11 December 2007

[media] Channel Surfing: That Was the WEWS That Was

1181. WEWS is on of the old-line stations in Cleveland–it's been around forever, like the old guard hereabouts. And like local stations here, they have to market. In the 70's, for example, they wanted you to tune into Eyewitness news and Catch 5...



(thanks to Kevin Allman for the tip). This is such an amazing period piece–even though a lot of us lived through those times, I'm sure you can agree with me that we can't believe that that stuff was ever fashionable. Kevin describes it as a combination of The Electric Company and Peter Max and I can't think of a better way to describe it. I do, however, have a compulsion to seek out episodes of Mary Tyler Moore now.

They sure knew how to have fun at WEWS. In this clip, the weatherman (with the obvious complicity of the control room staff) make fun of the sports anchor's hair:



And in this one, legendary Cleveland broadcaster Dorothy Fuldheim isn't sure what she is, but she's certain it isn't bisexual:



Occasionally bloopers happened on Portland TV, but I don't remember anyone in Stumptown having this much fun with it.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

I find it interesting how it seems when women were first allowed on they were a bit older and probably part of the 'old guard' of journalists that came from the print or radio world - today all you get is young and pretty; but then the consultants tell people a certain way to dress and act on screen - all for the better 'product.'

It's strange, I wish I grew up in a time when a medium was still in an experimental stage. (the closest I have is the Internet)

Samuel John Klein said...

Well, Dorothy was apparently to the Cleveland market what Richard Ross and Rick Meyes (old KATU and KGW hands respectively) were–just people who were in broadcasting from the start and stayed with it, who were honored for their longevity and quirky personalities.

Yeah, it was a different world back then. I'm still in the marketers target demographic (hardly even near the end of it) but I remember when TV was as much about your brains as it was your looks, warmth, or charm.

I remember the early days of the Intermets too–strangely, all I ever remember about it was Canter & Siegel (Google that if you dare)