WSBA MYTHS AND LEGENDS

[John-Summers]

Percy Platypus was on of my earliest memories of WGAL-TV.  Marijane Landis was host.  What was that phrase they used to intoduce cartoons......"letter flicker"?

As I child I could never figure out what that meant, "letter flicker."  I knew what a letter was and guessed that a flicker was a movie, but together???  I finally figured out that it was "let 'er flicker."  All the kids in the studio audience would yell it at the top of their lungs so that Pokey Dingo, the puppet who ran the cartoon, would know when to start the projector.  Imagine a local TV station doing a "live" show for kids on Saturday morning with a studio audience, week in and week out for something close to 20 years.  And then later in the day was "Channel 8 Dance Party," another "live" show that lasted close to a decade.

WGAL's Studio A is where these shows originated.  Sometimes I walk through and can almost hear the voices, music and laughter echoing back through the many years.  Marijane Landis is in her 80s now and I'm told is doing well.  I met her once and we had a delightful conversation about the show and her place in Baby Boomer history.  I'm happy to say she is as charming in person as she was hosting "Percy Platypus and his Friends."

People often ask if there are any films or videotapes of the show.  Unfortunately not.  It was a "live" show, was broadcast once and that was it.  Tape was prohibitively expensive back then and the idea of filming never occurred to anyone.  There are a number of photographs, though.

There was a lot of "local" TV back in those early days, some good, some not so good, but now they're all just dusty photographs and memories. 

[GuyFry]

Why did WGAL TV and Radio personalities not appear on both radio and television? Did Steinman not want to have "ego problems" with their talent? By Kintzer didn't appear on weekend TV sports until after WGAL radio no longer existed.  At least WSBA Radio's Ed Lincon appeared on WSBA-TV 43's "York Bandstand" on Saturday mornings.

Also, can you name 3 people who were fired by WGAL-TV? (1) Bill Kuster for saying "pain in the ass during a weather case". (2) Chuck "Uncle Josh" Zink
whose temper included at least one fistfight (which I witnessed) at the old Channel 4 studio on South Queen Street.  (3) WGAL-TV's first anchorman, Keith Martin for influence peddling.  I once heard Nelson Sears say in 1972 "we don't HAVE anchormen". You never knew who was going to be reading the news on that station, especially at mid-day. News readers were also commercial pitchmen and booth announcers.

Can you tell me who the hosts of "Channel 8 Dance Party" were?  The history part of WGAL's website doesn't say.

Chuck Zink, the first host of "Slapstick Theater" in 1954 went on to be 'Skipper Chuck" on Miami TV
for more than 20 years.  Former WGAL-TV newsreader Pat Bange (pronounced "BANG") and his wife, weathercastress Dee Norman moved to MIami
where Pat was known for 20 years as Pat Banghart.

It's a shame that the FCC didn't force de-intermixture on the Lancaster_Harrisburg market and make it all-UHF.  If that had happened, the other stations would have been competitive enough to offer viewers a real alternative when it came to local news.  But WGAL's Clair Mc Cullough was so influential with the FCC (having been a "dollar year man" on commissions under FDR and President Truman.  Yet, "Google" the name of Clair Mc Cullough there there is nothing..absolutely NOTHING!  Try it. Mc Cullough and company's other efforts included the ill fated WLEV-TV, Channel 51 in Bethlehem which was on the air for only 3 years.  Steinman also held a construction permit for WRAK-TV,  Ch. 36 which never got on the air in Williamsport. For 36 years, they held seven, mediocre, low power, 250 watt radio stations, plus WDEL radio in Wilmington, Delaware, which the Steinman family still owns. in addition to Lancaster Newsapers.  I would be surprised if Nelson Sears is not writing a book about all this.

[loeper]

actually Ed Lincoln of WSBA radio also hosted a Bowling show on WSBA TV for a while.  actualy went to watch it live one time.  it was a suburban lanes...which just so happened to be located next door to the WSBA TV studios on south Queen street in York.  as for Steinmen stations, I have no idea of what they were about except that they invensted absolutly zero dollars in equipment or maintiance in there radio stations in the 60s and 70s...( I worked for them then so I know)>  on the TV side they got away with "murder" with TV8 because all the other stations in the market were on  the UHF band in the 60s and 70s. a rather bad product but a fantastic signal that people could almsot get on there toasters.

[John-Summers]

Terry Abrams was the host of Channel 8 Dance Party.  The female co-hosts - there were two of them during the show's run - I don't recall.

I once heard a story from an old Susquehanna engineer - who was there when the plans for WSBA-TV were being drawn up - that Susquehanna passed on the channel 8 allocation for York because 1) there was a freeze in effect on VHF at the time and they would have had to wait and probably battle other applicants, and 2) that they had been advised that the FCC was going to delete the channels 4 (Lancaster) and 8 (York) allocations and make this an all-UHF market.  It was bad advice, obviously.  As soon as the freeze was lifted, the Steinmans were awarded channel 8 and channel 4 was deleted.  This allowed a transmitter move to York County at a greatly increased power, thereby making WGAL a regional station and putting everyone else at a distinct disadvantage.  Susquehanna felt they had been betrayed by the FCC, which had been pushing new broadcasters toward UHF.

Adding insult to injury, just a few months after that happened, ABC reneged on a gentlemen's agreement with Susquehanna for an exclusive regional ABC affiliation by signing WTPA-TV Channel 71 in Harrisburg, which had been an NBC affiliate.  In the headlong effort to get WSBA-TV on the air as the first UHF station in the country, they cut corners by placing the transmitter on Queen Street Hill, the transmitter site of the former WSBA-FM, which had gone dark.  The plan was to get the station on the air, make it profitable and then move the transmitter to where Ski Roundtop is today, giving the station a watchable signal in Harrisburg and York at least.  Susquehanna didn't move quickly enough, and when ABC had the chance to sign an affiliate in Harrisburg, they did so.  ABC was nothing in those days, about the equivalent of the CW network today, so they were grabbing any affiliations they could get.

At that point the powers at Susquehanna decided that WSBA-TV would never be a success as a York-only station and thereafter treated it as the red-headed stepchild of the company.  A lot of this is documented in Phil Eberly's history of the company, and some of it came from that old engineer, and I have no reason to doubt his word.. 

[bossjock 56]

Ah yes!  Channel 8 Dance Party.  Local high schools would be invited to the WGAL studios on Columbia Avenue.  There was a limit to the number of students who could attend.  The schools would decide who those students would be.  The end result....a bunch of honor students wearing their Sunday best....who couldn't dance.  I'll never forget watching one Saturday as the students attempted to dance on that ugly tile floor to The New Vaudville Band's "Winchester Cathedral".  After Terry Abrams left, the hosting duties went to....are you ready....Wendall Woodbury.  I remember Wendall on one of his first shows intruducing Deep Purple's "Hush".  Not the type of song you would associate with Wendall. 

[John-Summers]

Ha ha ha.  "Hush?"  Now that's funny!  I forgot about Wendell Woodbury's stint as host.  I remember seeing "American Bandstand" one Saturday with kids (badly) attempting to dance to "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin.  The musical guests that day were Jethro Tull!  Can't remember if they actually played or just lip-synched in Bandstand tradition.  This was long before they had a hit single so I have no idea what song they played.  Changing musical tastes really sounded the death knell for Dance Party-type shows.  Who could dance to "Eleanor Rigby?"

[Don C]

I remember as a kid (sometime in the mid-80s) listening to 910 in the morning as I got read for school. For the life of me, I can't remember who the morning host was though. He played some oldies type music and talked some, did news and such. That's one of my earliest radio memories, actually, and could possibly be what made me want to do that for a living some day.

Anyone remember who the morning host was circa 1983 or 84? I see that Dennis Edwards was the host starting in 1985, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't him. I could be mistaken though.

[John-Summers]

The morning host at that time was Hal Raymond.  The music WSBA played was a mix of Adult Contemporary tunes and a few Oldies thrown in from time to time.  I did the all night show and Hal came on at 5am.  A fine gentleman and a pleasure to work with.  Hal passed away a couple of years ago. 

[Don C]

Thank you John! Hal Raymond. That's the guy I was thinking of.

And I remember you as well, of course.

[John-Summers]

Don, if you remember me on WSBA, you must have been an early riser!

I'm not sure when Hal arrived from Portland Oregon to be the morning host on WSBA.  He was there when I started doing morning drive on 1350 WZIX, opposite him, in 1975.  I think he succeeded the very popular Harry West.  Hal did mornings on the Mighty 910 until late 1989, when Ralph Lockwood was brought in from Montreal.  Then they moved him around a lot.  I even heard Hal one time on the all night show.  He eventually retired from WSBA and went over to what had become 1350 WOYK, where he did mornings from several years.  Great guy, and one of the quickest with a witty ad-lib I have ever seen.  I'm sure Hal would be pleased he was such an influence on you.