• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Tush Show

J

JeffM

No, this has nothing to do with Miley or J-Lo. Just remembering the low-budget but very funny comedy-variety hour Bill Tush did back in the 80's for Superstation WTBS; simply called "Tush." A lot of talent on that show; Jan Hooks went to SNL, and Bonnie and Terry Turner (no relation to the head honcho, AFAIK) created "3rd Rock."

Some of the regular sketches included "The Adventures of Captain Space" (including a visit to the planet of the anchor men) and the "Tammy Jean Pickett Hour of Inspiration" (Jan H. in high gear as a televangelist.) There were also plenty of spoofs of commercials, newscasts, tabloids, etc. Bill Tush himself was always droll, low-key and amiable; for some reason I always thought he looked like Charley Chase, the old-time movie comic. There was also a guy on the show whose name I can't quite place (possibly Larry Larson?) who did a terrific Kenny Rogers spoof on at least a couple shows.

I assume Warner Bros. owns the shows (if they still exist...) but they'll probably never see daylight on DVD. Each episode usually included a then-current pop music act lip-synching their record, and the music clearance issues might be a big problem. (Of course, they could cut out the numbers and just issue the comic bits; much as Carol Burnett and other variety shows did for syndication...)
 
Dog as Anchorman

Ever catch an episode of his early morning newscast in which he put a hat, shirt, tie and trench coat on a German shepherd, fed it a glob of peanut butter, then read the news off-camera to match the dog's mouth as it worked to get rid of the peanut butter? One of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Supposedly Ted saw it and that how he got the regular show.
 
Last edited:
Mike_Rafone said:
Ever catch an episode of his early morning newscast in which he put a hat, shirt, tie and trench coat on a German shepherd, fed it a glob of peanut butter, then read the news off-camera to match the dog's mouth as it worked to get rid of the peanut butter? One of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Supposedly Ted saw it and that how he got the regular show.
Click to expand...

Missed that one...but did see the one where Bill read the news wearing the head of a gorilla costume!
 
I remember the "Tush!" show, and the late night newscasts he did in the '70s when it was still WTCG. Often he wore a plastic "space cadet" helmet while doing the news. His co-anchor was Tina Seldin, who was previously a reporter at WCTV in Tallahassee.
The story goes that the FCC ordered Ted Turner to carry a newscast of some sort on his superstation. Of course this was before he launched CNN and took news more seriously. So he let Bill have his way with the news...
 
He was awesome. When I first got cable, I watched him all the time. It was cool way back then to see locals of other cities in Chicago.
 
More on Tush and CNN origins

rnigma1 said:
the late night newscasts in the '70s when it was still WTCG.…the FCC ordered Ted Turner to carry a newscast of some sort on his superstation. Of course this was before he launched CNN and took news more seriously. So he let Bill have his way with the news...
Click to expand...

I'd heard that, too. And "late night" tended to floated anywhere from 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM. As I recall, aside from the gimmicks, the content was pretty straight, pretty legit. Tush did like to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out any reference to "maarijuana" he could find in any story.

Also think I've read Ted got the idea of 24-hour news from feedback from his WTCG viewers who worked 2nd and 3rd shifts, saying when they got around to watching TV after work, there were no newscasts available. I think at the time NBC was working on something, CBS was experimenting with "Overnight," and ABC was toying with a partner to launch a cable network. No one thought it truly financially viable, but Ted was willing to take the risk.
 
Well, TCG was the first "superstation" on cable systems, and feedback on it was not "classified" The major networks were always looking for new gimmicks. NBC added TOMORROW then at the other end of the time frame EARLY TODAY. NBC NEWS OVERNIGHT was also a shot at pre-CNN programming style. CBS kept pushing back the start of CBS NEWS MORNING NEWS. ABC didn't have the resources or audience, though they partnered with I think it was Westinghouse with a 24-hour news channel. Then they tried ABC NEWS NOW.

From what I recall reading, none of the networks could fathom how to fill the 24 hours without frequent repeats, so they all eventually backed out of it, even before CNN came along.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom