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 are using your phone, use the "desktop" view. 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.
Doug Quick at the WICD studios 1998
Doug Quick
Radio/TV Broadcaster/Historian, Author, Webmaster
complete bio available here.
Check out the new feature at Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum! It's called "TV Time Capsule" and will feature a monthly look at a TV listing from the past. It could be from the TV Listing Magazine above or an area newspaper listing. I comment and explain "points of interest" on each page, tell the cover story, and also list the stations included in the listings. This month's listings are from December 9, 1968, including Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, Peoria, and Terre Haute TV stations.
Click on the TV set above to get to the "TV Time Capsule,"
or click on TV History, and just below is a link!
Videos of the Week
From now until February 8th, I will present the second round of "winners and losers" in the game to qualify for a primetime position on a network.
The networks work with producers yearly to prepare new TV shows that hope to attract a large audience. Pilot shows are produced, often financed by the networks and the producers, to create a show that will sell a series concept and the characters that will generate viewership for the networks. The pilot show is the initial story explaining the plot and the characters, from which many storylines can be written to maintain or grow the audience in the future.
Many pilot shows have been created over the years, with most never being sold to a network and thus never being seen by viewers. Many of these unsold pilots starred major stars or up-and-coming stars.
So, from February 8th to the present, I present several pilots, including one who made it on the 1965-66 prime-time schedule. It was an early product of Aaron Spelling Productions! Plus, you can see an early appearance from a Taylorville, Illinois native in a TV series "pitch" promotional film.
If you like videos, you should visit my YouTube channel. Explore it, give me a "LIKE" for the videos you watch, and subscribe to it. Click on the "YouTube" logo below to go directly to my Channel.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Howie (1962) CBS Unsold Pilot Paul Lynde
"Howie" was reportedly thought of as the replacement for "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which during its first year had lackluster ratings. It was 1962, and Will Hutchins ("Sugarfoot," "Blondie") was Howie. Howie would marry into a family headed by Paul Lynde, as Walter Sims. Howie was a rich, young, somewhat eccentric man who would marry Paul Lynde's daughter, which thrilled her father.
Paul Lynde had careers on Broadway, and he performed with Alice Ghostley ("Bewitched"), Robert Clary ("Hogan's Heroes"), Ertha Kitt, and Carol Lawrence. In 1960 he also was cast as Harry MacAfee, the father of the girl chosen to date the rock singer Conrad Birdie in "Bye Bye Birdie" He also starred in the film as well along with Danville's Dick Van Dyke. He guest-stated on many TV shows, including "The Munsters," "I Dream of Jeannie (produced by Sidney Sheldon), and even "F-Troop." He achieved even more popularity on "The Hollywood Squares" into the 1960s-70s and again in the early 1980s.
Sidney Sheldon ("I Dream of Jeannie") wrote this episode of "Howie," which was produced and directed by William Asher ("Bewitched" and several beach movies from that era). Perhaps Paul Lynde's relationship with William Asher would cast Lynde as Uncle Arthur in "Bewitched" in the 1960s.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Sally and Sam (1965) CBS Gary Lockwood
This pilot starred Gary Lockwood, Cynthia Pepper, and Bernie Kopell ("The Love Boat"). Gary Lockwood starred in "Bus Stop" on ABC in 1961, then "The Lieutenant" (produced by Gene Roddenberry) on NBC from 1963-64, and guest starred as Gary Mitchell in "Star Trek" (created by Gene Roddenberry) second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Later, he was a guest on "12 O'Clock High" and others. However, Lockwood is probably best known for his role as Dr. Frank Poole in "Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey" in 1968.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Operation Greasepaint (1967) CBS Unsold Pilot
This unsold pilot starred Jack Burns ("The Andy Griffith Show" and "Fridays") and Avery Schreiber ("My Mother the Car"). Both toured Europe with a military group to entertain the troops.
It was produced and/or directed by Bud Yorkin ("The Ford Show," "An Evening with Fred Astaire," "All in the Family," "Maude," "Good Times," and "Sanford and Son") and written by the executive producers Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster (known as "Wayne and Shuster" comedians, often appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show").
This pilot show aired on August 12, 1968, under the umbrella title "Out of the Blue."
Others in the show included Fred Williard, who, early in his career, was part of the Second City group, including David Steinberg and Robert Klein. He is given credit for being a founding member of the "Ace Trucking Company." He was often on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and "This is Tom Jones." Willard would also appear regularly on "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" and "Fernwood 2 Night." Since then, he has been a guest star on many TV shows and has done extensive movie work.
Even though Jack Burns had been cast in solo roles in CBS staples like "The Andy Griffith Show" and others, later he would be a part of ABC's answer to SNL, "Fridays" in the 1970s, and worked with Larry David and Michael Richards. Burns, though was part of a comedy duo, with his partner Avery Schreiber, in which he co-starred in "Operation Greasepaint."
Both are shown here from the pilot show. Left: Avery Schreiber and right: Jack Burns.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Class of '55 (1972) Unsold Pilot
This video is an interesting pilot show for a couple of reasons. It comes from 20th Century Fox, which also produced "M*A*S*H" in the same year as "Class of '55". If this series had been produced, we might not have had "M*A*S*H." It would have been canceled right from the start as the lead character, Alan Alda, starred in both.
Another intriguing fact was that if the "Class of '55" series had been picked up, Louise Lasser, the other lead in this pilot, would not have been available to star in "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" two years later. But wait, there's more, as you'll notice if you watch the entire show. Jamie Farr, who plays Klinger in "M*A*S*H," is also in this pilot!
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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.
2024-1208 Updated TV Today-Quincy page with updates and corrections for the PBS stations in the Iowa Public TV group. I also added TBD to the KHQA-TV lineup. Viewers in the Quincy area who watch KHQA should note that the local newscasts are now produced at the Sinclair station from Kirksville, MO/Ottumwa, Iowa station KTVO instead at the former WICD studios in Champaign, IL.
2024-1217 Included a late report published in "TV Technology" with the latest news on "Next Gen TV" and what can be expected soon. There are links to that report on the TV Today page in markets where ATSC 3.0 is being broadcast.
2024-0106 More about the offerings soon to come in some markets with ACTS 3.0 or NextGen TV channels available. Read more from the links below.
2024-0111 Updated TV Today pages for Chicago, Mid-Illinois, Quincy, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Peoria. Several new subchannels were added to each page, and I updated facilities for several stations. I also rebuilt the mid-Illinois page to correct a significant omission, the listings for WCCU/WRSP, and hopefully explain the ATSC 3.0 distribution of channels. They are now complete and updated. If you, by chance, see any errors or changes or have any questions, please let me know.
Latest TV
Headlines
The most watched TV networks-the network ratings from Variety.com
Despite what you may be seeing and hearing, you will probably be surprised by the lists in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo.
NextGen TV and getting more from TV
2024-0106 Take a closer look at all the interactive, built-in features that make your favorite over-the-air shows, news, and live events even more entertaining.
ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV Announces New Devices, Interactive Channels, and Enhanced Programming
2024-0106 At the forefront of the NextGen TV revolution is the debut of new ATSC 3.0 receivers, set to be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. These devices range from premium NextGen TV sets to budget-friendly accessories that upgrade existing Android and Fire TV devices. Among the most anticipated launches is the ADTH USB receiver, developed by Tolka, which offers a cost-effective way for users to access NextGen TV. Future updates will include an offline model and software enhancements for existing devices, further broadening accessibility. Expect to see more about the latest NextGen TV offerings at Central Illinois' On-Line Broadcast Museum!
2025-0111 ATSC Promotes New NextGen TV Gear, Expanded Services at Consumer Electronic Show
The group will demo enhanced video and audio 3.0 services, interactive gaming, more channels, and TV receivers at the Las Vegas technology show and convention
2025-0115 EdgeBeam Wireless ATSC 3.0 Datacasting Hits the Ground Running EdgeBeam Wireless, the joint venture of E.W. Scripps Co., Sinclair, Gray Media, and Nexstar Media Group aims to deliver datacasting service nationwide via ATSC 3.0
2025-0118 The 1973 CBS Saturday Primetime Lineup returns! The Catchy Comedy Network (a sister network to MeTV owned by Chicago's Weigel Broadcasting) has recreated a classic lineup of hit shows to be broadcast during what is now considered impoverished prime-time real estate, but from where these shows were at the top of the ratings in their day.
Catchy Comedy TV will broadcast the original shows each Saturday in their original time slots. Beginning at 7 p.m., "All in the Family " will be followed by "M*A*S*H," "Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show," and "The Carol Burnett Show."
So, just how big are these shows? During the 1973-74 Season, "All in the Family" was number one. "M*A*S*H" was number four, "Mary Tyler Moore Show" was number nine, "The Bob Newhart Show" was number 12, and "The Carol Burnett Show" was number 27. All were reaching those high water marks on a night virtually ignored by the networks today!
The next issue is where "Catchy Comedy TV " is seen across mid-Illinois. The answer is probably not what you want to hear, but here it is....NO WHERE!
If you examine TV TODAY at the top of this page and examine each market looking for what station is broadcasting "Catchy Comedy TV," you will only find it in the Chicago, St. Louis, and Indianapolis markets.
The good news is that it is available throughout the area on a streaming service called "Frndly TV." There are 39 other channels available, including the entire Weigel Broadcasting line-up!!
This is not a commercial for Frndly TV, and I receive no compensation for this recommendation. However, if you're interested in a great selection of TV channels in Hi-Def, here's an opportunity for you.
Click here for the chance of 40+ channels for as little as $9.99 a month. Plus, you can stream two screens at a time, unlimited DVR recordings, and you can keep those for 3 months. Click here or on the logo below for 7 days FREE and more details.
2025-0126 Allen Media Decides to Keep Some Local Meteorologists Where They Are
Because of a public outcry, Allen Media has reversed its decision to dismiss all its meteorologists, at least at most company stations. It's unknown about the stations that cover the far eastern edge of mid-Illinois: WTHI-TV, Channel 10, Terre Haute, IN, and WLFI-TV, Channel 18, Lafayette, IN.
2025-0127 Allen Media reportedly won’t fire local meteorologists after viewer backlash: ‘Greedy, damn cheap’
Allen Media Group is reportedly reversing its controversial plan to ax local meteorologists and replace them with a Weather Channel feed after facing heated backlash from loyal viewers
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.
KXOK Radio and Johnny Rabbitt "Midnight Confessions" (1968)
The TAMI Show (1964) Theater Pay-Per-View H.D.
#1 Shindig! (1964) ABC The Beatles and More
#2 Shindig! 60s Superstars (1964-66) ABC Compilation
#1 Where the Action Is (1966) ABC August 11
#2 Where the Action Is (1966) ABC September 26
Hullabaloo (1965) NBC Gary and Jerry Lewis
American Bandstand 40th Anniversary (1992) ABC Dick Clark
Classic Radio
WLS AM890 Chicago (1989) New Year's Montage
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952) ABC Thanksgiving
Looney Tunes (1954) Syndicated Daffy Duck Thanksgiving
Kraft Music Hall-Perry Como Show (1961) NBC Thanksgiving
Calvin and the Colonel (1961) CBS Thanksgiving
That Girl (1967) ABC Thanksgiving
Dharma and Greg (1997) ABC Thanksgiving
The King of Queens (2001) CBS Thanksgiving
The Lucky Strike Program-Jack Bennty Program (1952) CBS Radio Thanksgiving
The Perry Como Christmas Show (1953) CBS
Holiday Time at Disneyland (1962) NBC
The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963) Christmas Episode
Dean Martin Christmas Show with the Sinatras (1967) NBC
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971) CBS
The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait (1978) ABC
SNL-It's a Wonderful Life: The Lost Ending (1986) NBC
Classic Radio
WWII Broadcast hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (1943) All Radio Networks
A Date With the Angels (1957) ABC Christmas
The Danny Kaye Show (1963) CBS Christmas
The Dean Martin Show (1968) NBC Christmas
The Hollywood Palace (1968) ABC Christmas Show
Andy Williams Christmas Special (1971) NBC Christmas
Classic Radio
It's a Wonderful Life (1947) CBS Radio
The Lawrence Welk Show (1959) ABC Christmas
The Lucy Show (1962) CBS Christmas
Hollywood Palace (1965) ABC Christmas
Bob Hope Christmas Special (1969) NBC
The New Dick Van Dyke Show (1972) CBS Christmas
Sonny and Cher (1973) CBS Christmas
Mork and Mindy (1978) ABC Christmas
Classic Radio
Jack Benny Program (1938-1943) NBC Radio Christmas
New Year's Eve Party with Guy Lombardo (1957-58) CBS
New Year's Rockin' Eve (1976-77) ABC
New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo's Royal Canadians (1978-79) CBS
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (1981-82) ABC
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve '86 (1985-86) ABC
Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve 2012 segment (2012-13) ABC Dick's Final Goodbye
Dick Clark's New Year's Eve - 50 Years a Retrospective (1973-2022)
Recycled 1973 New Year's Eve Show (1973) WDBR Rich Styles
Recycled 1976 New Year's Eve Show (1976) WDBR Rich Styles/Sam Kaiser
Playhouse 90 (1958) CBS Color "The Nutcracker"
Accidental Family (1967) NBC Jerry Van Dyke
Commercials/Promos of the 1960s
Mighty Mouse Playhouse (1964) CBS
Operation Petticoat (1977) ABC "Life in the Pink"
Classic Radio
Doug's Last Day (2002) WDNL(D-102)
WKRP in Cincinnati (1980) CBS "Baby It's Cold Inside"
Friday Night Videos (1984) NBC
Classic Radio
All Night Old Time Radio Shows- Mega Mystery Compilation-11 Hours
Nero Wolf (1959) CBS Unsold Pilot
The Hillbillies of Beverly Hills (1962) CBS First Pilot
My Boy Goggle (1964) CBS Jerry Van Dyke
Run Jack Run (1966) Unknown Network
Three's Company (1976) ABC Unaired First Pilot Show
Bob Sirott (1977) WLS, 890AM Chicago
Howie (1962) CBS Unsold Pilot Paul Lynde
Sally and Sam (1965) CBS Gary Lockwood
Operation Greasepaint (1967) CBS Unsold Pilot
Class of '55 (1972) Unsold Pilot
Honey West (1965) ABC Pilot Show
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959) CBS Pilot Pitch
Classic Radio
Beginning on Feburary 8th, it's all LOCAL TV historical videos from WCIA, WTVP(WAND), WICS, and others. Be sure and tune in here at the Museum!
Central Illinois On-Line Broadcast Museum and dougquick.com supports the work of the St. Louis Media History Foundation.
Visit their website at:
"Howie" was produced by William Asher who would go on to produce a number of sitcoms, and some teenage beach movies in the 1960s. You can see some connections here with other actors that followed him into the 60s on other projects.
The two stars were Alan Alda and Louise Lasser shown here as two former classmates who remarry. Their story is told in flashbacks mixed with current day (at least in 1972).
Cynthia Pepper starred in a series in 1961-62 for ABC called "Margie," about a young woman experiencing life in the 1920s. (If that series had been done today, she would have been experiencing life in the 1980s.) She was also a costar in the Elvis Presley movie "Kissin' Cousins" in 1964. Pepper also guest-starred in "My Three Sons," "Perry Mason," and "The Addams Family." She has continued to guest star on dozens of TV shows through the present time.
This series is set in New York, where Sally meets Sam and begins a relationship. It results from a bet with another intern he worked with at a hospital in New York. "Sally and Sam aired as part of the CBS "General Foods Summer Playhouse" on July 5, 1965.
"Sally and Sam" was written by Hal Kanter, the executive producer. He appears at the end of the series to help pitch the program to the network and advertisers. Kanter worked with Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis in feature films and produced the NBC ground-breaking sitcom "Julia" in the late 1960s. He also made several Academy Awards broadcasts.
Gary Conway is the other main lead. He and his wife, Marian McKnight (1957 Miss America), were formerly in "Burke's Law" from 1963 to 1965 and "Land of the Giants" from 1968 to 1970 for ABC. Conway was also a guest star in several shows from the 1950s through the 1980s. He is also into film production and screenwriting.
"James L. Brooks produced The Class of '55" "co-writing the script with David Seltzer. Fortunately for fans of "M*A*S*H," this series was not picked up for production in 1972, allowing Alan Alda to be with the cast of the classic TV show.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Honey West (1965) ABC Pilot Show
Here's a pilot that made it to air. "Honey West was a first for television in that the star was a female who had an occupation that was and still is mainly held by men. Anne Francis played a female private detective. Her assistant was a male, Sam Bolt, an electronics expert played by John Ericson.
The character "Honey West" was created by the team of Gloria and Forest Fickling under the name of G.G. Fickling during the late 1950s. As I am a fan of the British TV series "The Avengers," I was pleased to see that her character was seen as equivalent to that of Cathy Gale and Emma Peel.
The producer of "Honey West" was Aaron Spelling, who also produced the main series from which "Honey West" was spun, "Burke's Law" starring Gene Barry. The role was originally offered to Honor Blackman, who played Cathy Gale in "The Avengers" and also was in the James Bond film "Goldfinger" in which she played Pussy Galore. Also, as 007 used several electronic devices to fight the bad guys, so did "Honey West" and her assistant Sam.
This pilot show also stars Bert Parks, who hosted the "Miss America Pagent" on TV for several years and was known for his singing "There she is....Miss America...." You'll also notice the obvious appearance of the ABC logo in the behind-the-scenes views of the "show within the show."
"Honey West" aired on ABC from September 17, 1965, through September 2, 1966. It aired on Friday evenings at 8 - 8:30 pm (CT) on WAND, WIRL, and KTVI in mid-Illinois.
The stars of "Honey West," Anne Francis with John Ericson n a scene from the pilot episode above.
Aaron Spelling went on with other partners like Danny Thomas to produce dozens of TV shows from the 1970s into the 90s.
Anne Francis in her only starring vehicle, but she appeared on many TV shows as a guest star, mostly drama and crime shows.
In many cases, the pilots would show up as part of summer programming when viewership was much lower. Since the network had already invested in the production, in this case, CBS owned the air rights to air a particular show as a "filler" to reduce the number of "reruns" during the Summer. This listing is from August 12, 1968, when CBS aired two half-hour pilots back to back during the 9 pm (CT) slot.
(the listing is from the Taylorville Breeze-Courier)
AT the left shows the closing scene of "Class of '55 with Alan Alda remarrying Louis Lasser and photographer Jamie Farr (future "Klinger" on "M*A*S*H.")
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959) CBS Pilot Pitch
I'm including this as the last of the videos as it's not a pilot show. It's a pitch to the advertisers and perhaps even the network for the series "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." In this, it features the lead actor, "Dwayne Hickman," who was just off of "The Bob Cummings Show" to star as Dobie Gillis. A typical teenage boy (he was actually in his mid-20s at the time) who is seeking love from a more than typical teenage girl, any girl, but most of his attention would go to Thalia Menninger, played by Tuesday Weld.
Other young women were given as examples of his attention in this pitch film, including a central Illinois native, Yvonne Craig, who is from my hometown of Taylorville, Illinois. This film also includes Frank Faylen as Herbert T. Gillis, Florida Friebus as Winifred Gillis, Bob Denver (pre-Gilligan's Island) as Maynard G. Krebs, and Dyane Hickman's real-life older brother, Darryl Hickman, as Dobie's older brother Davey.
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" aired on CBS from September 29, 1959, through September 18, 1963. It was also seen across the region on WCIA, WMBD-TV, KHQA, WTHI-TV, and KMOX-TV. In the early to mid-1960s, it was also syndicated across central Illinois on WICS, WCHU, and WICD.
Click on the image to watch the video directly from YouTube.
Dwayne Hickman was perfect in the role as Dobie Gillis, even though he was actually 25 at the time of the shows premier.
It's difficult not to include one of the more well known central Illinois' talents here. Yvonne Craig would go on to star in a few films, many TV show guest appearances including "Star Trek" and a co-starring role as Batgirl on "Batman." She was a Taylorville, Illinois native.
She's also shown in the video link picture above.
Classic Radio
Click on the image to listen to the video directly from YouTube.
WLS AM/FM (1985) Animal Stories Larry Lujack, Tommy Edwards
One of the most popular segments of Larry Lujack's morning show was when he and the mid-day DJ Tommy Edwards would team up with whimsical news stories about animals. The stories were either contributed by listeners or what staff members found in the local news.
The routines were so popular that many of the best were included in a series of record LPs sold to listeners. Many of these albums are still available today at antique and collectible stores.
This is from the Ellis Feaster YouTube Channel.
Pictured here is Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards. (Lujack is the one in the cowboy hat)
