Detroit TV-1980's and 1990's

[mtburb]

Discuss anything in this thread that relates to anything related to television in Metro Detroit/Windsor from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1999, including Bill Bonds and whatever memorable local programs were still on then and even national programs on 2, 4, 7, 20, 50, 56 and 62 such as Dallas, Dynasty, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Cheers, Seinfeld and ER, plus the days when 50 was the area's Fox affiliate until Fox suddenly switched to 2 for their local outlet in December 1994 [[at the expense of CBS, who went with 62 after some difficulties) and when 20 and 50 found new networks the following month.

[Hypestyles]

Do the episode tapes still exist for Hot Fudge?

[Detroit Stylin]

How about the Electric Company?

[motz]

The Scene or The New Dance Show anyone?

[thomprod]

I worked at WXYZ from 1983 to 1987 and at WKBD from 1989 to the present. I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can.

[DetroitPlanner]

Its six o'clock and its time to rock
We rock nonstop till seven o'clock
We won't stop, We won't stop
Say hip hop hippity hope we'll rock nonstop till seven o'clock
With the latest steps and the latest styles
Its six o'clock everybody's clean
Its six o'clock and not time for the Scene!

Its the Scene with your host Nat Morris....

Whats the name of this town?!?

[LP_85]

WDIV posted this video a few months back - it's a tour of their new [[at the time) studios from 1983, guided by Dwayne X. Riley:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/entert...-wdiv/25756542

[Danny]

I used to watch Kidbits with Gary Ad Mach as the science instructor. That show lasted to the early 1990s with syndicated re-runs.

Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVFtx3LbgGY

[Danny]

Here's a clip from Hot Fudge Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJtiAmPjYDY

Right on!

And this game show Name the Feeling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fawRVtwA-Mk

[mtburb]

Since last month was the 20th anniversary of the famous Fox-CBS 2-50-62 realignment [[which saw Homer Simpson and David Letterman swapping sides of the VHF-UHF border), how many of you also remember it?

The realignment, as you know, stemmed from Fox acquiring the rights to NFL NFC games. Fox wanted to affiliate with stations in NFC markets, including here, that were on the VHF spectrum, had more established histories and had more advertising value [[as you know, back when Fox went on the air in '86, in the three most-important markets of New York, LA and Chicago, Fox was already on VHF stations in the former two, but was relegated to-and still is-a UHF station in Chicago, specifically WFLD channel 32, whose founder also once owned WKBD). The realignment also affected CBS stations in other markets that also have NFC teams, though it took a while for them to switch to Fox.

This may be the reason why the Lions temporarily switched to UHF during much of the '94 season. It wasn't until the December 17th game that they returned to WJBK.

However, even with channel 2 picking up the Fox affiliation, WKBD kept Fox's cartoon block [[Fox Kids) for a few more years, even after affiliating with UPN, until WADL acquired that block.

On the CBS side, they were having difficulties in finding another local station. WXYZ was one of the stations that CBS tried to affiliate with and if this did happen, to prepare, ABC purchased stations in Flint and Toledo so that at least the cable people could still watch ABC programs. Channel 7, though, stayed with ABC.

CBS eventually ended up on the weakest UHF station we had, WGPR, but not with controversy. Not long later, they changed the calls to WWJ-TV. The result was damage being done to local ratings for CBS programs. In fact, in the early years under CBS, the transmitter was so weak that viewers in the outer-ring suburbs had to watch CBS programs on stations in Bay City, Lansing and Toledo. It wasn't until 1999 that 62 finally received a better transmitter.

After a couple years, 2 and 62 ultimately became O&Os of their respective networks.

And here's another fact: until the end of it's original run, one of the shows I watched in that era, Tiny Toon Adventures was always on 50-both during syndication and when it was on Fox Kids in it's last season.

[Hamtragedy]

Channel 4 had this guy at halloween called Count Scary, and he used to say "oooh, that's sca-a-ary" but it was a really bad take off of Sir Graves Ghastly. We renamed him Count Stupid, and and changed his motto to "oooh, that's stooopid."

Then, it must have been 1981 or '82 when the Red Wings sucked so bad they went "zero for Channel 20." Back in those days they only showed about 20 Wings games a year on TV, and on a rare occasion you could catch one on Hockey night in Canada on Channel 9.

And as someone asked above: What's the name of this town? Geektown was the answer, as another WGPR personality, RJ Watkins, had his own group for a second called RJ's Latest Arrival, and their song was called "We Are Here to Geek You Up."

Channel 62's commercials were as low budget as you could get. The Singleton Cleaners commercial cracked me up when the guy asked "how do I look?". The guy at the competitors cleaners said, "you down, you down" and the customer replied "I wish my sleeves was down".

One day I was hanging out with a bunch of girls who went to St. Mary's of Redford that lived in Rosedale Park, and they described my latest girlfriend as like "watching channel 62 24 hours a day." I still crack up when I think about that.

[G-DDT]

Ron Codin of the Hot Fudge Show used to come to the North Rosedale Park Community House to play guitar and let kids throw pies in his face. The puppets on that show were like earlier Lazytown.
Gary Ed Mach....That's what you watched [[or Captain Kangaroo) if you got up too early and were biding your time until the super sugar-fueled Saturday Morning [[remember when it was worth waiting for that) 4-hour block of cartoons kicked in...The man would show you how to drive a straw into a raw potato, then they'd cut to two minutes of the Kidbits logo going on infinite "Doot doot doo-doot" loop.
Yes, channel 50 played piggy-back [[the way Cartoon Network does to Adult Swim) to the earliest inception of FOX in the late '80s. It wasn't all Tracey Ullman, Beans Baxter, 21 Jump Street, or Garry Shandling. A lot of it was abysmally decrepit, sleazy stuff. Like Married with Children or the sit-com about a women's prison [[packed with hideous lesbian jokes).
There was a terrible void on weekend afternoons [[loaded with golf). Maybe Kennedy would play a goof film. Sunday mornings used to play old Blondie [[not Debbie) shorts. Yet, we had Thriller or Creature Features on the UHF, packed with giant spiders, blobs, and possessed children. They'd play psychedelic music with over-polarized camera tricks for their promos. Somehow, Count Scary, Sir Graves Ghastly, or the Ghoul made more sense. It seemed every other Saturday afternoon would be films of some giant [[Daikaiju) monsters trampling on model cities while caught up in their furry-like cosplay ecstasy.
There was a very un-P.C. host for the Kung-fu Theater named Charrie [["Charlie") Rum.

[G-DDT]

oh-duh-then there was Soupy.

[Hypestyles]

I want a new local horror-classics show. Where is it...

[mtburb]

I want a new local horror-classics show. Where is it...

The closest thing I could find is the highly-popular Chicago-based Svengoolie, which airs on Me TV [[Uverse channel 136, it's on WOW too).

And the next post must bring us back on topic.

[Goose]

Channel 62's commercials were as low budget as you could get. The Singleton Cleaners commercial cracked me up when the guy asked "how do I look?". The guy at the competitors cleaners said, "you down, you down" and the customer replied "I wish my sleeves was down".

loved that commercial, would crack up everytime I saw it..... been looking for a clip of it on the internet but can't find it....

you down, you down

[mtburb]

Channel 62's commercials were as low budget as you could get. The Singleton Cleaners commercial cracked me up when the guy asked "how do I look?". The guy at the competitors cleaners said, "you down, you down" and the customer replied "I wish my sleeves was down".

I believe I would've laughed at this too...if channel 62's signal could reach Southgate back in the 80's.

[Islandman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcONhxo3K2k

[Hamtragedy]

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A0LEVibmM7FUvi0AmT8PxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTBsa3 ZzMnBvBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?p=singleton+cleaners+commercial+youtube&tnr=21&vi d=73762FE4392C0D1B5DDB73762FE4392C0D1B5DDB&l=165&t url=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUN.60 8001656815289645%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fww w.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DP7qYKd9-wtE&sigr=11a3gdrod&tt=b&tit=Detroit+Commercials&si gt=10jgr0avs&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2 Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsingleton%2Bcleaners%2Bcommerc ial%2Byoutube%26ei%3DUTF-8%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla&sigb=13h9brf1a&hspart=mozil la&hsimp=yhs-001

more channel 62

[DetroitBoy]

Got to love this one too from channel 50 with the ever tanked Bill Kennedy and the 'modern woman' stylings of Amyre Makupson doing the news. Great commercials too of stores long gone.

http://youtu.be/W7apYLesgxw

[CassTechGrad]

That period has to be like the “Dark Ages” of local programming when it comes to shows with original characters that were designed for kids as compared to the ones from the 1950’ & 60’s. They may have been silly and corny at times but these guys were considered local heroes and they will always be remembered.

From left to right - Poop Deck Paul, MilkyThe Clown, Captain Jolly, Johnny Jingles, Johnny Ginger, and Bozo. Down below are Sagebush Shorty and Soupy Sales

[DetroitBoy]

Don't forget Sgt. Sacto from the Captain Detroit show and other Tom Ryan characters!







http://www.detroitkidshow.com/Tom_Ryan.htm

[mtburb]

Thanks for posting these pictures, but I also have made two other similar threads where you should discuss them.

http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...0-s-and-1950-s
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...0-s-and-1970-s

[aoife]

I grew up in East Lansing, so the only Detroit station we got was WKBD 50. Rain or shine, we would run home from wherever we were playing to catch Creature Feature. I swear, until I was 9 or 10 I though Vincent Price was Edgar Allan Poe-- he was in every film adaptation.

[mtburb]

I grew up in East Lansing, so the only Detroit station we got was WKBD 50. Rain or shine, we would run home from wherever we were playing to catch Creature Feature. I swear, until I was 9 or 10 I though Vincent Price was Edgar Allan Poe-- he was in every film adaptation.

Wasn't WKBD the default Fox affiliate for Lansing during the network's infancy?