(gentle classical music) - [Announcer] The following is a stereo presentation of WYES-TV, New Orleans.

"New Orleans TV: The Golden Age" is made possible by the WYES Producers Circle, a group of generous contributors dedicated to the support of channel 12's local productions.

Dreams and dreams keep us going.

Dreams keep us growing.

Dreams keep us thriving.

Hancock Whitney.

Your dream.

Our mission.

And by contributions to WYES from viewers like you.

Thank you.

(static buzzes) - [Angela] It took the flip of a switch, and the turn of a dial, more than 50 years ago, for television to become an unforgettable part of local culture.

- Hi, and may I wish you a perfectly beautiful day, another in a long string of lovely days.

(frenetic orchestral music) - Well, hi, everybody, top o' the evenin' to you.

Here's one for the books!

- This is the high-pressure system that dropped down behind the cold front that came through yesterday morning.

- Those bald brains at the university who kicked me out years ago shall regret the words they spoke against me!

(cackles) They said I was a nut!

- Now, the obvious question immediately presents itself.

Why, why did this happen?

- The Three Dog Night, and "Joy to the World."

♪ Jeremiah was a bullfrog - I'm Bob.

- And I'm Jan, and we're the Carrs.

- Both legally, and happily.

- And in just a moment, I'll be back with more news.

(gentle orchestral music) - [Angela] Ask any New Orleans baby boomer to recall their favorite shows and stars, and the answers are much the same.

The memories of local TV shows and stars remain vivid.

Even if most of what we saw was black and white.

In fact, some of the earliest memories are of a rather simple, but memorable offering.

(test pattern beeps) - I would wait for the test pattern to come on TV!

I'd wait for an hour, I'd watch it on Saturday mornings, just watch the test pattern, which had black, the iron lace gratings, it had Jackson Square, it was a beautiful piece of art!

It really was, it was so distinctive.

- [Angela] The test pattern might be distinctive, but for New Orleans kids, there was fortunately much more to watch.

In the early '50s, the hottest ticket in town for the younger set was an invitation to the show, hosted on Channel 6, by Mrs. Muffin.

- Some people say, "I remember she was Miss Muffin."

Oh, no.

She was Mrs. Muffin, she wore a wedding ring, she was married, you know, it was very wholesome.

Everything was very wholesome back then.

- Oh, of course Mrs. Muffin.

Mrs. Muffin was the one lady who baked cookies, and her hair was in a bun, and she had birthday parties for the children.

- It started, it was first Mrs. Muffin's birthday party, then the surprise party, and then something else party.

And then we did a Saturday morning Mrs. Muffin program, "Mrs. Muffin's Magic Cottage."

It just kinda grew and grew and grew.

- [Angela] Terry Flettrich actually began her local broadcasting career in radio, on WWL.

Like Flettrich, another radio personality crossed over into television with kids.

Henry Dupre was well known as a member of the Dawnbusters troupe on WWL radio.

When channel 4 hit the air, Dupre's broadcasting talents helped him make a smooth transition, and earned him a place in TV history, and our TV family, as an uncle.

Uncle Henry, on "Popeye and Pals."

Years before he became an entertainment critic, Al Shea starred as Deputy Oops, and his channel 6 costar literally lit up the screen.

- And I had rigged up this light, just a bulb, which, a light bulb, I believe that that base was an old lamp.

And, a metal lamp to a paddle that he had rigged up.

And I would talk to Deputy Oops, and I would move my foot, standing up you couldn't see my foot, and he would answer back.

He would go (speaks gibberish) when it lit.

- [Angela] America's fascination with outer space helped inspire another local children's show.

In 1961, channel 4 staff announcer John Pela starred as Captain Mercury.

- And Captain Mercury was gonna be the first guy to land on the moon.

And he did it every day, with his little spaceship, and about seven of our little astronauts, little kids dressed up with the little gear.

- [Angela] It wasn't space, but the silver screen that influenced a very popular local kids' show from 1959 until 1965.

Wayne Mack moved from being a staff announcer at channel 6 to starring as The Great McNutt.

- You know, "Lights, camera, action.

"Start the cotton-pickin' program."

- The fellow who was doing the kids' show spent too much time drinking martinis across the street, and so they fired him, and they asked me if I could do a kids' show, and I said yeah, I thought I could, I'd been watching him, and, I thought I could do it better sober than he did loaded.

- The premise was that he was a movie director.

And he would sit in a studio chair, and then when each kid would come in, and he would announce 'em, like, "Here's Mary Smith."

And he never faulted, would have something funny, and charming, to say to the kids.

- [Angela] In the 1960s, a popular kids show host helped make a name for the city's newest station, WJMR, which later became WVUE.

Johnny Miller hosted "Johnny's Follies," and entertained the in-studio and at-home audience with his brand of music and fun.

Another simple yet popular children's program, "Let's Tell A Story," ran on channel 6 for decades.

The show was produced by the local chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women.

- Huge storybook set, and the storybook opens, and the little elf, "Oh," wakes up and yawns, and sits on the tree stump, and gets up, and notices the audience, it's almost like the song outta "Gypsy," "And then, I spot the audience!"

The elf notices the audience and starts doing a little dance, and introduces the storyteller.

- Hello, boys and girls, if you give me a look, you'll know right away that I am a cook!

- It was a 15-minute story, and it was in the days when they had five-minute shows, 15-minute shows, half an hour shows.

This was 15 minutes, and it was all memorized.

- For Linda Mintz, "Let's Tell A Story" was just the first chapter in local children's TV.

(spring boings) - Happy Jack says it's time for the "Romper Room" school, and time for us to sing Mr. Do Bee's special song and talk about our Do Bee reminder.

- [Angela] In the early 1970s, she became one of the city's favorite schoolteachers, on "Romper Room."

But Miss Linda actually took over the role from Miss Ginny Hostetler.

She hosted an earlier version of "Romper Room" on WWL.

There, the feel and format were much the same.

- It was a nursery school, with six children, and the object of the show, in my opinion, was to prepare children for big school.

So we had physical fitness, we had reading readiness, preparation for the things that they would need to know when the went to big school.

And it was also an attempt on my part to erase any fears that children might have about going to big school.

- [Angela] Earning a spot on "Romper Room" required writing a letter to Miss Linda.

But through the magic of television, even those boys and girls who didn't appear on the show had a special connection.

- This is the magic mirror.

We closed every single show with the magic mirror.

(cheerful music) ♪ Romper bomper, stomper, boo, ♪ Tell me, tell me, tell me do ♪ Magic mirror, help me today ♪ Did my friends at home have fun at play ♪ I see O'Neill, Amir, and Scott, and Lisa, I see Isaac, and Etta, and Nichole and Jan.

There are Ralphie and Frank Peter, hi, Mike and Harold.

I see Betsy and Craig, and Jake, and Debby and Ann.

And all my Do Bees, I see you, too.

I'll see you Monday morning, right here, in the "Romper Room" School.

Bye, now.

- [Angela] One New Orleans television station was designed almost specifically with children in mind.

WYES signed on April 1st, 1957, fulfilling the dream of a group of community activists dedicated to the mission of educational television.

But for sheer longevity, when it comes to children's TV, few can compare with this snowman-turned-pitchman, who appeared every December on WDSU.

(gentle bell music) ♪ Hello, everybody, hello ♪ I hope you will like our little show ♪ ♪ Jingle, jangle, jingle ♪ Here comes Mr. Bingle, ♪ With another message from Kris Kringle ♪ ♪ Time to launch the Christmas season ♪ ♪ Maison Blanche makes Christmas pleasin' ♪ ♪ Gifts galore for you and me ♪ Each a gem from MB That is inculcated in me, I heard it so many times.

- [Angela] Mr. Bingle was the brainchild of advertising managers at the old Maison Blanche department store.

The man pulling his strings was puppeteer Oscar Isentrout.

- And I was Pete the Penguin, his sidekick.

I don't know if I can do the voice anymore.

It used to be a voice like this, that's what you did.

You said, "Hi, Bingle!"

And we got paid very well, it used to take care o' my insurance for my kids (laughs) for the whole year.

That was a show that really paid.

And sometime Bingle was ill, (laughs) because he worked so hard, for the orphans, during the Christmas holidays, he'd go and do shows, and he was just, he was out of it.

And I would have to do Bingle.

I'd have to, I would do this voice, and then try to do Bingle, (sighs).

Of course, it was double money.

So I did it.

(upbeat funk music) - [Angela] As New Orleans kids were growing up during the 1960s and early 1970s, for many, this was must-see TV.

New Orleans' version of "American Bandstand," every Saturday afternoon on channel 4.

The show premiered in the late 1950s as "Saturday Hop," but was later renamed, in honor of a popular new host.

- I was here, I was here two weeks.

And Mike Early called me up to his office, and he said, "Have you ever done a dance show before?"

Now, let me preface this.

In television, in those days, you never said no.

"Yes, I've done a dance show before."

"Good, because," and this was on a Thursday.

He said, "Good, because this Saturday, "you're doing 'Saturday Hop.'"

- [Angela] John Pela easily moved into his new role.

And as the show's popularity grew, almost every teenager in town wanted to come on.

But rules were rules.

- You had to be at least 14 years of age, through senior in high school, and, well, I even hate to say it now, but there was a height limit.

(chuckles) You had to be able to pass a mark that we had on the door (laughing) of the studio.

We really didn't turn short people away, but we sorta, you know, said to them, "Don't stay in the front (laughs) too much."

You'd be amazed at the number of confessions I've had made to me in later years.

I bump into somebody who's 30-somethin' years old, sayin', "You know, I wasn't really 14, I was 12."

(laughs) "Yeah, okay."

- [Angela] Writer David Cuthbert appeared on the show several times as a teenager, and remembers the show's enormous popularity.

- It was extraordinary.

I mean, the kids would be lined up all the way down, from the studio, out into the office of channel 4 and onto the street, to get on.

And the first kids to get there got to go on.

- [Angela] In addition to teenagers who earned a guest shot on the show, there were regular attractions, including performers from the Hazel Romano, and later, Tony Bevinetto dancing schools.

♪ Why do you build me up, build me up ♪ ♪ Buttercup, baby, just to let me down ♪ - They were girls from Nicholls, and Fortier, and they had the beehives, and the white eyeshadow, and the white lipstick, and it was just fabulously '60s.

Short skirts, short, short skirts, but I think they had a rule, about the skirts could only be so short.

I think Pela had a yardstick there, or a ruler, to make sure that the skirts weren't too short, you know?

They didn't want to be accused of indecency.

- [Angela] The host himself admits he did have to keep a watchful eye on sometimes risque fashions and dancing fads.

- In fact, somebody once said to me, "I know how you manage the best ratings "in New Orleans on Saturday," and I said, "How?"

He said, (laughing) "Every guy in a bar "with a dirty white T-shirt and a beer in his hand "is lookin' at those go-go dancers!"

(chuckles) ♪ For once in my life, I won't let sorrow hurt me ♪ (theremin buzzes spookily) - [Eric] Greetings.

It's time to join the master, Morgus the Magnificent.

(glass rattling) - [Angela] For anyone who grew up watching TV in the 1960s, these sounds and scenes say it all.

- Oh!

(laughs nervously) Oh, hello, hello, my dear followers of the fantastic.

Once again, my genius shall be put to a test before the entire scientific world.

- [Angela] There was only one place to be on Saturday nights back then: parked in front of the TV for a science lesson from a, shall we say, renowned scientific mind, that of Dr. Momus Alexander Morgus.

(liquid bubbling) - [Morgus] Success is only acquired through constant effort, and today, we are going to connect our patient here to our artificial heart machine.

Once he gets this heart connected to his body through this big tube over here, why, he'll be able to live to be about 200 years old.

All right, sterilize, oh, I gotta get the glove on.

(sighs) Let's see here.

(rubber rustling) Oh, well I don't need that one.

All right, take it away, that should be sterile.

Okay.

Now, Chopsley?

- And Morgus was the biggest event in television, for kids, you know, nine to 13 and 14, that ever happened in TV.

- Oh, don't be afraid, Chopsley!

Look, look, have I ever failed?

Oh, don't be silly, I've never failed at anything!

- We would watch it, we would have groups of kids over to watch it.

You'd watch it, and in between in commercial breaks, you'd call up everybody and say, "Wait till you see what he's doin' this week, "he's got the Instant People Machine on!"

- [Angela] Dr. Morgus first brought his talents to WWL-TV in 1959.

The setting for the show?

His lab, above the old city ice house.

There he updated viewers on his scientific exploits, in between segments of horror movies.

Always a part of the scientific formula, Chopsley, Morgus's hulk of an assistant, who wore a hood as a result of some unfortunate plastic surgery performed by the master.

There was also Eric, the preserved brain and skull of a former lab assistant, who watched over things in the laboratory and served as the doctor's perfect foil.

- Isn't that right, Eric?

- [Eric] Yes, master.

- [Angela] In 1961, Morgus hit the big screen with a full-length feature film, "The Wacky World of Dr.

Morgus."

It was fitting, then, that he later welcomed movie and entertainment critic Al Shea into his lab.

- It really is nice of you, Dr. Morgus, to let me come by here today to talk to you.

So many of our "Midday" viewers are really anxious to know what you're, do you mind not standing so close?

- Oh, I'm sorry.

- What you're really like.

(coughs) - Well, you see, I got a lotta chemicals here.

And of course, I'm sorry about the place, but you know, cleanliness is next to nothingness!

I tell ya, it's what you do that counts in this world.

- [Angela] After leaving the airwaves in the 1970s, Morgus made a TV comeback in 1987.

(creepy futuristic music) - Good evening.

Welcome to "Morgus Presents."

- [Angela] His lab, and his scientific methods, looked much the same.

- Oh!

(laughs) Look busy.

Well, good evening, my dear friends of science.

Those who know the true meaning of the symbol.

- [Angela] After more than 40 years on television, even now, the good doctor is still at it, as we see in this rare look behind the scenes, inside his laboratory.

- Are we on the air yet?

Oh, (chuckles).

(phone rattles) Hello, there, (laughs) my dear friends of science.

Oh, am I happy to be a part of this historical TV documentary.

After all, you know, it was I, Morgus, who introduced the world's first live, unrehearsed reality program to television!

That was back in the 1950s.

Back then, you know, Chep Morrison was the mayor.

In fact, I brought such national recognition to New Orleans, he gave me the keys to this city!

Of course, Mayor Schiro came in later, and changed all the locks.

- [Angela] Talk to most of the people who helped launch the golden age of New Orleans television, and most will modestly say, they were at the right place at the right time.

But in reality, it's what's they did with this new medium that sets them apart.

The golden age begins in 1948, when TV itself becomes a reality here.

That's the year WDSU becomes the city, and state's, first television station.

The man behind it, Edgar Stern, Jr., was the son of a wealthy family, and looking for a job.

- Actually, my dad, and my mother, wanted to launch me on a career.

I'd been trained in the army as a radar maintenance officer.

I never got to do it, in actual life, but I was very well trained.

And suddenly, the idea of getting into the television business came up, and television technically was very much like radar.

And I, from an engineering standpoint, I could understand it thoroughly.

- [Angela] That fascination with the technical side of TV would prove beneficial, especially since Stern and his team would be building a TV station from scratch.

Soon, a team of engineers would build a transmitter atop the Hibernia Bank building, then the tallest in town, and set up studios inside.

Members of the crew, led by chief engineer Lindsey Riddle, truly were learning by doing.

- Well, when the cameras came, Lindsey and Edgar said, "Okay, "the cameras are in these crates, put 'em together."

And I said, "That's nice, except "I have never even seen a television set."

(laughs) I had never seen a television picture, or anything else.

- [Angela] To help sell New Orleanians on this new thing called television, WDSU practiced producing TV shows.

The D H Holmes department store was an early sponsor, and an advertising manager there hastily recruited a young radio personality, named Terry Flettrich, to pitch the product.

- And I said, "Well, I've never seen television!"

And he said, "Oh, nothing!

"Nothing to it."

I said, "Well, can't I at least take some time off, "and go to wherever they have it?"

I don't think they had it south of the Mason-Dixon line!

And he said, "No, there isn't time!

"There isn't time, you just put these programs together.

"Because, don't you know," he said, "television's just radio with pictures."

And I've never forgotten those magic words.

(laughing) Sometimes, that's all it is!

(cheerful orchestral music) - [Angela] If anyone can properly be called the first lady of local TV, it is Terry Flettrich.

She was on the air here from day one, and went on to contribute some of the local medium's most memorable moments.

When WDSU signed on December 18th, 1948, it did so as the sixth station in the South, and the 48th in the United States.

While TV was new, for many people just being able to turn on the set and see a picture, no matter how primitive, was special.

- Well, we had the transmitter ready to go, one night about two o'clock in the morning, we decided we'd put a picture on the air.

And when we did, some lady called, and she was outta breath, she could hardly talk.

She'd received the picture on the little 10-inch screen that she had.

- Before long, WDSU's program schedule filled up with productions aired on location.

Like this one, "Around the Town with Mr. Brown," sponsored by Brown's Velvet Dairy.

It featured live music from Lenfant's restaurant.

Other programs were broadcast from tiny studios at the Hibernia Bank.

By the early 1950s, WDSU had outgrown its downtown digs, and moved to the French Quarter, setting up shop in the historic Brulatour Mansion, at 520 Royal Street.

And by then, WDSU had built a stable of stars.

Mel Leavitt, a native of St. Louis, who came to work at WDSU as a sports announcer, was among the brightest.

(energetic orchestral music) - Well, hi, everybody, top o' the evenin' to ya.

Here's one for the books!

- And Mel was pure talent.

No matter what he touched, what he did, he did it well.

He was an excellent writer.

I thought, one of the best writers in the city, whether he was writing for television, or writing for print.

He wrote beautifully.

And then, of course, he had this great ability to present what he had written, and with feeling, with emotion, passion.

A genius at television, in coming up with ideas and presenting them to the public.

- [Angela] Channel 6 also served as the launching pad for the career of a soon-to-be major star.

Dick Van Dyke hosted his own comedy show here, in the 1950s.

- And I started doin' a daily show, four o'clock, for an hour, with nothing.

Just me, to start with, and I think if I had a little trio.

And besides that, I pulled an eight-hour shift as a staff announcer, and I did some new news, and I had a couple o' regular shows, and things like that.

But the little hour we did on television kinda began to catch on, and we began to get some kids coming in as an audience.

And it got to be kind of a thing!

I really enjoyed it.

- [Angela] For most of its first 10 years on the air, channel 6 was the only station in town.

For that reason, it was able to build a bond with viewers that would be hard to break.

But the Jesuits of Loyola University were willing to try.

In 1957, after building WWL radio into a nationally-known operation, Loyola was ready to try television.

These are photographs of WWL's first night on the air, broadcasting from the studios on North Rampart Street.

In those early years, channel 4 struggled a bit to find its footing, until someone new, labor lawyer J Michael Early, took over the reins as general manager in 1961.

- We're talking about the golden age of television, I think the golden age of television in New Orleans started the day Mike Early walked in the door.

He was a labor lawyer, sure, but he was a very intelligent man, and he was determined not to let this station continue to become a purveyor of sitcoms.

- My goal was to be number one.

I've never settled for second in my life.

I didn't know how long it would take us to get there, but I knew that this was my goal.

(clock chiming) (cheerful music) - [Announcer] It's high noon in the Crescent City, and time to catch up on the news, with a lot of people on "Midday," 60 minutes of information and fun.

Now, today's index.

Two additions of the news, and stories behind the news, with Alec Gifford and Terry Flettrich.

A news conference with a mayoralty candidate.

A weekend weather report, from the weather office of Nash Roberts.

Community memos and music with Pete Laudeman.

And fun with Wayne Mack and the ladies of the St. Claude Heights Mothers' Club.

Produced for you on "Midday" by Terry Flettrich.

- Hi, and may I wish you a perfect beautiful day, another in a long string of lovely days.

- [Angela] From the 1950s through the 1970s, this channel 6 news talk variety show was what many consider local programming at its best.

Host and producer Terry Flettrich was "Midday"'s biggest star, but not from the beginning.

She originally wrote material for the program's predecessor, "Our House," with host Vera Massey.

What viewers didn't know was that Massey suffered from a debilitating illness, and had to be carried on and off the set.

- And then she left, I think maybe she needed to go back for treatment or whatever.

And she'd left rather precipitously, so they hadn't found a replacement.

And so they asked me, Louie Reed, whether I would take over.

And again, you know, (laughs) I'd never done it!

And he said, "It's just for a little while, "we'll get somebody else, we'll get someone from New York.

"Would you do it, just for a little while?"

So, I did.

And interestingly enough, there was a rating period, and it went sky-high, and so, I got stuck in it.

- [Angela] Flettrich was stuck, and New Orleanians were hooked.

She and the regular cast became local favorites.

- Time now for the news, and for that, here's Alec Gifford.

Alec?

- Thank you, Terry, good afternoon everyone.

The Orleans Parish grand jury says-- - It was a news magazine show!

But it was done in a very folksy way, Terry Flettrich would read magazine articles to you.

She would have things off the top of her head, she would talk about topical things.

She was very much topical.

- "Midday" was definitely the first magazine show tailored after, because "The Today Show" was on, and it was tailored after that same format.

Always having the news, always having the weather, and then topics that were geared to the New Orleans area.

- I guess it was like "Life," with pictures?

Well, news, important people in the news, celebrities, with a strong emphasis on writers, and a very strong emphasis on our city, and our state, 'cause I fell in love with it, and I still am.

- [Angela] Terry Flettrich's personal touch helped "Midday" draw big ratings during its heyday.

- The show was so popular that people who were presidents of banks, went home at noon, to see the show, and to see the newscast!

And people in surrounding areas, little towns outside the New Orleans area, would go home at noon to watch the "Midday" show!

- [Angela] Announcer and cohost Wayne Mack, the man kids knew as The Great McNutt, entertained their mothers each day in the studio audience.

- We had nice little tables, with flowers and tablecloths, and different women's clubs and school clubs, there'd be maybe 20 ladies.

And, you know, that can get pretty boring, but not with Wayne!

(upbeat piano music) - Oh, nothing but blue skies!

Hey, that, Pete!

You got us off to a good start there, Pete, welcome to the program.

And also, welcome to the St. Claude Heights Mothers' Club today, brought back by popular demand.

They called us up and demanded that they be put back on the show!

(audience women laughing) - [Wayne] Bless their hearts, I'm sure most of 'em have passed on, now, to the great "Midday" show in the sky.

But they used to get their hair done, get a hat, and a lot of 'em had to pay a babysitter, and then they'd park next door.

So it cost 'em to come down here, and we'd serve 'em stale sandwiches and warm Pepsi-Cola.

And they'd see me get the microphone and start around to talk to 'em, and a bunch of 'em would say, "Don't ask me nothin'."

- [Angela] After working behind the scenes as a producer on "Midday," Al Shea moved in front of the camera, as entertainment critic and celebrity interviewer.

For "Midday," Shea also made annual trips to Hollywood, stargazing for the small-screen audience.

Two "Midday" regulars give him much of the credit for landing them a job in local television.

In the early 1960s, Bob and Jan Carr were new to town, and working for WWL radio.

It wasn't "Midday," but a morning program, "Second Cup," that helped launch their local TV career.

At the time, the channel 6 show was looking for two new hosts.

(upbeat orchestral music) - Ah, thank you, Al.

If you haven't trick-and-treated in the French Quarter, you've got sort of a treat coming for you, instead of a trick, because-- We really owe our career to Al Shea, in broadcasting in New Orleans, because he's the one that first kind of identified us, and said, "Hey, I think there may be "an opportunity for you at channel 6."

- So we went up to see Mr. Louie Reed, and Jerry Romig, and they said, "Yeah, you know, fine, bring 'em over."

So we did an audition, and did a few commercials for 'em, and they fell in love with us!

And they hired us on the spot!

(laughs) - (laughs) They fell in love with us.

- And so, that was August of '61, if I remember right.

- I'm Bob.

- And I'm Jan, and we're the Carrs.

- Both legally, and happily, at home, and-- - Here, on the magnificent roof of the Royal Orleans Hotel.

Good morning, Hal, thank you!

We're here Monday through Friday, nine to 9:30, up here on the roof of the Royal Orleans Hotel.

- We're in New Orleans now, but we're natives of Cleveland both.

- But really, we call New Orleans our home, and we hope for a long, long time to come.

- [Angela] Back on the "Midday" set, segments in the kitchen were a staple.

Helping to keep things moving was chef's assistant Marie Matthews, who had appeared on cooking shows on channel 6 since the 1950s.

On "Midday," she served things up with the chef from Brennan's restaurant.

- And he was a character.

Because he could speak very little English, so you could hardly understand (laughs) what he was sayin'.

(laughing) I hate to say this, bless his soul, he's dead and gone, but Chef Paul used to bring over brandy, liquor, in like, vinegar bottles, and things like that.

And we had a stagehand, and that particular day, he just knew Paul had left some brandy in the bottle, and he turned the bottle up to his mouth, and, (laughs) it wound up to be vinegar.

And I thought, oh, he nearly had a fit.

(upbeat fanfare music) - [Announcer] A fashion forecast in color, as D H Holmes presents, "The International Look," American designs at home, anywhere in the world.

"The International Look," from homes, at home the world over.

And the international choice in color this season, from the maharajas of India, Raja Red.

- [Angela] For local TV stations, staying on the air meant paying the bills.

And that, of course, meant a word from the sponsor.

♪ Rosenberg's, Rosenberg's ♪ 1825 Tulane - [Angela] The commercials are in many ways as memorable as the programs themselves, and often just as creative.

(upbeat music) (train chugging) ♪ Hello, mellow Jax, little darlin' ♪ ♪ You're the beer for me, yes siree ♪ - [Angela] Some soon-to-be famous faces also pop up in classic local commercials.

Here's actress Betty White selling coffee.

And then there are the stars made famous just by their commercials.

Commercial pitchman Dick Bruce worked as a staff announcer at channel 6 for many years, but is much better known for his taste for Mackenzie's Pastries.

- Well, he would take a big piece of pie, and it would be like this, it'd be a headshot.

And he would (imitates chomping) go into that, and go, "Mm, that's good!"

And we'd go, "Ooh, I'm gonna run away," you know.

(laughs) But it sold, that was Mackenzie!

Mackenzie's hired 'im, and hired 'im, and hired 'im, and hired 'im!

(noble fanfare music) - [Announcer] This is "Your Esso Reporter," with headlines of the world, presented by Esso Standard Oil Company, and your nearby Esso dealer.

- [Angela] Often the commercial content wasn't reserved for just the spots in between the programming.

- Good evening everyone, this is Alec Gifford reporting.

Here's the interesting thing about that, as compared to what happens today.

The Esso newscast was controlled by Esso.

Esso insisted on the number of stories that are in the newscast, on the type of stories that were in the newscast.

Much as we hate to admit that, it was sponsor control of the newscast.

People will say, "As today, "doesn't sponsor control the newscast?"

No, they do not.

They simply buy time in that newscast, and they get what they pay for.

- [Angela] Alec Gifford joined WDSU in 1955, just as the station's first news director, Bill Monroe, was slowly building the newsroom.

Monroe went to work for the station after leaving the "Item" newspaper.

- So, I went over there to see if there was a opening for a news director.

I had done some radio, but nobody in those days had done any television.

Television was brand new!

So, I took over the job as news director of a new television station, without any television experience.

It was the kind of thing that happened in those days.

- I mean, it was a golden age, but really, in a sense, it was a stone age, of television!

(chuckles) I hate to say that, but we had no idea what we were doing.

We had no idea, you know, how to do television news, how to color it, and so forth.

So we really were kind of in a stone age, than a golden age.

- [Angela] Across town, WWL was also building its newsroom.

One of channel 4's early stars, retired anchor and reporter Bill Elder, came to channel 4 in 1966.

- Representing the entire staff here at WWL, I'm Bill Elder.

- He was a man who was born to be in the news department.

Just born to be a newsman.

And, was great, and fearless!

I mean, he had people threatening 'im, to beat 'im up and everything else, and it didn't matter, he was gonna get that story.

Always got it.

Always got the story.

- [Angela] Phil Johnson, the man who would go on to call the shots as channel 4's news director, actually joined WWL as promotion director in 1960.

- I was recommended to go to channel 4, they were looking for a promotion man.

And I went and talked to the general manager, and he said, "What have you promoted lately?"

and I said, "Mostly me."

And, (chuckles) he said, "That's good enough for me," and he hired me.

Oh, we need the river, the port, and tourism, but we need more, so very much more, if this city is to grow and thrive.

- [Angela] Johnson found his niche in the news department just as channel 4 was finding its footing in the competition for local news viewers, with a commitment to traveling the globe to cover news stories.

That was clear when the station traveled to Rome for a documentary on the Second Vatican Council.

- Then we went to Vietnam!

(soft ominous music) (tank rattles) Did a 90-minute documentary on the war in Vietnam, and mostly through the eyes of New Orleanians who were in Vietnam.

We're talking to a sergeant named Donner in south Vietnam.

And you've got to know that all the Donners come from Algiers, is that right, sergeant?

- That's correct.

- [Angela] One hard-nosed newsman found a niche in New Orleans TV toward the end of his career.

Jim Metcalf had covered news here throughout the '60s and '70s, but was burning out at channel 4.

- He hated going out on assignments where people would die, and there were fires, and there was blood, and gore.

Hated it, he did it.

And then, as he neared his 50th birthday, he had an illness, when he came back, Phil Johnson said, "Do some feature stuff."

- [Phil] I could see that he had talent.

He could write, my God, he could write.

- [Jim] This is Jim Metcalf.

- He said, "Well, I'm a pretty good feature man."

I said, "Fine, give me three features a week."

(sentimental orchestral music) We wound up with the "Sunday Journal."

He did his own half hour, every Sunday, 9:30 to 10.

Beat the network competition!

Amazing.

- [Jim] Once again, we are betrayed, the words and I.

Faced with a challenge we cannot overcome.

We cannot translate the quiet splendor of a flower into symbols set on paper.

- And it became so distinctive, and what he did became so distinctive, he won the Peabody Award!

So in the last two, three years of Jim Metcalf's life, when most guys are being kicked outta the news business, you know, all these young guys are coming in, and here he was in his 50s, he got to do what he wanted to do.

He got to do who he was, he said, "For the first time, I was able to communicate."

- And now, we would thank you for being with us, and we bid you good night.

- [Angela] Another Sunday night feature helped introduce New Orleans viewers to the wonders of color television.

"Shades of New Orleans" presented photo essays, in color, and often set to music.

The series was hosted for many years by Leo Willette.

- Leo was a staff announcer, on channel 4, and he said the first image that was ever broadcast was of his face.

He said, "When they broke the color cameras "outta the crates at channel 4, "I was the guy they did the skin tests with, "the color tests with."

And the first time you saw color image was "Shades of New Orleans."

(majestic orchestral music) - [Announcer] This has been another in the many "Shades of New Orleans."

- [Announcer] Now, tonight's editorial.

Here is John Corporon.

- Mother's and fathers of New Orleans, you may have concluded that-- - [Angela] For some local stations, their bond with the community was strengthened by the stance they took on issues affecting New Orleans, through daily editorials.

At channel 6, that job went first to Bill Monroe, and later news director John Corporon.

Editorials were also delivered by station executive Jerry Romig, who began his career in the newsroom at channel 6.

- The idea of I doing an editorial mainly was to give the community another voice.

"The Item" had gone out of business, the "States-Item" had ceased to publish, and that left only the morning paper with an editorial voice for the city.

Mr. Stern, and Bill Monroe both had this strong feeling that the city was just too big to be a one-editorial-voice town.

- Good evening.

- [Angela] Soon, New Orleans had another daily editorial.

Phil Johnson would help WWL-TV find its editorial voice in 1962, at the urging of general manager Mike Early.

- Well, the Jesuits let 'im know that they expected the station to stand for something.

And, he figured that, well, if you're gonna stand for something, we'll let you know.

And started the editorial.

I got the copy of the first editorial, and it pretty much lays down the rules of what we're gonna do.

"Good evening," I said, (laughs) which I said for 37 years.

"Today, a new voice speaks out in New Orleans, "the voice out of this station, WWL-TV.

"My name is Phil Johnson.

"Beginning today, and every weekday hereafter, "this station will present editorial opinion, "a living vigorous commentary on all things pertaining "to New Orleans, its people, and its future."

- [Announcer] And next, the channel 6 editorial cartoon, by Chase.

- [Angela] On innovation across town at WDSU, involved someone who had been expressing his opinion for years, on paper: John Churchill Chase.

- Faces can tell the story of other matters of importance going on today.

Khrushchev is again threatening, this time his Communist colleague.

He stares daggers at Mao.

Tomorrow, Goldwater brings a campaign for President to the city.

His visit poses a problem for Schiro, who would like to be a good host and remain a good Democrat.

But for New Orleans tonight, four young visitors from England seem to top the news.

♪ Close your eyes and I'll kiss you ♪ ♪ Tomorrow I'll miss you ♪ Remember I'll always be true ♪ And then while I'm away ♪ I'll write home every day, and I'll send ♪ - John was the editorial cartoonist for the "States-Item."

And it was a Bill Monroe idea, again, creativity.

First time ever in America, an editorial cartoonist.

We had the editorial, now here was an opportunity to supplement that editorial with a cartoon.

Most of the times, his cartoon blended in with the written, spoken editorial.

- [Announcer] This portion of today's "Midday" is brought to you by Bosco, a handy jar of Bosco is Mother's best friend.

Now, to the weather office of Nash Roberts.

- Hi there.

This is the way the weekend map looks.

This is the high-pressure system that dropped down behind the cold front that came through yesterday morning.

- He knew how to use a Marks-A-Lot, that's for sure.

(laughs) He could present the weather very simply, but very clearly, and rarely was he wrong.

Rarely.

- If you're looking for the man, he's the man.

- Our winds would go from northeast, and finally round to east-- - [Angela] For over 50 years, Nash Roberts was the man New Orleanians turned to for the lowdown on Louisiana's weather.

And that's with good reason.

He had been on their TV sets almost from the beginning, having worked for three stations in town, beginning with a freelance job on channel 6, tracking a hurricane.

But Roberts never thought a TV career would follow.

- We did a demonstration, a demo, with me down in the studio actually doing a show.

And they upstairs at 6, up in the heavens there somewhere, they were viewing this thing, see.

Well, when I finished, we took the elevator and went upstairs, and they were all sitting around in the audition room.

But they said, "Well, how do you like it?"

Well, he said, "Would you object to a 13-week exclusion?"

And I said, "For what?"

They said, "Because, if it doesn't work, "we wanna be out of it, for 13 weeks."

I said, (laughing) "It won't last 13 days!

(laughs) "And I'll be glad to let you "sign an exclusion for 13 weeks."

And, of course, that's the first really bad forecast I did.

It went from nothing, to years.

- [Angela] While Roberts became known as the hurricane expert, he was just one of New Orleans' many memorable weathermen.

Nash's brother Ep Roberts joined him at channel 6 on morning weather reports.

Over at channel 4, Al Duckworth guided viewers through Hurricane Camille, and its aftermath.

Weather caster Don Westbrook was a fixture on WWL's newscast almost from the beginning.

Originally one of a handful of staff announcers whose voice accompanied most every commercial and station break, Westbrook earned his stripes as a weather caster who could communicate.

"Magnificent" might be the most fitting way to describe the work of a TV personality who moonlighted as a weather caster in the 1960s.

- I'm gonna call these people, oh, excuse me, there's the people.

(laughs) I was gonna call the television station here, they're runnin' a little late here!

You know, I'm a busy scientist, I can't play around with these, waiting around here, holding up for some television station to pick up my scientific weather show!

You know, I mean, I gotta make money here!

I got all-- (metal rumbles) Aw.

- [Angela] For many people in New Orleans in the 1960s, Hap Glaudi's was the first name in TV sports.

- Go ahead, Hap, what have we got today?

- Well, we got a lotta sports, of course, that's what, (laughs) that's what I'm doin', right, sports?

(both laugh) You wouldn't expect me to give a consumer report, would you, Marvin?

- I don't know-- - [Angela] A native New Orleanian, Hap spoke like one, and as channel 4 sports anchor, called things like he saw them.

His sportscasts were unlike what most fans had ever seen, or heard, before.

- We're going to let you take a look at some action from the two games yesterday, in the professional playoffs in Minnesota.

The, uh, what victories was it?

Well, take a look at it, I won't tell you.

- [Angela] Channel 6's sports director in the 1960s, Wayne Mack, took over the anchor chair once held by Mel Leavitt.

But for many years, before sitting behind the sports desk each day, he performed another role.

- And I thought, "Only in New Orleans "could you do a kids' show in boots, and a wig, and ... You know, at four o'clock, and then, at 4:30 change into a suit and tie, and go on the set and do a sports show.

If you tried that anywhere else in the country, they'd laugh you off the set.

But in New Orleans we got away with it.

Fortunately.

(crowd cheering) - As for our present-- - [Angela] For TV personalities in New Orleans, there was a key assignment from day one: covering Carnival.

For WDSU, that meant staking out a spot on the station's Royal Street balcony.

At the time, the parades rolled through the French Quarter.

- We put cameras on the second floor balcony on Royal Street, we put one on the balcony, and one on the ground level in front of 520 Royal Street, where the studios were.

So the parades passed directly in front of our cameras, and very, very close to our cameras.

- [Angela] For many years, channel 6 anchor Mel Leavitt provided the nightly commentary for the parades.

- [Mel] And now, coming into view, float number seven, Roses, and Comus here is flying, I believe, with Omar Khayyam, and carrying through his theme of coupling poetry with visual presentation tonight.

The quote from Omar Khayyam-- - [Angela] New Orleans viewers also took part in a true local TV tradition each Mardi Gras, staying up late to watch the conclusion of Carnival, as WDSU televised the meeting of the courts of Rex and Comus.

The broadcast's most famous announcer was channel 6 chief announcer, Gay Batson.

- [Gay] For the 20th consecutive year, it is my pleasure to be your host for WDSU Television.

I'm Gay Batson, and with me is Anne Merrick.

(stately band music) The first formal visit took place during the Carnival season of 1882, and since that time, it has been an established custom.

- He was the voice of Carnival, you know?

If you didn't go to sleep, listening to him.

- But it got so when he was doing this Meeting of the Courts that the script was exactly the same, for about, oh, I don't think it ever changed!

So people began to memorize certain phrases that Gay would use, like he would say, "The Queen of Comus resumes her position "alongside the King of Rex."

(laughs) And people would memorize those phrases, you know, and sing 'em along with Gay, when he was talking.

(tense music) - [Announcer] And now, it's time for "Eyewitness News," the South's most complete and up-to-the-minute coverage of local, national, and world news.

- Good evening, I'm Ron Hutter.

In the news-- - [Angela] By the early 1970s, the baby boomers, who were born with television, were growing up.

And the stations they watched as children were changing too.

The call letters of one station, WWOM, stood for "Wonderful World Of Movies."

It later became WGNO, channel 26.

There was also WVUE, which, for technical reasons, had moved all over the dial since the day it signed on in 1953 as a UHF station.

In 1970, WVUE swapped channel positions with WYES.

12 became 8, and vice versa.

To promote the big switch, WVUE invited viewers to watch the first half of a movie, "The Naked Jungle," on channel 12, the second half on the new channel 8.

- They're headed this way, all right.

- [Angela] With WDSU facing the competition, and changes to the industry, Edgar Stern was ready to sell off the station.

In 1972, the Cosmos Broadcasting Company, of Columbia, South Carolina, bought the station.

- It's happened so much since then.

You get somebody from out of the state to take over, and they don't have the New Orleans, Louisiana mystique!

You know, they don't understand any of this.

And so, they don't have a soul!

(laughs) And so everything that had color, and vigor, and soul, and interest, it was all, (imitates puff of smoke) "Goodbye, Charlie."

- Tragedy with a capital T. We were told that they were good operators, but they were heavily, heavily bottom line-oriented.

- [Angela] The sale of channel 6 to out-of-town owners mirrored what was happening to stations across the country.

Here, new management drove away some of channel 6's biggest stars.

And as their favorites there changed, viewers began switching channels.

Most noticeably, to WWL.

- We were building, building, building, all along, and all of a sudden, there we were, number one.

And the good thing about it was that it was number one for four decades, for 40 years.

And it's still number one!

And that's good, that's how you wanna build.

You don't want to be a flash in the pan.

- [Angela] While many of the faces may have changed, the success stories on the New Orleans TV dial are still about longevity, personality, and originality.

And in the mind of one longtime viewer and critic, that includes being able to have fun in the process.

- Mm!

- Oh, boy.

- Good Lipton tea, I'm tryin' to get his sponsor!

(laughs) - After tonight, you may have it!

(laughs) - I'll just take this sponsor myself, now!

(chuckles) - Yeah, well, fine, enjoy yourself then.

- They had fun back then, and it shows.

It shows in some of the tapes that remain, it shows in the memories of the people, it shows in the memories of the people who watched them.

You had fun with those people.

- Well, I think probably that was the most exciting thing about it.

Yes, because we didn't see it, we didn't know what it was, so we really had to crawl into whatever ingenuity, intuitiveness, imagination, whatever, that we had.

And so, we did our damnedest!

And, you know, I guess it wasn't too bad.

'Cause as I think about what we did, it was, some of it is about as good as it gets.

(laughs) - But I remember, my father watched the fights all the time, and they were sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon.

And my brother Michael and myself, we would not drink milk unless it was in a beer glass.

One of those cylindrical beer glass things?

My mother was very indulgent, got us beer glasses.

My grandmother was horrified.

"No, that'll teach those children to drink beer!"

She said, "It's milk, Mother," you know?

(mutters playfully) - As she's wont to do, she would start first.

- Yeah, and I would say, "This is Jan." - "And this is Bob, and we would like "to talk about Luzianne Coffee, "because we think it's so wonderful."

- And then, he would say, "No, no, "that doesn't sound right, that doesn't sound right."

- So, all of a sudden, we were getting frustrated, and I said, "Well, let's just get on with it.

"This is Bob."

- "And this is Jan." - "For Luzianne."

That did it.

(laughs) - And Peter said, "That's it, that's it!"

So, that's how.

- So it was, "This is Bob and this is Jan, "for Luzianne, and that's it."

That's good stuff.

(Jan chuckles) - All I remember is my husband said, "We're not gonna have this at our house, "I don't want our kids watching this."

And we didn't get a TV set for a year after we went on the air.

So, (laughs) that's a reaction.

- Went into the studio, and they said, "Stand here on this piece o' tape, "and there's the camera, and go ahead and do your thing."

And I looked at the camera, and my first thought was, "You know, I could be standing in my kitchen, "talking to the refrigerator!"

And I think that sustained me all the years.

I was never frightened of a camera.

Just, I thought it was silly!

I mean, what, send pictures through the air?

I mean, come on.

(laughs) - Magic mirror, tell me today, did my friends at home have fun at play?

I see Dominic, and I see Dana, and I see Bill, and Jimmy, and Susie.

I see all my good friends.

And I'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early, in the "Romper Room" school.

Bye, now!

- Well, what else can I say?

Good evening.

- [Announcer] "New Orleans TV: The Golden Age" is made possible by the WYES Producers Circle, a group of generous contributors dedicated to the support of channel 12's local productions.

Dreams and dreams keep us going.

Dreams keep us growing.

Dreams keep us thriving.

Hancock Whitney.

Your dream.

Our mission.

And by contributions to WYES from viewers like you.

Thank you.