Local TV Hosts that made guest appearances on Prime Time network shows..

[Tim L]

It was apparently a practice in the 1960's for The Networks to invite local TV show hosts (mostly of the kiddie variety) to make cameo acting appearances on shows aired in Prime Time..There were at least two instances of this in Cleveland..Ernie Anderson of WJW-TV 8 (Ghoulardi) appeared in a Gunsmoke episode in the fall of 1964..Ron Penfound of WEWS-5 (Captain Penny) made a Lawman appearance in January 1962..I imagine there would be others all over the country..

Here is the Ron Penfound appearance..at about 10:16 in the episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ysP_UJIkk&feature=player_embedded

 

[Ultimajock]

...while a local news anchor at WLWA/11 (now WXIA) Atlanta, Tom Snyder made a two-line speaking appearance on the Christmas 1961 episode of The Rifleman. For years he would joke about how, while doing NBC's Tomorrow with Tom Snyder in the '70s, he was suddenly contacted by AFTRA and told he had a residual check coming for that episode. He fantasized that his money would run into the dozens of thousands of dollars, but when it came it only amounted to about $1.37 ;D ...

...Jerry Blavat, the "Geator with the Heator" disc jockey and dance TV show host in Philadelphia, appeared on the 4 March 1968 episode of The Monkees...

 

[Tim L]

Just now reread my original post..The Ron Penfound appearance was on The Rifleman, not Lawman..Really wish they'd let us edit the original post at least more than an hour..

 

[flashback]

in the thread about people on tv who appeared in movies i mentioned a few.

 

[bpatrick]

...while a local news anchor at WLWA/11 (now WXIA) Atlanta, Tom Snyder made a two-line speaking appearance on the Christmas 1961 episode of The Rifleman. For years he would joke about how, while doing NBC's Tomorrow with Tom Snyder in the '70s, he was suddenly contacted by AFTRA and told he had a residual check coming for that episode. He fantasized that his money would run into the dozens of thousands of dollars, but when it came it only amounted to about $1.37 ;D ...

...Jerry Blavat, the "Geator with the Heator" disc jockey and dance TV show host in Philadelphia, appeared on the 4 March 1968 episode of The Monkees...

Reminds me of how Jack Narz used to say that he got an occasional residual check from Warner Brothers for $1.98 for his
narration of the first George Reeves "Superman" episode in 1951.

Aside to Tim Lones: do you think Ernie Anderson was destined for national exposure? After all, he was the ABC promo guy
in the '70s and '80s, and also the announcer on the "America's Funniest" shows with Bob Saget and Dave Coulier.

 

[johnbasalla]

Ernie Anderson ("Ghoulardi") also appeared as a preacher in an episode of ABC's unsuccessful western comedy, "Rango" starring fellow former Northeastern Ohioan Tim Conway. I believe this occurred after he left Cleveland and "Ghoulardi" behind. In the cameo, the setting was the saloon. "Rango" says some insulting things as the "Preacher" walks up behind him. "Rango" turns around, sees who's behind him and says ... "Oh, sorry Preacher"... (cue laugh track). There may be a bit more to this, making it funnier, but this is what I recall.

I always wondered why Conway's home-base ABC affiliate, WEWS-TV 5 in Cleveland, Ohio refused to run his show "Rango" in prime time. They shoveled it to 3:00pm on Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

 

[johnbasalla]

In a related event, a number of kiddie show hosts who showed "The 3 Stooges" two-reel comedies on their shows appeared in the Stooges final big screen, full length feature "The Outlaws Is Coming" (1964).

 

[CrankyYankee]

Rex Trailer and "Pablo"(Dick Kilbride) had a cameo on NBC's 1966-67 western, "The Road West", which starred Barry Sullivan.
Bob Lobel had a cameo once on "Cheers."

 

[Tim L]

Reminds me of how Jack Narz used to say that he got an occasional residual check from Warner Brothers for $1.98 for his
narration of the first George Reeves "Superman" episode in 1951.

Aside to Tim Lones: do you think Ernie Anderson was destined for national exposure? After all, he was the ABC promo guy
in the '70s and '80s, and also the announcer on the "America's Funniest" shows with Bob Saget and Dave Coulier.

Actually, Anderson wanted to be an actor, but could never remember lines..The few skits he did on "Ghoulardi" except for Parma Place, had very little or no dialogue..He eventually figured with his voice, he could sit in a studio, dress casual, and just read off copy-and make lots of money..So the acting kind of fell by the wayside..I suspect he was sort of lucky..Right place-right time..Don't know if it was "destiny"

 

[ajc_trw]

A little on the new side but KTTV's John Beard appeared on Arrested Development as the news anchor of the Fox 6 news.

Even though Fox in Los Angeles (Arrested Development takes place in Newport Beach, CA in the LA market) is 11 and one would expect a TV show to use a fictitious channel number there was a Fox 6 in San Diego (Tijuana).

BTW the Fox 6 logo used in AD is very close to the one used by XETV during their time as a Fox affiliate.

Also, for those who don't know, analog 6 from TJ is often receivable in Newport Beach. Hmmmm.

 

[firepoint525]

The late Dan Miller of WSMV-TV here in Nashville was Pat Sajak's sidekick during Sajak's short-lived talk show on CBS back in the late '80s. They had been friends, going back to when Sajak was also on channel 4 (then known as WSM-TV) back in the '70s.

But Miller never really "made it" in Hollywood, and returned to Nashville a few years later.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Actually, Anderson wanted to be an actor, but could never remember lines..The few skits he did on "Ghoulardi" except for Parma Place, had very little or no dialogue..He eventually figured with his voice, he could sit in a studio, dress casual, and just read off copy-and make lots of money..So the acting kind of fell by the wayside..I suspect he was sort of lucky..Right place-right time..Don't know if it was "destiny"

Didn't Tim Conway help Anderson get some of his first breaks in LA since they had worked together in Cleveland? I know they did some comedy albums together in the 60's, and I think he was the announcer for the later years of the Carol Burnett Show.

 

[oldschooler1]

It was apparently a practice in the 1960's for The Networks to invite local TV show hosts (mostly of the kiddie variety) to make cameo acting appearances on shows aired in Prime Time..There were at least two instances of this in Cleveland..Ernie Anderson of WJW-TV 8 (Ghoulardi) appeared in a Gunsmoke episode in the fall of 1964..Ron Penfound of WEWS-5 (Captain Penny) made a Lawman appearance in January 1962..I imagine there would be others all over the country..

Here is the Ron Penfound appearance..at about 10:16 in the episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ysP_UJIkk&feature=player_embedded

I don't think the networks would have "invited" these people to be guests on the shows -- the programs were independently produced by film companies, and a more likely explanation would be the agents of these personalities getting them such gigs.

 

[Tim L]

It was apparently a practice in the 1960's for The Networks to invite local TV show hosts (mostly of the kiddie variety) to make cameo acting appearances on shows aired in Prime Time..There were at least two instances of this in Cleveland..Ernie Anderson of WJW-TV 8 (Ghoulardi) appeared in a Gunsmoke episode in the fall of 1964..Ron Penfound of WEWS-5 (Captain Penny) made a Lawman appearance in January 1962..I imagine there would be others all over the country..

Here is the Ron Penfound appearance..at about 10:16 in the episode

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ysP_UJIkk&feature=player_embedded

I don't think the networks would have "invited" these people to be guests on the shows -- the programs were independently produced by film companies, and a more likely explanation would be the agents of these personalities getting them such gigs.

While that might be possible in some in some instances, in Ron Penfound's case, it was his only outside acting job (according to Imdb) other than local commercials, and his own duties at his home tv station..There was never any indication he wanted to be an actor per se..Though Ernie Anderson wanted to be an actor, the Gunsmoke episode at the time was played up as a publicity vehicle for CBS and WJW-TV.

 

[wbhist]

Actually, Anderson wanted to be an actor, but could never remember lines..The few skits he did on "Ghoulardi" except for Parma Place, had very little or no dialogue..He eventually figured with his voice, he could sit in a studio, dress casual, and just read off copy-and make lots of money..So the acting kind of fell by the wayside..I suspect he was sort of lucky..Right place-right time..Don't know if it was "destiny"

Didn't Tim Conway help Anderson get some of his first breaks in LA since they had worked together in Cleveland? I know they did some comedy albums together in the 60's, and I think he was the announcer for the later years of the Carol Burnett Show.

Anderson sure was . . . in his first season as the Burnett show's announcer (a capacity he took over after Lyle Waggoner left), he did a few on-camera bit parts (i.e. as Tommy Smothers' doctor in the "Family" sketch where Smothers played Eunice's kid brother Jack). But he also was announcer on the ill-fated 1970 Tim Conway Comedy Hour.

 

[Tim L]

Another note an the Ron Penfound Rifleman appearance:
According to an article in the Elyria, Ohio Chronicle-Telegram of January 8, 1962..Penfound went out to Hollywood at the invitation of Rifleman star Chuck Connors, who had visited Cleveland earler, probably on a network publicity tour..

Also:Tim Conway and Ernie Anderson had been buddies since their days at KYW-TV 3 Cleveland..Conway had been pulling for Anderson to come out to Hollywood for several years..Anderson tired of the "Ghoulardi" role by the fall of 1966, plus WJW executives were giving him less freedom to do the show his way..By November 1966 he was gone..It was probably time..

 

[dave73]

I know news anchor Allison Rosatti & weatherman Brant Miller from WMAQ-TV have done fake news & weather reports for the show ER. While they weren't directly in the show as far as working with the cast, they were on the show. The news & weather was taped at the WMAQ-TV studios in Chicago, then sent to the studios in California to be added to the actual taping of the show.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Ernie Anderson of WJW-TV 8 (Ghoulardi) appeared in a Gunsmoke episode in the fall of 1964..

I remember reading once that he did a Gunsmoke parody on a Ghoulardi episode.

 

[LKellerIII]

A number of the Los Angeles kids-show hosts from the 50s and 60s made appearances on network comedies and dramas. This wasn't really surprising - many of them were actors - it's how they got into the business. One example was Tom Hatten - who dressed as a sailor to host Popeye cartoons on KTLA. You'd also see him in frequent prime-time guest roles.


Hatten was also an entertainiment reporter for many years on KNX News Radio.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/06/tom_hatten_out_at_knx.php

 

[Tim L]

Ernie Anderson of WJW-TV 8 (Ghoulardi) appeared in a Gunsmoke episode in the fall of 1964..

I remember reading once that he did a Gunsmoke parody on a Ghoulardi episode.

Yes..It was called "The Stranger" Anderson wanted to kid the fact that tv westerns were very slow moving. especially in the hour format..The parody was very slow moving..18 minutes of almost no dialogue..Chuck Schodowski, Ghoulardi director/producer, told Ernie it wouldnt work, but Anderson insisted on doing it anyway..