wcia 3 champaign, wicd 15 champaign, wand 17 decatur, wics 20 Springfield, week 25 peoria, whoi 19 peoria, wmbd 31 peoria, wyyz 43 Bloomington, wbln, wtvh, wirl, wrau, wtvp, wdan, classic tv, central Illinois tv, radio, automation,
Welcome to Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum. This website documents in detail the history of each of the viewable TV stations, past and present, across mid-Illinois in text, photos, and videos, as well as each station's current status. This site also includes local radio history and automated analog formats, again told in pictures, videos, and text.
Note that this website displays best on a full-size monitor, desktop, or laptop computer. If you're watching on your mobile phone, the mobile phone view has been replaced by the desktop view throughout this site. You can zoom in on the page if needed. Also, you may have to sign in to YouTube to view some videos. Some browsers do not allow some embedded videos to play, so click on the "YouTube" logo on the video to view it from YouTube.
Me at my home studio in August of 2025.
Doug Quick
Radio/TV Broadcaster/Historian, Author, Webmaster
complete bio available here.
TV Time Capsule
The TV Time Capsule is taking the summer off. It will return in the Fall.
Featured Videos
Below is one of the most epic, jam-packed Featured Video groups ever posted on this site in 25 years. It wasn't intentional, but many of the videos here have at least an indirect link to one or more of the others. One video here features two area natives, along with another person who has a connection to a city in another Mid-Illinois city! Another video includes an alum from the University of Illinois!
Displayed here now through October 4 also includes a complete collection of videos that were a part of one of the popular animated series beginning in 1959. This week's animated series has significance for its home network. You can watch the series' second episode.
I also include the pilot show from a popular series from the early 1960s, along with a blooper and outtakes reel from that series.
This collection ends with one of the shortest runs of any network program, which was cancelled by a network affiliate before it could even complete its airing. Learn the story from the series producer, including why it was cancelled by the network shortly after. You can watch the first episode, along with the second and third episodes that were produced but never broadcast at the time, along with the commercials that were expected to be seen during the airing of those other two episodes.
The Classic Radio selection is one of a kind, as you may have heard Larry Lujack's final day at WLS, 890AM, Chicago on September 28, 1987. The audio/videos below are from my collection, and are a two-part aircheck from his next-to-the-last show, heard the day before on September 27, 1987.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Chun King Chow Mein Hour (1962) ABC
The work of Stan Freberg is quickly fading into history, but I'm going to try my best to keep it alive at least for now. Freberg is listed as an actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative producer.
In the 1950s and early 1960s, his comedy record albums sold hundreds of thousands of copies. They included audio stories, parodies, satire, and comedy. I'm sure that if you were born before 1960, you've heard him hundreds of times, but probably didn't know who he was. He's been in hundreds of TV commercials, voiced dozens of cartoon characters, and made appearances on many TV shows.
As his CBS radio network show became a replacement for "The Jack Benny Show" in 1957, he refused to have his show sponsored by a tobacco product, as the Benny Show had been. His radio show is excellent, featuring many recognizable voices who went on to do similar work for Hanna-Barbera Productions and Jay Ward Productions.
Howard McNear ("The Andy Griffith Show") and Stan Freeberg in the Chun King Chow Mein Hour, as telecast on ABC in 1962
(YouTube Screen Grab)
This ABC special video above was broadcast on February 4, 1962. Not being familiar with asian food, I thought the Chun King Chow Mein product was a typical Stan Freberg satirical sponsor. I was shocked to see that it was indeed a real product! This program would be more relevant to someone familiar with the business of broadcasting and TV show production, as it contains many references to business and entertainment considerations.
There are many voices in this special program you'll recognize, but the faces might be the first time you ever connect a voice to one of them. It may be a bit difficult to watch, but if you do, you'll be glad you did. By today's standards, it's slow and requires more than a reasonable span of attention.
Among his TV appearances were "The Ed Sullivan Show," "The Monkees," "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., and "Roseanne." He and voice artist Daws Butler (see below) were credited for doing voices for "Time for Beany," the Bob Clampett puppet TV series of the early 1950s, later an animated series for ABC. He was also one of the many cameo scenes on the film (and one of my top 5 favorite films) in which he played a deputy sheriff in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".
In the "Chun King Chow Mein Hour," guests included Sterling Holloway (voice of "Winnie the Pooh") and University of Illinois alum, Arte Johnson. It was broadcast on February 4, 1962 (the Chinese New Year). It would have been seen over mid-Illinois on WTVP, WTVH, and KTVI.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Fractured Fairy Tales (1959-60) NBC
Jay Ward Productions
This video is a collection of 19 episodes of the animated short "Fractured Fairy Tales" as it was initially broadcast as a part of the series "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends." This segment was a modernized version of the familiar childhood stories that included satire, parody, and humor.
Voices were provided by Edward Everette Horton (films include "Lost Horizon" and many others), as the narrator. Aesop was voiced (uncredited) by Charlie Ruggles (radio series "The Charlie Ruggles Show," TV shows include "The Ruggles, "The World of Mr. Sweeney," and appearances on "The Real McCoys," "The Beverly Hillbillies," "Bewitched," "Wagon Train," and "The Andy Griffith Show." Ruggles also has many film credits from 1915 to 1967.
Other voices were provided by June Foray, Paul Frees, Walter Tetley, Daws Butler (pictured above, profiled below), and Hans Conried.
The various titles under the heading of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" would have been seen across mid-Illinois on ABC stations, WTVP, WTVH, and KTVI, from November 19, 1959, through July 10, 1961, then on NBC stations from September 24, 1961, through June 27, 1964, on WICS, WCHU, WICD, WEEK, WTWO, WGEM-TV. It was also seen via syndication on many of the stations at one time or another across mid-Illinois.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Many Voices of Daws Butler
To other cartoon voice profiles and more, visit the Saturday Morning Rewind
YouTube Channel by clicking here.
WCIA Fall Promo 1981
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The Jetsons (1962) ABC
"A Date With Jet Screamer"
"The Jetsons" is considered to be a companion series to the successful series on the other end of the time line, the prehistoric "The Flintstones." "The Jetsons" took place in the future. It's especially notable as the first ABC program broadcast in color, beginning on September 23, 1962. Most ABC stations, though, at that time were not equipped with what was necessary to broadcast color. The mid-Illinois ABC stations didn't broadcast color until late 1965.
Both animated series were produced in color from the very beginning (1960 for the Flintstones, but shown in black and white until 1962, its third season). Hanna-Barbera Productions produced 24 episodes of "The Jetsons."
The show featured a family of the future, the Jetsons, with its patriarch, George, voiced by George O'Hanlon, who also did voices for several other characters in the series.
His wife, Jane, was voiced by Penny Singleton (starred in many films of the 1930s, including "Blondie" in the movie series from 1938-1950 and many TV shows, including "Murder She Wrote," "The Twilight Zone," and "The Death Valley Days"). The daughter Judy was voiced by Janet Waldo (with many roles in early radio dramas and comedies, and television shows from "I Love Lucy," "Ozzie and Harriet," "Phil Silvers Show," "The Andy Griffith Show," as well as many voice-overs, and appearances on many other shows).
Elroy was voiced by Daws Butler (radio voice on "The Stan Freeburg Show" and multiple animated cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, too many to list here). Throughout the series, you'd also hear the voices of Don Messick and Jean VanderPyl (Wilma on "The Flintstones"), Mel Blanc, Herschel Bernardi, Howard McNear (Floyd on "The Andy Griffith Show), and Frank Nelson ("The Jack Benny Show").
The voices of the "stars" of "The Jetsons." Click on the pictures
to see a larger view.
(from Facebook post "Cartoon Research")
This episode, "A Date With Jet Screamer," includes the voice of Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass on "The Andy Griffith Show," "Your Show of Shows" as well as many Hanna-Barbera Productions and Walter Lantz Productions) as Jet Screamer. The video above was the second episode of the series airing on ABC on Sunday, September 30, 1962. It would continue through September 8, 1963. It aired originally on WTVP, WTVH, and KTVI.
New episodes would be produced, airing from 1985 to 1987, to add 51 episodes to the series, as it continued to be a Saturday morning staple for many years from the 1960s through the 1990s.
Howard Morris, the voice of "Aton Antd" and also "Jet Screamer"
on "The Jetsons" 1962
(from Mark Evanier's Blog "News From Me." Click here to visit the site)
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962) ABC
Here's the story, according to the YouTube Channel thetvtimemachine.
Yvonne Craig (Batgirl) appears in the 1962 pilot for the ABC TV sitcom I'm Dickens He's Fenster, starring John Astin and Marty Ingels.
"In 1961, TV producer Leonard Stern (Get Smart) was having his house remodeled. As he observed the construction workers building a hood over his fireplace, he noticed they had sealed their steel ladder inside. It took hours for the workers to deconstruct the fireplace to retrieve the ladder. While watching otherwise intelligent and talented men endeavor to hastily rectify their incompetence, a light bulb lit up inside Stern's head.
"With this incident in mind, Leonard Stern approached the ABC television network. With classic TV credits such as Sgt. Bilko, The Honeymooners and The Steve Allen Show under his belt, Stern's new show was not a hard sell. I'm Dickens He's Fenster, starring John Astin (The Addams Family) and Marty Ingels (The Dick Van Dyke Show) was ultimately given the green light for the 1962-63 TV season, beginning with this pilot episode which aired September 28, 1962, with the title "A Small Matter of Being Fired."
"I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" aired on Mid-Illinois ABC affiliates WTVP, WTVH, and KTVI. The series aired for one season, with the final episode airing on September 13, 1963. By the way, Yvonne Craig shows up during the final segment of the episode as "Hillary." Others in the cast include Noam Pitlik ("Hogan's Heroes" frequent guest in several roles), Henry Beckman ("McHale's Navy'), and Dave Ketchum (who was from Quincy, Illinois and starred in "Get Smart," "Camp Runamuck" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show")."
In addition to the series pilot above, Arthur Hiller directed the pilot of "The Addams Family," also starring John Astin. He also was a movie director and was credited for "Love Story," "The Americanization of Emily," "Promise Her Anything," "Tobruk," "Popi," "The Hospital," "The Out-of-Towners," "Silver Streak," "The Lonely Guy," "The Babe" (which scenes were shot at Danville Stadium-Danville, Illinois, where I saw him in action) and many others.
Pictured here is Quincy, Illinois native Dave Ketchum with Marty Ingels on "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster."
From the YouTube video above by screen grab)
Pictured here is Taylorville, Illinois native Yvonne Craig with Marty Ingels on "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster."
From the YouTube video above by screen grab)
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
The "McHale's Navy" video includes outdated cultural references and may be offensive to some viewers.
McHale's Navy (1962) ABC Pilot
"An Ensign for McHale"
From Universal Studios, I present the pilot show for McHale's Navy. This series was and still is one of my favorite shows of all time, probably in the top 3. In 1968, it was still being showcased at Universal Studios (the studios, before the amusement park was added) when I visited with my family. I actually got to stand on the "bridge" set up of the World War II boat, the PT 73, in a soundstage that showed how the ocean was rear-projected behind it to give the impression that it was sailing on the Pacific Ocean.
Anyway, "McHale's Navy" was based on a most serious TV anthology series, "The Alcoa Premiere", as "Seven Against the Sea" that starred Ernest Borgnine as Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale, with one crew member being Gary Vinson ("Roaring 20s") as "Christy" Christopher who went on to appear in the TV comedy version of the series.
Edward Montagne, Jr. (1912-2003) was the producer of "The Phil Silvers Show" (or "Bilko"), giving him experience for a military comedy "buddy" show. In fact, many of the writers from "The Phil Silvers Show" also contributed scripts for "McHale."
Gene Coon (1924-1973) wrote this pilot episode. He would later write episodes for "Star Trek" for the original series.
The video above, the pilot for "McHale's Navy," included a TV veteran, Edward Montagne, and a soon-to-be sci-fi TV writer, Gene L. Coon.
From the YouTube video above by screen grab)
In the pilot, Tim Conway was set up as the bumbling Ensign Charles Parker, a crew member to report on the activities of McHale and his crew to the captain, Wallace B. Binghamton. He consistently attempted to pin naval military infractions on McHale and his crew, aiming to ship them out or send them to prison. Unfortunately for the captain, McHale was a successful Navy Commander who would continue to achieve each assigned mission against the enemy. In the first three seasons, the setting was the South Pacific, but during the last season, everyone packed up and moved to Italy. In the previous season, Borgnine got to use his second language, Italian, in many episodes and even played his own "twin" cousin in one episode.
Other cast members included Joe Flynn ("Joey Bishop Show," "Ozzie and Harriett," The George Gobel Show," "The Tim Conway Show"), Carl Ballentine ("The Queen and I" and "One in a Million"), Billy Sands ("The Phil Silvers Show" and "Big Eddie"), Edson Stroll, Gavin MacLeod ("The Love Boat," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Scruples" and several appearances on "Hogan's Heroes"), John Wright (son of country music star Kitty Welles), Bob Hastings ("All in the Family" and "General Hospital") and Yoshio Yoda (later a vice-president for Toyota).
The ABC series premiered on October 11, 1962, with the last episode airing on August 30, 1966, on WTVP (WAND), WTVH (WIRL), and KTVI. Of course, it aired in syndication for many years locally on WAND during the late afternoons. The first season was colorized and aired on the former cable channel "Ha!" in the 1980s, along with the black and white episodes.
The left picture includes Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn, and Tim Conway in the foreground with the crew behind. At the right is most of the crew.
From the YouTube video above by screen grab)
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
McHale's Navy Blooper/Outtakes Reel
ABC/Universal Studios
Throughout the filming of many TV shows, a "blooper" and/or outtakes collection was often saved and used to entertain those connected to the shows at various social functions. Film studios collected them, with most including many words and actions considered to be profane or obscene. That's what made it enjoyable to watch as unexpected words and actions were heard coming from the stars themselves.
"Bleeped" versions of those "bloopers" and outtakes were used in TV specials and series, such as "Bloopers and Practical Jokes," which was hosted by Dick Clark and Ed McMahon, and was popular in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In this video, there are various outtakes from "McHale's Navy," including one of the more popular outtakes with the crew singing their version of a popular hit at the time, "Pa Pa Oom Mow-Mow," recorded originally by the Rivingtons in 1962.
It was filmed from the PT 73 bridge set, mentioned above in the description of the pilot show for "McHale's Navy" above.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Turn On (1969) ABC Episode 1
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Turn On (1969) Never Shown Episode 2
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Turn On (1969) Never Shown Episode 3
The posting of this video and the story of its quick cancellation by ABC brings a note of familiarity to the news of today, in the cancellation of "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" by the same network. The producer of "Turn-On," George Schlatter, explains the cancellation of the show in 1969 in the first video above.
There is one other quick network cancellation of a show that I recall, a game show hosted by the great Jackie Gleason in the mid-1950s. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of other TV shows that have been cancelled over the years by the network.
The big difference is that the Kimmel cancellation has a foundation in politics and was "predicted" in social media posts from the president, who frankly should have more to consider than a late-night comedian or comedians. In today's case, it's wrong to put pressure on the director of the FCC, who, in turn, puts pressure on the participants of broadcast company mergers seeking permission to "break the rules" to maximum ownership regulations set by law.
Central Illinois has stations owned by the major player in this scenario, Nexstar, which owns WCIA, WMBD, and WCIX. Even though here in Mid-Illinois, WCIA and WMBD are CBS stations, Nexstar nationally owns 28 ABC stations. Sinclair owns 38 ABC stations. Sinclair is well known for leaning strongly to the right and also supported the cancellation of Kimmel. You might remember the 2004 "Swift Boating" broadcast scandal when Sinclair planned to air a "documentary" that used unproven allegations to attack then presidential candidate, Democrat, John Kerry.
From YouTube: "The highly anticipated first episode premiered on February 5, 1969, at 8:30 PM (ET) on the East Coast, where it was to take the place of the soap opera Peyton Place. What happened next was never done before or since in the history of television. Turn-On was abruptly cut off mid-way by a programmer in Cleveland, stating that the remainder of the program would "not be seen this evening or ever." Word traveled across the country and the show was canceled before the episode could even be aired once on the west coast. ABC officially canceled the show, buying out Schlatter's contract with a clause that he not rerun Turn-On ever!
"Last October, Schlatter released Turn-On, episodes 1 and 2, via YouTube through the comedy curation team at Clown Jewels.
"With great pride, Schlatter is finally able to present the remaining never-before-seen footage for Turn-On, episode 3. "We had more footage than we knew what to do with. Endless pieces were found in our vault. It was a challenge and a treat to create more offbeat, crazy programming for the offbeat YouTube audience," said the 94-year-old elder statesman of television."
I remember watching the first episode of "Turn On" primarily for the appearance of Tim Conway, who had just come off the "McHale's Navy" series. I liked it, but the production, with its film-like optics rather than videotape, felt a bit strange compared to other comedy shows, including the George Schlatter comedy series "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In."
To visit the YouTube Channel Clown Jewels, click here.
Tim Conway as a "superhero" and an unidentified cast member in a "flash skit" contained in "Turn-On" as broadcast on ABC in 1969.
From the YouTube video above by screen grab)
Classic Radio
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
WLS 890AM Chicago (1987) Larry Lujack Part 1
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
WLS 890AM Chicago (1987) Larry Lujack Part 2
This audio/video was recorded on September 27, 1987, the next-to-last day for Larry Lujack before his retirement the next day. It's a short aircheck, just over 3 minutes, and includes Les Grobstein, WLS Sports reporter. Larry was given the privilege of playing his favorite songs, but by then, the music format was dissolving as it became more of a talk station.
At the time, I believed that management was doing everything possible to sabotage the station's ratings, allowing the new talk format to claim significant ratings increases over the former music format.
It was a sad time for former WLS Music Radio fans, as music listeners quickly made haste to the FM band for their contemporary music fix. That worked for those in the Chicago listening area, but others in the fringe listening area had much less of a choice, so the loss of WLS as a music station was felt by many.
Pictured above: left to right, Tommy Edwards and Larry Lujack (1980s), at right taken from a WLS weekly music playlist from the 1970s.
(Doug Quick Collection)
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Latest Updates to the Museum
Picture: ABC
2025-0920-Posted in support of Jimmy Kimmel, our right to free speech, and for the existence of local television and radio stations.
2025-0922 UPDATE ABOUT "THE JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW"
ABC posts a press release about "The Jimmy Kimmel Show" returning to the ABC Schedule!
From the announcement:
"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show ("The Jimmy Kimmel Show") to avoid inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."
2025-0921-To watch the best explanation of what it's all about, I refer to comedian and truth teller John Oliver from HBO and John's video "Last Week Tonight" (mature viewers only) available here.
2025-0923-At last report on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at 2 pm, both Nexstar and Sinclair will NOT air Kimmel's show.
Locally, the Nexstar stations are CBS (WCIA and WMBD), so that's not a concern (for now).
WICS and WICD were formerly Sinclair stations, but sold this Summer to Rincon Broadcasting. Although the station still appears to have several ongoing ties with Sinclair, I called WICS earlier this afternoon and asked if they planned to air Kimmel tonight. The answer was "yes."
So, it seems we're out of the storm of Sinclair's and Nexstar's efforts to have their current and future "illegal" merger filings exceed the ownership regulations in effect, as set by the FCC.
They must obtain permission from both the FCC and the President to increase their ownership numbers significantly above the set number of facilities. To help guarantee that permission, they've chosen to "protect" the thin-skinned President from Kimmel's comedic criticism.
My primary concern is the overreach of these mega-owners, who seek to reduce local control of media in order to increase their influence and profits. In the process, they are eliminating "free speech" for the public, which owns the airwaves, to facilitate the process of obtaining permission to sidestep the rules.
2025-0920 Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum has renewed the suscription to this website host for another three years!
2025-0925 The TV Today pages for Mid-Illinois and Peoria were updated to reflect recent ownership changes to WICS, WICD, WHOI. More updates coming.
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Much of the information on the history of TV pages on this site comes directly from my 2016 book "Pictures on the Prairie: The First Ten Years of Mid-Illinois Television." There are many more pictures on this site than in the book as space was limited.
Latest TV
Headlines
2025-0909 The Weigel Broadcasting-owned digital multicast network MeTV is now on DISH satellite's channel lineup.
Users of DISH satellite service can access MeTV Network. It is only available, though, as a streaming channel (and possibly only on select packages). The good news is that it is available in high definition, which improves the look of many of the "filmed" programs in which the master 35mm films were digitally recorded and used in the playback of the shows. In fact, viewers now can watch many of the vintage shows on the schedule with better video quality than they were initially seen on network TV!
"We are always pushing to make MeTV as accessible to as many viewers as possible. We are happy to partner with Dish on this carriage and pleased that millions of Sling TV customers will now be able to watch MeTV's memorable entertainment programming," said Neal Sabin, vice-chairman for Weigel Broadcasting.
MeTV continues to be seen on subchannels of stations in each market in mid-Illinois. For most here in central and east central Illinois, it's available on WAND-TV's main channel and translators (Jacksonville, Effingham, and Danville) on subchannel 17.6 in standard definition.
Now Streaming Nationally
Click on the image above to listen to MeTVFM. It's the popular music companion to MeTV, Memorable Entertainment Television, America’s #1 all classic television network. Launched at 87.7FM in late February, 2015, MeTVFM features a unique mix of timeless and memorable music incorporating a wide variety of classic hits, deep tracks and softer sounds spanning several decades of popular music.
Previously on Videos of the Week...
If you've missed any of the "Videos of the Week" or "Classic Radio" recordings, you'll find them here. Unfortunately, there's no written narrative to go along with each. You have to visit each week for that.
Danny Kaye Show (1964) Hillbilly Sketch
The Ed Sullivan Show (1964) CBS The Beach Boys
Donna Reed Show (1965) ABC "The Tree"
Classic Radio
See It Now (1954) CBS Edward R. Murrow
See It Now (1954) CBS Reply to Sen Joseph McCarthy
McCarthy (2020) PBS "Have You No Decency?"
Ben Casey (1962) ABC "A Story to be Softly Told"
Fridays (1981) ABC Guest: Andy Kaufman
Fridays (1981) ABC segment with Andy Kaufman Apology
Fridays (1981) ABC Guest: Andy Kaufman with Kathie Sullivan
Classic Radio
Tube Trip (1971) KSHE (FM)/KDNL, TV-30
______________________________________
Sunday nights Nov 1959-Jan 1960
Sunday Showcase (1959) NBC Jimmy Durante
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1960) NBC
The Loretta Young Show (1960) NBC
______________________________________
Here Comes the Brides-Open (1968) ABC Co-Star Bobby Sherman
Bobby Sherman Special (1971) ABC
Bosom Buddies/Mama's Family Intros (1984) ABC/NBC
Classic Radio
Night Time America (1982) WDNL Danville, IL
TM Stereo Rock (1975) WHBF-FM Quad Cities
The Dating Game (1967) ABC Host: Jim Lange
Love American Style (1969) ABC Ted Bessell, John Beck
The Gong Show (1977) NBC Host: Chuck Barris
Vegas (1978) ABC Robert Urich
Classic Radio
WDNL(FM) (1991) Aircheck with Doug Quick
Saturday Morning TV (1978) NBC
WKRP in Cincinnati (1981) CBS "Daydreams"
Classic Radio
WLS AM/FM (1985) Fred Winston
I Dream of Jeannie (1965) NBC Pilot Show
Dusty's Trail (1973) Syndicated
Pryor's Place (1984) CBS Episode 1
T.J. Hooker (1985) ABC William Shatner
Classic Radio
WDNL(FM) (1981) Danville, IL
Classic Radio
KXOK (1961) Complete Air Check
Chun King Chow Mein Hour (1962) ABC
Fractured Fairy Tales (1959-60) NBC Jay Ward Productions
The Jetsons (1962) ABC "A Date With Jet Screamer"
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster (1962) ABC Pilot
McHale's Navy (1962) Pilot "An Ensign for McHale"
McHale's Navy Blooper Reel (1960s) ABC Universal Studios
Turn On (1969) Never Shown Episode 2
Turn On (1969) Never Shown Episode 3
Classic Radio
WLS 890AM Chicago (1987) Larry Lujack Part 1
WLS 890AM Chicago (1987) Larry Lujack
Next Regular Update Saturday Evening October 4
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Television History in Real Time
Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, after being preempted indefinitely by ABC and Disney. One of his first things he expressed was, "This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this."
Late-night television talk shows have always been a potential hotbed of controversy. The story was previously featured in one of the Videos of the Week on this website some time ago, but in case you missed it, here is the story. On February 11, 1960, Jack Paar voluntarily walked off "Tonight with Jack Paar" after NBC edited out a joke he told on the previous night's videotaped show. As he got up from the desk, he said, "I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this." With his exit, he left the rest of the show to a startled Hugh Downs, who had to host the rest of the show by himself with no preparation.
On March 7, 1960, Jack Paar would return as host. His first words were, "As I was saying before I was interrupted..." Jimmy Kimmel tipped his hat to that event from sixty-five years ago with nearly the same statement, "....As I was saying before I was interrupted..." That was an obvious nod to the late Jack Paar and was probably lost on most of the audience.
As a broadcast historian, there have been several events over the many years of television that still garner attention and are the subject of conversation and further investigation to this day. Events like Nixon's "Checker Speech" in 1952, ahead of the presidential election that year, the attempted cover-up of the US Spy plane being shot down over the Soviet Union, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, and the exposure by the soviets that embarrassed the US government; the Kennedy assassination, and others during the 1960s along with the broadcasts from those tragic events; the Watergate scandal; and many other events. All events I remember being discussed in one of my communication classes when I was at Western Illinois University.
Even though a late-night talk show seems relatively minor in scale compared to the events mentioned above, in one respect, it is one of the most important, as it concerns the First Amendment and "freedom of speech." It also concerns the role of the administration, the regulatory branch of broadcasting, the FCC, as well as business interests, in a threat to that freedom of speech as exercised by the host of "The Jimmy Kimmel Show."
Kimmel's return included an apparent heartfelt statement that, "It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual." He went on to talk about the wife of Charlie Kirk and praised her for saying she forgave the assassin of her husband.
The show's host went on to discuss the apparent efforts to curtail our right to free speech in the United States. Kimmel also said he would not ease up on his criticism of the president, despite pressure from the administration.
What we have witnessed over the last week is TV history in real time. It's something that young people who have yet to be born will be studying and discussing in classrooms in another 65 years, if we're still able to.
Jimmy Kimmel's returning monologue from Tuesday, September 23, 2025
(from Jimmy Kimmel Live and YouTube)