Right after Robert Sutton was convicted of his oil scheme, and after Driller Stadium had been re-named "Sutton Stadium", it was announced, "...and tonight the Drillers play Midland at FELONY STADIUM." Laugh? I thought I'd die!

Another time, right after making the announcement that there was a wreck with injury at the corner of 21st and Yale, I heard the intro, "Next up, from 1964, we have Jan & Dean and 'Deadman's Curve'!"

Ahhh...memories!

The first new (then) high end color minicam was at WKY/KTVY - a Fernseh from Germany in its own van - KAKE had a bulky RCA TKP camera in a truck up there in Wichita - to both being LIVE was important but both were known as GOOD film shooting stations.

BTW KOTV still had Henry Lile and others go to Charlie Willsey's on 11th to soup film - Willsey had salvaged older gear and made money souping game films from high schools throughout OK. The KOTV processor was initially left to rot - left with chemicals inside at 6 and I remember John Bateman being mad at the waste of a good processor. I think it became a gear room after the processor was moved out.

KOTV had 3 or 4 cuts only Sony edit stations - all gear bought from Logan Wait at 3rd & Peoria, I think. Plus an early Convergence dual joystick editor which burnt out motors on Sony 2850 and 2850a decks till Sony started making heavier duty motors.

Jim Reid replied via email:

All I can tell you is what I always heard. Corinthian, the company that owned KOTV, used to make huge sweeping changes all at once. When they made the switch, it was immediate. On Sunday they were all film, and on Monday all tape. I'm sure the bean counters realized the cost savings of tape with no processing, quicker editing and reusable stock. The one problem was that the quality of the early minicams were awful and it showed on the air. I can remember many tape breakups and the cameras had a horrible lag problem.

At Channel 8, I'm sure Jim Leake wasn't looking forward to shelling out for all that new equipment. I remember when we got out first minicam. It was an RCA TK-76 and didn't go to news, but production. It was used for commercial production and sports remotes. The first time I remember it being used for news was when a building exploded downtown. I think it was an old bar across the street from TJC. The news folks were amazed at how fast they had gotten footage on the air. They were positively giddy. For several years, I remember photogs bringing me film to transfer to 3/4 tape so they could edit on the tape editor.

The drop in quality on KOTV might not have been what caused it, but it was about the same time that KTUL passed them to become #1. It's always been my belief that a #2 station cannot overtake a #1 without the better station doing something self destructive.

Jack was the point man in the fledgling attempt of the KAKC announcers to form a union. Jack said that when he contacted the union (probably AFRA, but it could have been IBEW, the union for the engineers) headquarters in Kansas City, he was told that they wouldn't make a move into Tulsa unless we first could organize all the announcers in Tulsa beforehand.

End of union.

Jack did have one problem, however. To be honest, he had a terrible voice and little on-air talent, qualities that seemingly are not a requirement for employment today.

I was very glad when he decided to get into the "engineering" aspect of the business. From what I ascertain from the obit, he became very successful. That is good to hear. Such a nice man deserved success in his chosen field.

It is a little quiet, isn't it?

He had been on the air doing morning drive until a couple of years ago, and his commercials for a local restaurant he dubbed "the land of the golden hot popover" were still running this year. The Washington Post obit is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16699-2003Nov26.html.

See notes from Lowell Burch and David Bagsby just above. I don't think Starship is online yet.

This might be a good time to remind readers about this site's Gift Shop. If you are planning to do some Christmas shopping on Amazon.com (a good idea), start from any link on those pages, and the webmaster will benefit modestly at no cost to you.

Another possible starting place is this new list of Amazon.com items that have appeared in previous Guestbooks or other pages of the site.

KVOO in the Big Country Days would have put a commercial or promotion of personal appearances in front of the Bagsby Bros. "Talahina Hula"--a nifty piece of steel git work that makes me smile every time I play the (legally downloaded) mp3. Can't wait for the "abum" to be released.

KVOO Big Country jingle courtesy of Wayne McCombs and Joe Riddle.

Can you imagine tryin' to do reviews of some THAT stuff today???

I met Jack Moore several times way back when Wayne McCombs was working weekends and Demi Rosenthal was in News there at KVOO in the country days. Jack was a great guy to talk with and very unpretentous. Sorry to hear of his passing.....

Happy Thanksgiving to all the great people who are a part of this wonderful site. Peace and happiness to all. Please pray for our troops overseas, the next few weeks are tough times for those men and women, support them any way you can.

Thanks to the webmaster for bringing a little bit of home to us T-towners who have moved away from the greatest coney island paradise in the world.

Alex

I just wonder why he has started wearing the white pollen mask in public all of the time now? Or is that someone else?

On your 8's The Place page with the picture from the Stilwell Strawberry Festival--I was one of the Cub Scouts behind that Stanley Steamer, though I'm not in the picture. Since I was only four years old in 1976, I have to guess that the picture was taken closer to 1980 or 1981, possibly 1982 at the latest. Pretty sure it was the year that the Strawberry Festival was broadcast on KOKI, so it was probably '81 or '82.

I was such a devoted viewer of the Plenty Scary Movie, even though I was just a kid and usually fell asleep about halfway through. I remember the opening mentioned on your page, but I also recall one with a heartbeat sound and a close-up of an eye slowly opening. This was quite a while later, again, probably late 70s-early 80s. And I do remember them trying to resurrect it in the early 90s, but it was on at weird times, like one or two AM during the week and didn't seem to have a steady timeslot. They played much newer movies too. I only recall seeing it a couple of times.

As far as things being pre-empted, I remember one night when KOTV pre-empted Entertainment Tonight. I think Clayton Vaughn made some announcement beforehand about the content in that night's program being inappropriate or something like that...I think they were showing swimsuits or something. The trouble is, that same night, "48 Hours" was about the porn industry and it was probably a lot more inappropriate than some skimpy swimsuits on ET, and yet they broadcast that! This was sometime in the early to mid-90s, I think.

I grew up in Stilwell and lived in Tulsa for the last few years--I've recently left Oklahoma for CA but your page brings back a lot of memories, but also envy that I wasn't around for the great stuff that happened before my time! Thanks...

You're welcome, Joel. I added your comments to the two pages you mention.

Jack Moore--The same one who used to work at the record store? He also did some DJ stints at KAKC, during the Coliseum era, and I remember him fussing and fretting trying to set up remotes. It wasn't easy, then.

Jack later joined us in news... we had quite a crew. We had one of the largest radio news staffs in Oklahoma history.

Jack gave a bunch to not only KVOO but certainly to the Tulsa Press Club and the Gridiron (his whole family has). Goodbye Jack Moore. Alan Lambert KRSC-FM and KBEZ-FM

During a couple of long rain delays, I got a chance to get to know him over a couple of drinks in the "Foul Ball Club," before A. Ray Smith located us. He was quite a guy.

I also noted in the World obit column the passing of Jack Moore who worked for years at KVOO Radio. I'm sure someone out there remembers Jack.

Gobble day is fast approaching. If you're like me, the day will consist of food, football, beer, and food. Probably some food, too. Happy Thanksgiving!

And if you are traveling, have fun and drive carefully.

Wayne McCombs sent it in, and Joe Riddle of KRMG probably had a hand in it, too.

By the way, I think the melody is from an existing song. Does anyone recognize the tune?

My first baseball glove was a Spaulding Warren Spahn autograph model. He did coach (and pitch a little) here in Tulsa. A fine gentleman and well-deserved Hall of Famer.

I was doing telephone work at the Channel 8 studio when Bob Gregory came on the innercom announcing to the employees that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. I went with the employees to the lobby where the TV was tuned to Channel 8, which was still doing regular progaming. It seemed that we stood there and hour but was probably only a minute, one of the employees changed the TV to Channel 6. where Walter Cronkite was broadcasting the latest news. I can not remember if the set was ever changed back to Channel 8 as long as I stood there.

Danny, there is a bit on the John Chick & company page, but try this site's Search Engine with "Creekmore"; your dad has been mentioned numerous times.

It is a truly good show and labor of love - try to catch in repeats this weekend. To several of us young dinosaurs at work - 40 years later - it still can bring tears to us watching those snippets of a sad, sad time. Just seeing again Walter Cronkite whip off his glasses and note the time when he annouced JFK's death is an image forever burned in my brain. We at school then had no idea what was on broadcast TV and the first that I saw that image was later that night - when at home.

CNN and the Newseum (in DC) has a new book on remembering 11-22-63 by the reporters and cameramen. Right now it is only available at www.newseum.org but bet TTM's partner - Amazon.com probably will shortly pick it up. This CNN show seems to be a collaboration with the Newseum.

I can remember the shock I felt over hearing of Kennedy's assasination, but it was my parents who really felt horrified. I was feeling shocked and confused, because I didn't really have a clear concept of what was happening.

The JFK funeral marked a new beginning for the life and security of television as a world-wide media phenomenon. Never before in history had one event been so thoroughly televised for such a length of time. And the history of America began to take a twisted, evil and somewhat bent turn as well, as LBJ began his rule. There is a very interesting documentary series "airing" on the History Channel entitled "The Men Who Killed Kennedy".

To JFK: Rest in peace....

I was married to my first wife in 1963. She was at home watching "As The World Turns" on CBS. She saw the first bulletin.

She immediately called KELi News Director, Forrest Brokaw and told him what she had just heard. Forrest, appropriately waited for the AP Flash that came all too soon.

I walked into what might be called the record library and announcer's hanging-out area and wept harder than I had ever wept before.

But it feels good, today, to say, that when I became of legal age to cast my first vote for a president, it was for John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

For readers of this fine web site who can't recall November 22, 1963, I would just say that all the stuff you've heard through the years about how Kennedy inspired people to do good work for their country and their fellow citizens is something about JFK where there is no doubt. It's true: he really did make hope abundant and that's what magnified the tragedy of his death.

The inspiration he gave me is still very much alive in my heart and mind on this November 22, 2003. It is a very young feeling!

We left school at 3pm for orchestra practice not knowing what was next.

Most of my family and my Dad's parents were still alive then. No one knew if the country would shut down (a bit like after FDR's death - my folks remembered).

My family was remodeling the house at that time and as we tore up linoleum that Sunday morning - we saw Lee Harvey Oswald on TV getting shot LIVE. Sunday night we had to go somewhere and heard that the folks in WV were thinking of changing the name of their state to honor JFK. We kids were giggling over the name change as silly - like "..what about Wheeling, Kennedy?" and other silly address options. Juvenile black humor I guess...

We continued to be in a stupor and I recall school did not open again till Wednesaday but my dad, granddad and aunt all had to work that Monday. So much for the country following any national mourning plans. I do think most had Tuesday off.

We - my mom, brother and I - had gone in to Chicago to be with grandma and watch funeral coverage that Monday. New at the time was frozen pizza available at the grocer's - long before microiwaves, you baked it in the oven and we treated grandma to that so that she did not have to cook. Her English was never that great - so the TV coverage did not capture her total attention. She knew that the President was dead but having been in the US since 1910 - it was just another American tragedy to her. My brother and I were hypnotized by all on TV.

I think we felt more and could talk about it more 1 year, 5 years and 10 years after JFK's death as we began to understand it all.

I still have a copy of the Warren Commission Report at home somewhere. Have not skimmed through it in years though...may try to dig it out.

I remember a loud mass of mad folks reading the article and we felt that the reporter was not only unknowing of TV but a very pissed-off jerk trying to be controversial. To us in Tulsa - the second article was nothing. I finally found that second mag at home but it does not have all the pictures that the "can cover" issue had. A lot of us felt they treated Susan Silver too harshly and wondered if it paved the way in the late Jimmy Leake's little mind - of thinking of taking Susan off air. I think a lot of TV folks in both markets "would have loved to have spent some quality time thumpin' on the author" had he ever appeared again in Tulsey or OKC. Can't remember what else he ever wrote in OM magazine...

I have been in Dallas for close to 20 years now, working at what used to be KRLD, the CBS affilitate. When I first started here, there were quite a few of the old-timers still around who were glad to share their stories of that time.

Mike Miller and Jim Hartz told what they did in Tulsa on Nov. 22, 1963 at the top of Guestbook 143. Mike was a reporter for KELi, and Jim was KOTV's News Director at that time.