KTWU Sunflower Journeys 1606B - Live Local TV
Produced by Bill Shaffer
Jim O'Donnell - Weatherman/ KAKE-10 Wichita, Kansas: Live television was really interesting because you never knew for sure what was going to happen. We had the Noontime Movie. We had 'Dialing for Dollars' which was where they would...be watching a movie and they would dial up, you know, and sometimes they would lose the name or the person didn't live there anymore. It was sort of embarrassing. 'Oh, here, this lucky person in downtown Wichita is going to do this or do that' and they'd hear ring, ring, ring...(laughs)." Narrator: One program of particular importance to the early days of Live Local Television was the daily morning series, "Romper Room."
Nancy Perry: 'Miss Nancy' / KTSB-27 Topeka, Kansas: Live TV at that time was really very exciting, but now you have to think about the location because KSNT was then KTSB and it was out on Silver Lake road on Highway 24 close to Silver Lake and it really seemed like it was way out in the country. We'd get up very early because we had to be there at 7(am) to go 'live.' You know, all the cameras and everything have to be checked before you go on because on 'live' TV, you know, what's ever there, sometimes we'd only have one camera working, but it went 'live' at 9(am). So we had to get the kids there. Well, I don't know, but most kids, four and five and six-year-olds really don't want to get up and then be all pretty at 7 o'clock in the morning. Nancy Perry: I really would have preferred to always do 'live' programs. It just wasn't economical for us...and to have those parents bring those children out every morning at seven for, you know, a thirty-minute program. That's really why they did it. Jim O'Donnel: One day she was doing 'Miss Romper Room' and calling off the names of the kids with birthdays and so on and it was just a teletype roll and it was extending down to the floor. She's reading off this thing and suddenly one of the guys lights the teletype roll at the other end. So that's it's burning up like this (makes motion with his hands). She actually finished the list (laughs), knowing that that fire was coming her way and then when they went away, she threw it down and stamped it out. She was a little bit angry, but......it was 'live' television and there was nothing else to do with it.
Narrator: "The example that ROMPER ROOM set spread into other shows throughout the day. There were shows for women like the IGA Party Line, Dialing for Dollars and the Afternoon Movie. At 3pm, children's shows took over led by local TV personalities like
Tom Leahy 'Major Astro' KARD-3, Wichita, Kansas: The "Space program" was really gaining ground and Gene Canfield, who was a salesman there, was a very inventive guy, creative guy (and he) said, "why don't we have an astronaut?" Narrator: One of the afternoon mainstays of Wichita television in the 50's and 60's was Henry Harvey. Jim O'Donnell: He would play a character called Freddy Fudd. In case you didn't know this, Freddy Fudd was the nephew of Elmer Fudd. Jim O'Donnell: Some people would say Henry Harvey was Santa Claus and I always used to say 'No. For about two weeks, Santa Claus IS Henry Harvey. And so I think it made it a lot nicer if you think about it that way because people say Santa Claus isn't real. Well, when Henry played Santa Claus, I think in his mind, it was real. Narrator: Live TV changed in the early 1970's and something happened to the line-up of daily commercial television. Jim O'Donnell: We never could figure out why children became unimportant. Slowly but surely, over the last...oh say...forty years, those programs were deleted because the demographics weren't there. The children would be watching and for some reason or other, the people who were counting the beans never thought 'well, if those children are watching, there's probably a real good chance that the mother's in the room watching it with them...' so that they would be selling to the demographic that they were looking for, but they didn't think about that. They just decided that we don't have anything for children so we'll drop that and put in a game show. Narrator: During the days of Live TV, children gained a sense of self-importance through their experiences with characters like Major Astro, the Old Cobbler and especially on a national level, Captain Kangaroo. Even though the shows were corny, there was a sense that children belonged and were an important part of their community. They pointed with pride to their Romper Room diplomas or their club membership cards. Just having their name read over the air gave children a sense of pride and importance. Nancy Perry: A mother called me and said her daughter was turning, I don't know at that time maybe thirty...thirty-five or forty, probably because it's been about ten years ago, and they had had a fire and one of the things that she was so devastated over was her Romper Room certificate got burned up and did I have any extra Romper Room certificates. So I called Baltimore and I got a copy of two or three and they were very nice and let me make copies of them (visual - Romper Room Diploma) and so I was able to send this daughter a Romper Room certificate and her mother framed it for her. And her mom called me back and she said 'Oh, it was just wonderful'. It was the highlight of her birthday that she got her Romper Room certificate which really then made me feel good. Narrator: Public Television picked up the banner and expanded the purpose of Children's Television, but something has still been missing since the days of live local television. Nancy Perry: I think it's kind of sad that we don't have programs like that today...uh...whether it be 'live' or whether it be taped...because the experience that the kids had of actually seeing themselves on TV. All kids like to see themselves on TV. Jim O'Donnell: Kids are a wonderful audience because you get to where they believe you...and they believe in you so if there is a little error, it just goes away, you know.
This transcript is from KTWU's Sunflower Journeys 2003 season. A production of: |
