Berkshire Residents Would Love to Bring Back Some Golden TV Moments
Berkshire residents: By now, you know I am a "nostalgic" type of guy who enjoys "living in the past" and what better way to re-jog your memory as we bring some highlights from television's hey day when we had to "manually" change the dial. adjust the rabbit ear antennas to avoid seeing "ghosts" and best of all, we did not have to deal with paying a cable bill. Come share some gems that you probably remember from those "analog" days (so sad that TV is not a back to basics medium in this "so-called" 21st century, but it is what it is).
WRGB, channel 6 based in Schenectady, New York was the nation's "first on-air" TV station and in it's hey day, they brought localized programming to the small screen. Many baby boomers recall tuning in to "Freddy Friehofer's Bread Time Stories" . The late, GREAT Ed O' Brien brings us back to a time when youngsters and even adults shared some quality family time in their living rooms.
(Clip courtesy of CBS6Albany)
Let's not forget that terrific trio of Kukla, Fran & Ollie as their show also aired on Channel 6. Here they are as they describe "a very unusual day":
(Clip courtesy of Dan-D-TV)
In western Massachusetts, WWLP-TV (channel 22) favored us with Sy Becker's unique "LOOOOOOK At The Movies". These days, he is a field reporter covering "good news" in our vicinity, but when he was a film critic, his unique spin on cinematic offerings gave us all a chuckle or two. Here's Sy at his BEST as his presentations were animated and entertaining to watch in more ways than one:
(Clip courtesy of NewsActive3)
Before a recent merge between channel 3 and 40 in Springfield, WGGB-TV was the ABC affiliate for local news and one of the most identifiable anchors during the station's hey day was Ray Hershel. He recently retired after a half century of service to the western Massachusetts area. Here is a video from channel 22 showing us his final day when he officially retired from TV news in 2018.
(Clip courtesy of WWLP-22News)
Ironically, long time anchor Barry Krieger also left the realm of TV news in 2019 as he also followed in Ray's footsteps as he left a legacy in broadcasting to our vicinity for decades. he also spent about three years at Rhode island based WPRI-TV before returning to Springfield for the duration of his career.
And we end with some comic relief as stations broadcast "The Gong Show" in syndication and when Chuck Barris introduced this gentleman, we ALL got up and danced as this type of entertainment is sorely lacking on national television:
(Clip courtesy of glammer)
Gene's memory ALWAYS remains eternal and everlasting! A GREAT way to close out this article if you ask me!