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WFAA's Sump'n Else

S

stevezodiac

I was one of those nerds (might still be) in the mid 1960's that watched Sump'n Else being broadcast from NorthPark Center. I didn't watch from the big window of the studio.....I watched into the control room window. Although I do have to say that I did have a crush on one of the dancers.....Andrea...oh well.

I'm wondering if anyone has footage from the show at that time? And, what were the two theme songs used during the years? There are a couple of YouTube videos, but they are from the 25th anniversary show they did from the Galleria.
 
Seems like there's very little footage out there of the show. Apparently some of the groups requested copies of their performances from Channel 8 (Southwest FOB, for example...RIP "England" Dan Seals) and that may be why some of those clips exist. But, as I'm sure you know, the cost of videotape was so exhorbitant back then that many shows (not just local, but network too) were simply recorded over to save money. Now if anyone knows the existence of what all is out there, it'd be Bud Buschardt. Jim Rowley and Bob Cardenas are still around as well, and both were integral figures with the show, and they might could help, too. I don't have contact info offhand for any of them, but I'll tell you that Bud and company have put together a book that's soon to be published of the history of "Sump'n Else." They've worked on it for many years, and finally found a publisher that has faith in the project. Bud could help on the theme songs as well. It'd be great if they would do a DVD release to coincide with the book's release, or include one with the book.

Bud has the master of the 25th anniversary show, and hopefully he'll release it at some point. He's had someone working on grafting in a complete closing credits to it (as those were missing from his tape) but that's been a years-long project. When it was aired on 9/7/85, I was "between jobs" and low on blank Beta tapes, so I only have bits and pieces of the show I recorded at the tail-end of tapes I'd already used! (And, stupid me, I should have just gone to the damn thing at the Galleria.) And I can tell you Chapman has not been responsive to doing another anniversary show...I've suggested it more than once, but it's probably a moot point as we approach the 50-year anniversary in the not-so-distant future. (Would probably have to offer unlimited chiropractic services to entice the "Little Group" to come back and dance again!) Of the original "Little Group," just read that Joanie Prather's dad died a few months ago. She was mentioned to be living in Malibu, CA (IIRC,) so she's probably happily retired these days.

Bud's come on twice with us on "The Hi-Fi Club" and talked about those days in detail. His favorite story was of the soda pop-drinking bear cub that appeared on the show for a time...After Ron had played a prank on the production crew, the crew decided to load up the little cub with lots of Coca-Cola, knowing that his next appearance would be atop Chapman's shoulder right after a commercial break. Sure enough, when the cameras all came back on, the cub 'does his business' all over Chapman's sportcoat!!

Ah, the days of live TV!!
 
Thanks for that great info, I'll be looking forward to that book. I hope it has LOTS of photos! Do you offer Hi-Fi club encore presentations on CD?
 
I meant to say, 20TH anniversary. 9/7/65 to 9/7/85. (Strangely enough, the timing worked out perfectly to celebrate exactly 20 years to the date later!)

Sure, I can dub those couple of shows for you. Email me at [email protected] and give me an address to send them to. I don't think I've dubbed either show from cassette into .mp3 (we were still live then, and I taped the shows straight off the air with my jambox) so it won't be anytime REAL soon that I can get to this, but I will eventually!)

Also, Buschardt said recently that someone now has the "57 Nostalgia Place" website up and running again. I haven't been to it yet, but it's at www.57nostalgiaplace.com.
 
I too am looking for anything Sump'n Else related. If anyone knows where there are any videos on the web I would greatly appreciate it.

Mike, I can get in touch with Jim Rowley (my father) so if anyone wishes to contact him I can pass the info along. My email is public info here or you can reply to this post.
 
I just read another post stating that M. Shapiro erased most if not all the tapes after the show went off the air. Dont know how true this is but I'm still digging.
 
For the first year or so of the program, WFAA had no control room at the Northpark studios. Instead, they had a mobile unit parked outside on the curb next to the mall. Eventually, they installed a full production facility with Marconi color cameras, but that is another story. I'm referring to the early black & white version of the show.

I believe I currently own that mobile unit. It's a 1949 Flxible bus that was built by DuMont laboratories and delivered new to Channel 8, which was called “KBTV” at the time. It became WFAA-TV about a year later.

Known around town as "The Golden Telecruiser," in the 1960’s, it had three black and white Marconi cameras on board. I'm relatively sure it was at Northpark in 1966 and at least part of 1967. I'd love to find some pictures to verify (or deny) that.

The Telecruiser is a BIG restoration project. It is going slowly, but making progress. It is an important part of Dallas TV history, and something I plan to bring back to actually working. Find out more at www.telecruiser.com.

Incidentally, my old company, Crossroads Audio, did the sound for the Sumpin' Else reunion at The Galleria. I personally ran house sound. I think I may have set my old Betamax to record the show. I have no idea if I still have the tape, and if I do, I wonder if it will play. At least, I still have a Sony Betamax, but I haven’t powered it up in years. In any case, it was a fun evening that I'll always remember.

Chuck
 
Chuck said:
For the first year or so of the program, WFAA had no control room at the Northpark studios. Instead, they had a mobile unit parked outside on the curb next to the mall. Eventually, they installed a full production facility with Marconi color cameras, but that is another story. I'm referring to the early black & white version of the show.
Click to expand...

Without trying to sound even more nerdish (or Trekie), the color cameras were actually RCA TK-42's. The b&w cameras were Marconi Mark IV's. I didn't know they didn't have a control room at first.

BTW Chuck, I sent you some very low rez photos of the cruiser a few years ago, that I took off a VHS tape of a Ch 8 anniversary.
 
I'm pretty sure I have that Sump'n Else reunion recorded on S-VHS. It was well after I bought a Panasonic Industrial S-VHS machine and everything I recorded after 1988 was S-VHS on Fuji Pro S-VHS tape. So I will have to take a look. Finding it will be the problem.
 
stevezodiac said:
Without trying to sound even more nerdish (or Trekie), the color cameras were actually RCA TK-42's. The b&w cameras were Marconi Mark IV's. I didn't know they didn't have a control room at first.

BTW Chuck, I sent you some very low rez photos of the cruiser a few years ago, that I took off a VHS tape of a Ch 8 anniversary.
Click to expand...

I think you'll find the images you sent on the www.telecruiser.com web site. Thanks for sending them!

Are you sure about the cameras? The B&W's were undoubtedly Marconi MK-IV's. I have one of them. That’s what was last used on the Telecruiser. But I thought I remembered they purchased more Marconi Color cameras to replace them when they outfitted the studio. Perhaps they were Marconi MK-VII’s, which look a lot like RCA’s? Ampex was peddling Marconi stuff in the US. Maybe they were later replaced with RCA's? Maybe my memory is failing... It has been a very long time.

I know that WFAA used GE color cameras back at the studio. At first, PE-250's then upgraded to PE-350's. As far as I know, they were the "standard" at all Dallas TV stations, except WBAP, which was "all RCA."

Anyway, thanks for the memory jog....
 
The WFAA TV studios at Northpark had a control room from day one. They did not use the truck parked on the curb for broadcasting.

Originally two shows were broadcast live daily from the Northpark studios, both hosted by Ron Chapmen. A morning game show called "Away We Go" and the "Sump 'n Else" show in afternoons. Away We Go did not last long as it was up against Dick Van Dyke reruns, but Sump 'n Else did well for a few years and as I understand it from a conversation with Ron years ago, it was holding ratings in 1968 but they were having difficulty getting kids to show up to dance on the show.

Bud Buschardt can tell you MUCH more on this subject as he worked on the show as well. He also has photos and video from the show (probably the ONLY video ever saved from the show). I've got a copy of a show featuring The 5 Americans that Bud gave me several years ago...
 
Steve Eberhart said:
The WFAA TV studios at Northpark had a control room from day one. They did not use the truck parked on the curb for broadcasting.
Click to expand...

Sorry Steve, but I don’t think you are incorrect on that point. I saw the Telecruiser there with my own eyes in 1965. It was parked right outside the mall entrance next to the studio, across from the cafeteria (Wyatt's, I think). As you exited the door, it was on the left.

I don't remember how long it was there, but the early shows were in black and white and used Marconi MK-IV cameras. I have one of those cameras, and I’m looking for more. Eventually, they finished the control room and it had color cameras. That may have been as early as the spring of 1966. For some reason, time seemed to elapse much more slowly when I was a teenager than it does now... ;)
 
Bud Buschardt worked on the show from day one and says they had a control room from day one. You are correct that they were in black and white for the first year or so but then converted to color. The truck may have been parked at the curb, but Bud says it was not used to broadcast the show. He was there. Don't mean to argue, just clarifying.
 
Well, the Telecruiser was definitely outside the building, at least for a while. Perhaps it was used for technical support, or just a microwave link. I really don’t know for sure. The Marconi MK-IV cameras that it used are "portable," at least in the 1960's sense that "they had handles on them. ;) So were the Camera Control units and just about everything else. It would have been fairly easy to remove them from the bus and take them inside.

It’s just a guess, but perhaps they removed the equipment from the bus and placed it in what was to become the control room? I remember seeing the black and white cameras in the actual studio which was always visible from the mall’s hallway. I’m pretty sure they were Marconi’s, which are fairly unique looking and couldn’t be mistaken for an RCA or GE product.

My recollection was that until the color equipment was installed, the control room area was not visible to the general public. I seem to remember brown paper over the windows to keep prying eyes from looking in. After the studios went color, the paper was removed and the control room became quite a showplace.

I remember asking somebody at WFAA (I have no idea who) why the show as black and white. I was told that they had ordered the new color equipment but manufacturing back-logs and delays prevented delivery of the equipment until after the show was scheduled to air, so they did black and white as an interim fix.

Here is a thought: Maybe they used the bus as a temporary control room while they were installing the color equipment? I really don't know, which is the reason I posted this in the first place. I’d love to find out more. There isn't a lot of accurate information about the vehicle and its history.

One thing I do know is the bus is in my garage in East Texas, undergoing a restoration... www.telecruiser.com It is one of the very few surviving TV mobile units from the early days of TV. This one dates to 1948, when the station was called KBTV.
 
Incidentally if either you or Bud (or anyone else for that matter) has any additional info about this beast, I'd love to hear it. Bud used to be a customer at my old business, Crossroads Audio, in Dallas. I haven't talked to him in years, but I'd be happy to pick up wherever we left off. You too.

You can email me through the www.telecruiser.com web site. I'd be happy to share phone numbers, but not on a public forum.

Chuck
 
I had a very nice phone conversation with Bud Buchardt today. He assures me that there was always a control room at the Northpark studios. Since he was there, I'm happy to accept that as gospel. As best either of us could figure out, the Telecruiser's appearance may have been for a special occasion, or possibly when equipment was changed out. They started the show in black & white and eventually switched to color. It is unlikely that things could be changed out overnight or even over a weekend. Even today, a studio upgrade is a big deal, but back in the late 1960’s things weren’t exactly “Plug & Play.”

It is even likely that they had the bus there just to load the black & white stuff out of the Northpark Studios. Other people who have actually driven the beast tell me that it was "less than pleasurable" to drive. I remember seeing it on the streets of Dallas very early on Sunday mornings, going to various church remotes. At the time, I worked for Channel 11 and we were in the same general area doing a remote from First Baptist Church. It seems Bud was the director on many of those Channel 8 remotes. I put in some similar time in the KTVT “Bread Truck,” which was their old B&W mobile unit.

Anyway we learned that our paths have crossed every so often over the last 40 years or so. We know (or at least knew) many of the same people. Hopefully, we will stay in touch.

In fact, I'd love to hear from anyone who has any knowledge, pictures or other information on this vehicle. It has turned into quite an adventure.
 
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