September and the school year began and so did I - I got to the station early for my first "live" School News/Philadelphia newscast airing "live" at 8:AM - I hadn't slept much the night before - my main thought driving in and dodging crazy drivers was "Why am I doing this? You left a fairly cushy job for a two thousand dollar raise and a live show at this hour. I was going to have to fight this Philly traffic everyday crossing the Walt Whitman Bridge to do this show. What was I thinking?"
I reported to Studio A and saw my new blue (which didn't matter since this show was in living B&W (black and white) set for the first time. Met "my director" Tim Ward (He looked nervous too! I would learn later this was his first directing job and that's why they assigned him to my 5 minute show. School News: Philadelphia was not Masterpiece Theatre that was for sure!) I put on my own makeup. Pull up my tie and then sat in the dark studio watching the clock tick down to my fate - my TV debut.
And I had made the beginners classic mistake right out of the starting gate. I was going to do five minutes telling my audience what I was going to be doing for the next 179 shows. I would learn that this was a waste. In the many shows I would produce in the next 20 years I never did another preview. I learned that you don't promise - you may not get another chance. You have got to grab the audience immediately so they "need" to see the show the next time.
I started to sweat. And Sterling Scott the veteran floor manger handed me a cup of water from the cooler - he could tell I had the "flop-sweats" already - Scotty as he was called, had been around the broadcasting block since TV began in Philadelphia.
Studio "A" was a small two camera set-up. The cameramen changed almost daily and I have no recollection of one name of the many bored techs I met that year. Next door was the cavernous Studio "B" - a very famous place where the original Bandstand was aired nationally with the fledgling host Dick Clark. Our station was originally WFIL TV Channel 6 and was donated by Walter Annenberg to Channel 12 Public Television when he moved to a new facility on City Line Avenue in Bala Cynwd PA - few miles out of the city.
I read over my script for the last time. No teleprompter for my low-budget show for that would require and added operator. I was also learning that everything in the TV business had a price tag.
Then I got my first cue. "One Minute to Air" - Scotty announced
Then "30 Seconds" "10 Seconds (Yikes)
"3...2...and - he pointed at me like throwing a dagger.
I just sat there looking into the deep black circle of one of the three of the camera's lens and saw a reflection of me looking back...Scotty tossed me another cue even more dramatically. And then it occurred to me - the audio tech, the video tech, the cameraman, the floor director and, last but not least, the director were waiting for me to say or do something.
And so I began and I have no idea what I said then or now - but the 4:55 seconds went by and then it was over. I had produced and performed in my first show.
I reported to Studio A and saw my new blue (which didn't matter since this show was in living B&W (black and white) set for the first time. Met "my director" Tim Ward (He looked nervous too! I would learn later this was his first directing job and that's why they assigned him to my 5 minute show. School News: Philadelphia was not Masterpiece Theatre that was for sure!) I put on my own makeup. Pull up my tie and then sat in the dark studio watching the clock tick down to my fate - my TV debut.
And I had made the beginners classic mistake right out of the starting gate. I was going to do five minutes telling my audience what I was going to be doing for the next 179 shows. I would learn that this was a waste. In the many shows I would produce in the next 20 years I never did another preview. I learned that you don't promise - you may not get another chance. You have got to grab the audience immediately so they "need" to see the show the next time.
I started to sweat. And Sterling Scott the veteran floor manger handed me a cup of water from the cooler - he could tell I had the "flop-sweats" already - Scotty as he was called, had been around the broadcasting block since TV began in Philadelphia.
Studio "A" was a small two camera set-up. The cameramen changed almost daily and I have no recollection of one name of the many bored techs I met that year. Next door was the cavernous Studio "B" - a very famous place where the original Bandstand was aired nationally with the fledgling host Dick Clark. Our station was originally WFIL TV Channel 6 and was donated by Walter Annenberg to Channel 12 Public Television when he moved to a new facility on City Line Avenue in Bala Cynwd PA - few miles out of the city.
I read over my script for the last time. No teleprompter for my low-budget show for that would require and added operator. I was also learning that everything in the TV business had a price tag.
Then I got my first cue. "One Minute to Air" - Scotty announced
Then "30 Seconds" "10 Seconds (Yikes)
"3...2...and - he pointed at me like throwing a dagger.
I just sat there looking into the deep black circle of one of the three of the camera's lens and saw a reflection of me looking back...Scotty tossed me another cue even more dramatically. And then it occurred to me - the audio tech, the video tech, the cameraman, the floor director and, last but not least, the director were waiting for me to say or do something.
And so I began and I have no idea what I said then or now - but the 4:55 seconds went by and then it was over. I had produced and performed in my first show.
My life in TV had begun...
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