to save special items, he'd be glad to.
January 23 2009 at 19:42:25 Name:
Gary Chew Topic: Tulsa Broadcaster's Baseball Email: California del Norte Comments: Jerry Adams was also a basketball player with the
KELi Little Greenmen, for which I played pointy-head guard. Jerry was a good
athlete, as I remember and could write a mean B-side song for Paul and Paula.
I never had the opportunity to do any sports-jocking with Mr. Segraves, but
had already scoped Scooter out during our many conversations of great import
over coffee in the TU union---mostly about coeds. That was when both of us
were underclassmen and had yet to perpetrate our 'talents' upon the good
people of Green Country.
The rest, of course, is hysteria.
P.S. When I looked at the photo of the baseball team just provided here on
this blog, I thought, for a moment, that the young Hal O'Halloran was another
historic figure of Tulsa broadcasting and the ad world: Mr. Darrell Huddleston
who hailed from Muskogee, OK, USA.
Delmeaux de Gillette du Coffeyville
January 23 2009 at 14:47:47 Name: Webmaster Topic: The "Outhouse" Gang Comments:
Lee Woodward made a couple of corrections to the captions that were included
with this
1962
Radio-TV baseball team photo in the Photo/video briefcase. He also sent
a better quality version of the same picture, which immediately follows it
in the webmaster's Flickr Misc TV/radio set.
Jerry Adams of later OKC fame is in the photo; the goofball with his glasses
upside down is Scooter Segraves, not Mike Miller.
January 23 2009 at 12:22:38 Name: Webmaster Topic: New "Outsiders" photos
Comments:
Karen of The Official Outsiders
Book and Movie site sent a link to some recently unearthed Tulsa photos
from behind the scenes of "The Outsiders" filming:
"We have been able to identify a few of the locations, but some I am just
not sure of. We do not know who owns the pics."
Write in if you can identify the locations for any of these pix. A couple
of them will be apparent from "The Outsiders" pages
here on TTM.
(Added 1/25/2009) James says:
"I received a call from an Outsiders crew person in LA who was able to identify
some of the TMZ photos. I did post a
detailed
description of this ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE if anyone is interested.
The link should take them directly there."
James told us in GB 275 that he is making
a documentary on "The Outsiders", focusing on Tulsa.
January 22 2009 at 21:15:03 Name: Rick M Topic: Robots Comments: Knowing our webmaster has a fondness for robots
I felt it worth mentioning Bob May passed this week.
Obituary: Bob May / 'Lost in Space' robot actor
Died Jan. 18, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Associated Press
Bob May, who donned The Robot's suit in the hit 1960s television show "Lost
in Space," has died. He was 69.
January 22 2009 at 20:22:36 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: TV Director anger
Comments: I think Jim Reid learned it from me and others at 8.
Not all folks directing blew up; many simmered till off the air. Jim Reid
is and was an all time good guy.
My mouth became far more "foul mouthed" when I was a Director.
We were expected to command a crew and deal with folks with big egos (not
necessarily the anchors 75% of the time!) and others who truly did not understand
that LIVE TV is a house of cards that crashes quickly on air.
More later...
January 22 2009 at 13:51:35 Name: Steve Bagsby Topic: Sheridan Village Update Comments: Well, the place has been stripped down to its
exoskeleton. Humpty Dumpty and TG&Y are gone, and there's about 10 feet
left of the traffic ramp on the West side.
I hate to see it go, but the rot that has set in on this part of town makes
me think a lot more properties should meet the same fate.
You almost would expect to see the Ship's Band from the Titanic, standing
over the Med-X playing "Nearer My God To Thee".
Previous comments, photos and links can be found in
GB 84, GB
277, and GB 278.
Added 1/23-24: Extra photos of the demolition by Roy Lee in the webmaster's
Flickr in the TTM photo/video briefcase.
Joe's Bar is buying this round. To the memory of Sheridan Village.
Courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa, Tulsa
City-County Library and Tulsa Historical Society
January 22 2009 at 02:11:34 Name: Jim Reid Topic: Throwing Things
Comments: I was just reading Blake Etter's
account of his days at KGCT 41. He refers to me as someone who used to
throw things when they were mad. I can't deny it.
I remember one night at KTUL switching a break in the late Friday movie on
the Grass Valley 1600 switcher. I tried something fancy by cropping the top
of the bump slide and putting in the name of the movie with the CG.
When the break came, I totally screwed it up and it really looked horrible.
I closed my headset and in taking it off, I threw it across the room, screaming
a few choice obscenities.
I turned around and looked at the door. Standing there was Chris Lincoln,
and a family (husband, wife, two little kids) he was giving a tour to. Chris
had a great line. "This is obviously the control room".
Very embarrassing. I've stopped throwing things.
January 21 2009 at 19:01:22 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: KOTV camera memories
Comments: Was talking on-line with a friend about older Arriflex
16mm film cameras.
I think I used a Arriflex 16S with turret lens once or twice when at KOTV
in Tulsa in 76-77. It was part of the Production Dept.
See my previous posting about getting a new battery for it that was mis-wired
and went kaputt.
I got a Hitachi single tube camera later while News had Sonys and maybe another
Hitachi for Sports.
The Arri was stolen later and that was a weird deal. No one seemed to get
excited that it was gone from a secured area.
The place had been going all video with Sony 1 tube cameras for a year or
2 before I got there. KTEW had a Sony and 2 Ikegamis. 8 later bought the
RCA TK76s for Production then News.
As noted, KOTV had experimented with Super 8 Sound film for news. I think
it was the Minolta Wilcam system. They had stopped before I came to work
there.
I heard later that someone had stolen the Super 8 cameras then stole the
projector that was on the film chain. Nobody seemed to care.
Never have I been on a job where more was stolen and NOTHING ever done about
it...wondered if any it had been insured and the money "routed
elsewhere".
January 21 2009 at 17:39:55 Name:
Gary Chew Topic: Bad Movie Email: California del Norte Comments: Just noticed an item online about bad movies for
2008. I'm happy to say I nailed one of them. "88 Minutes," with Al Pacino,
is on the latest Razzies list along with, what will likely get the nod for
the worst of year, "Love Guru" with Mike Myers. Can cinematic efforts on
the part of the lovely and talented Paris Hilton be far behind?
I explain in the "88 Minutes" review on this web
site why I saw the film last spring and wrote about it, even though the title
for all of them archived here at TTM has to do with something about talking
about movies worth talking about.
And that's about it.
Del
January 21 2009 at 10:57:26 Name: Webmaster Topic: Northland Shopping Center
Comments:
The mention of Northland reminded
me of a memory fragment.
All I recall is that some not-close relative of ours lived fairly close
to Northland, and that there was a large body of water (seemed like a river)
adjoining their land. They had a tire swing set up so that you could go way
out over the water. That wowed me.
Is there such a place near Northland?
(Added 1/22/2009) Erick replied:
"Flat Rock Creek runs east-west north of Northland, around 40th Street North
or so."
That must be right. Here's a
Google
satellite shot of Northland. The creek has been excavated to make it
flood-safe. It was full at the time I saw it in the 1960s, maybe near North
Frankfort Avenue or Place.
January 20 2009 at 14:48:52 Name: Charlie Topic: "Marvelous" Marvin McCullough Email:
charlie_tooley@wellsfargois.com Comments: It seems to me that in the late 40s or early 1950s
before the KRMG stint, that my dad used to listen to his early morning radio
show on KGGF out of Coffeyville, KS while we lived in Tulsa.
Somewhere my dad met Marvin and thought he was a riot and began listening
to him on that station. He was elated when he moved to KRMG!
Since I was just a small child, I do seem to remember him laughing when he
was shaving and eating breakfast in the early mornings. And... I believe
everything that was said about Marvin by others.
January 17 2009 at 19:17:09 Name: Darrell Topic: Marvin McCullough Comments: Any one have info on the late DJ Marvin McCullough?
All I know is he worked at (KFSA) Fort Smith and (KRMG) Tulsa in the 40s
-50s.
Noel Confer said he did comedy on Marvin's 1950s Channel 2 show, "The
T-town Jubilee". Larry Strain also said he thought Marvin ended up in Ft.
Smith. That's about all we have so far, besides this photo. Any help out
there?
"I remember the nutty, crazy antics when Marvin McCullough ... Marvelous
Marv ... scared me to death with his ad libs. We worked a shopping center
opening together in a remote telecast from
Northland Shopping Center back in the
'50's, and I tell you folks, I was never sure where Marvin was going with
his conversation or what he might trap me into saying. If Ann Williams thinks
she gets in a crack occasionally with our current Mountain Man
(John Erling) ... she should have known Marvin!
Don't really know what happened to Marvin after he left the hallowed halls
of the old KRMG studios in the Akdar Shrine
Building here in Tulsa at 4th and Denver: the Akdar was demolished ...
but I have an idea Marv is still somewhere making the folks laugh, or gasp!"
Marvin McCullough, courtesy of Scott Evans
January 16 2009 at 20:17:55 Name:
Jim Ruddle Topic: Montalban Comments: Paraphrasing Mark Antony, the crap that actors
do for survival lives after them; their good works are oft interred with
their bones, e.g. Ricardo Montalban.
His obits slobber over "Fantasy Island" and Esther Williams' swimsuit vacuums,
and very few mention that he risked his career trying to elevate the status
of Hispanic actors in Hollywood films. This has nothing to do with illegal
immigration or the decline of the American economy. He was a guy who saw
that educated, talented people he knew were treated as though they were
retardates by Hollywood. He founded Nosotros is an effort to correct the
situation.
Not a great actor. He was a decent man.
"The New Yorker" movie critic Pauline Kael on Ricardo Montalban:
Montalban, who was born in Mexico in 1920, is one of those potentially major
actors who never got the roles that might have made them movie stars. He
appeared to have everything else--a marvelous camera face, the physique of
a trained dancer, talent, a fine voice (he could even sing), warmth, and
great charm. Maybe the charm was a drawback--it may have made him seem too
likable, a lightweight... It may be that Khan in "Space Seed" (original
"Star Trek" episode) was the best role he had ever got, and that the
continuation of the role in "The Wrath of Khan" is the only validation he
has ever had of his power to command the big screen.
Montalban is unquestionably a star in "The Wrath of Khan" (and his grand
manner seems to send a little electric charge through Shatner)... Montalban's
performance doesn't show a trace of "Fantasy Island". It's all panache...
You know how you want to laugh at the flourishes that punctuate the end of
a flamenco dance and they won't let you? Montalban does.
(Added 1/18/2009) Last night, we watched the
MST3K
take on the 1961 German production of "Hamlet". Ricardo Montalban
unmistakably dubbed the English voice of Claudius, one of the better things
about this version. John Banner (Sgt. Schultz of "Hogan's Heroes") was Polonius'
English voice. Neither was credited.
January 16 2009 at 17:51:37 Name: JB Topic: McGoohan Comments: One can only hope that Patrick McGoohan went
to that great abandoned amusement park in the sky.
Coming attraction: Lakeview Amusement Park near Lake Yahola, courtesy
of Bryan Crain.
January 16 2009 at 17:33:14 Name: David Bagsby Topic: Ricardo Montalban Comments: Folks at work wondered if his casket will be
lined with fine Corinthian leather.
January 15 2009 at 23:11:59 Name: Mike Bruchas Topic: Ricardo Montalban Comments: Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who
became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr.
Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at his home, his
family said. He was 88.
His son or sons worked in Tulsa TV in the 80s.
(Vic
Montalban)
Is Tulsan and former broadcaster, Christopher
Lewis, also a step-son or nephew?
(Loretta Young was his mother, and her half-sister was married to Ricardo
Montalban. Christopher's brother Peter was in the San Francisco band Moby
Grape.)
With señor Montalban and Patrick McGoohan passing, both TV icons,
one always wonders whom might be next.
January 15 2009 at 21:40:29 Name: Webmaster Topic: Previous GroupBlog link / BCNU #6
Comments:
Archived GroupBlog 279, where we just heard
about a new OETA Stateline program on the history of TV stations in
Oklahoma.
I'm sad to report that Patrick McGoohan, star of "Secret Agent" and creator
of "The Prisoner", passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80. All 17 episodes
of "The Prisoner" series are online for the watching at
AMC,
where they are soon rolling out a new version.
I'm sorry the late Edwin Fincher couldn't be
here to see it. I know that he, too, was a big fan of the show. I paid tribute
to "The Prisoner" on the InFAQ page.
Jim Ruddle
Gary Chew
