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Red-letter day today on two counts

B

bpatrick

January 6, 1975: two notable additions
to daytime.

A.M. America debuts on ABC, with Bill
Beutel (better known, perhaps, as anchor
of Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York),
Stephanie Edwards, and news anchor Peter
Jennings. The format gets an overhaul in
November and becomes Good Morning America.

Later that morning, Wheel Of Fortune debuts
on NBC, with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford
as host and hostess/letter-turner. In those
days, contestants had to use their winnings to
buy prizes and there was not, as I recall, a
bonus round. Somebody correct me on that.

Also, that afternoon Another World becomes
the first soap to expand to an hour. Today,
all the soaps except Bold And The Beautiful
are an hour. (Another World has less success
as a 90-minute entry in 1979 and 1980.)
 
> January 6, 1975: two notable additions
> to daytime.
>
> A.M. America debuts on ABC, with Bill
> Beutel (better known, perhaps, as anchor
> of Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York),
> Stephanie Edwards, and news anchor Peter
> Jennings. The format gets an overhaul in
> November and becomes Good Morning America.

I remember when AM America became GMA with former "Lucas Tanner" star David Hartman taking over. What is David Hartman doing these days, anyway. Is he still alive?
<P ID="signature">______________
"I look out for me and mine."-Capt. Malcom "Mal" Reynolds in Serenity</P>
 
> I remember when AM America became GMA with former "Lucas
> Tanner" star David Hartman taking over. What is David
> Hartman doing these days, anyway. Is he still alive?

David Hartman is alive and well and doing a series of "A Walk Through..." series for WNET. The latest one, A Walk Through the Bronx aired a month or two ago.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href=http://blog.spotteddogs.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>
 
Re: WNET's "A Walk Through..." Specials

Aren't WNET-13's "Walk Through....." specials broadcast on that station only during pledge drives??

I have seen a couple of them on WGBH-2/WGBX-44 here in Boston, but WGBH/WGBX did not run them during pledge drives. On WNET, it's probably another matter.
 
B. Patrick asked:

> Later that morning (January 6th, 1975), "Wheel
> Of Fortune" debuts on NBC, with Chuck Woolery
> and Susan Stafford as host and hostess/letter-turner
> (respectively). In those days, contestants had
> to use their winnings to buy prizes and there was
> not, as I recall, a bonus round. Somebody correct me on that.

You're right. "Wheel Of Fortune" at first did not have a bonus round. Whoever won the most at the end of the half-hour would be declared the winner.

I actually prefer the current format (where contestants win cash after each puzzle has been solved), since it allows for more puzzles (including the one in the bonus round) and more opportunities for viewers to guess what the puzzle is, often before the contestants on the show any idea what it is. ;)
 
Re: WNET's "A Walk Through..." Specials

> Aren't WNET-13's "Walk Through....." specials broadcast on
> that station only during pledge drives??
>
> I have seen a couple of them on WGBH-2/WGBX-44 here in
> Boston, but WGBH/WGBX did not run them during pledge drives.
> On WNET, it's probably another matter.

I think I have seen them a few times outside of pledge time (don't quote me on that), but they tend to always be on thirteen during pledge time.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href=http://blog.spotteddogs.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>
 
> January 6, 1975:
>
> A.M. America debuts on ABC, with Bill
> Beutel (better known, perhaps, as anchor
> of Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York),
> Stephanie Edwards, and news anchor Peter
> Jennings. The format gets an overhaul in
> November and becomes Good Morning America.

...the original host ABC chose for this fiasco was Bob Kennedy of WLS-TV in Chicago. "AM America" was originally scheduled to take to the air about six months earlier, but Kennedy was stricken by cancer and died before the debut date. It took ABC a while in stand-by mode before they could convince Beutel to take the job...<P ID="signature">______________
King Daevid MacKenzie
WLSU Wisconsin Public Radio, La Crosse
heard weekly on http://www.radio4all.net/
"Kill Ugly Radio." FRANK ZAPPA</P>
 
As far as I can remember, "A.M. America" was produced by ABC News, but "Good Morning America" was initially produced by ABC's entertainment division (with ABC News only responsible for the every-half-hour news updates during the program).

I'm not sure exactly when responsibility for "GMA" was transferred to ABC News; I suspect it was a couple of years after Roone Arledge took over ABC News.
 
> January 6, 1975: two notable additions
> to daytime.
>
> A.M. America debuts on ABC, with Bill
> Beutel (better known, perhaps, as anchor
> of Channel 7 Eyewitness News in New York),
> Stephanie Edwards, and news anchor Peter
> Jennings. The format gets an overhaul in
> November and becomes Good Morning America.
>
> Later that morning, Wheel Of Fortune debuts
> on NBC, with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford
> as host and hostess/letter-turner. In those
> days, contestants had to use their winnings to
> buy prizes and there was not, as I recall, a
> bonus round. Somebody correct me on that.
>
> Also, that afternoon Another World becomes
> the first soap to expand to an hour. Today,
> all the soaps except Bold And The Beautiful
> are an hour. (Another World has less success
> as a 90-minute entry in 1979 and 1980.)
>

I seem to recall that my middle school had a snow day that day. (I lived in the Phila. area at the time.) I knew about "AM America"'s pending premiere from the promos (identifying Stephanie Edwards as cohostess and Peter Jennings doing the news updates; this was the first time I'd ever heard of Jennings [or Beutel or Edwards]) and maybe "Wheel"'s too. Maybe I watched both debuts that day. :)

My mother (then between marriages) subscribed to the Sunday edition of the now-defunct Philadelphia Bulletin at the time. Its TV magazine for Jan. 5 through 11, 1975 highlighted in the Monday 1/6/05 listings, the premiere of "AM America", identifying IIRC its leading lady as BION "Stephanie Powers" (yep, IIRC they spelled it "Stephanie" not "Stefanie" like the actress). :) An apparent slip by the Bulletin's compositor(s).

Speaking of Mr. Beutel, in the mid-80's he'd substitute for Paul Harvey on his morning and midday news commentaries, signing off, "Good luck and be well." Did he use that signoff on WABC-TV as well?

What is up nowadays with Mr. Beutel and Ms. Edwards?

ixnay
 
> Speaking of Mr. Beutel, in the mid-80's he'd substitute for
> Paul Harvey on his morning and midday news commentaries,
> signing off, "Good luck and be well." Did he use that
> signoff on WABC-TV as well?
>
> What is up nowadays with Mr. Beutel and Ms. Edwards?

Bill Beutel did use the "Good luck and be well" signoff on Eyewitness News until he retired in 2003. I have read that he is suffering from alzheimers disease.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href=http://www.triborough.org/blog/>Random Observations on Life, the Universe and Television</a></P>
 
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