Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Era of Bay Area TV News That I Would Never Make Fun Of; Wednesday First Take; Flashback To Royalty




Take a look at this video--it'll bring back a lot of mostly good memories. You don't see much of this anymore on present-day Bay Area TV News.


Today we have many posers. As opposed to...


Well, I miss Dennis and Elaine --miss "Big Mac" and Kate Kelly at KPIX when PIX mattered. I miss the KRON class of Bob Jimenez, Evan White, and Mark Thompson. Jimenez was cool, calm and collected. Evan White was a news custodian. He'd reassure everyone in case there was a disaster like the '89 Loma Prietta Earthquake. Mac too.


Many of you don't know that Roberta Gonzales worked at the old "San Jose News Channel", KNTV and those like me who had a serious crush on Maggie Scura. Whoa!


Several of you forgot that Sylvia Chase, who KRON paid big bucks to nab from ABC to come out west and work at 1001 Van Ness. She debuted after the Super Bowl in 1986. About the last time Gary Radnich referred to KRON as his "Buster Brown" outpost.


One of the best anchor teams ever in the 80's: Evan White, Bob Jimenez, Mark Thompson and Radnich. (Gary, if only you could be a quarter of what you once were on TV).


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13 comments:

  1. I remember when Sylvia Chase came to KRON. Billboards and ads all over shouting, "The Chase Is On!"

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  2. Wow--thanks for this, Rich!
    I worked in the Bay Area News biz from for 15-years...leaving the biz and the BA 15-years ago. Seeing these show "opens" brought back so many fond memories--especially that cheesy KNTV show open (I started there in the early 80's).

    I am actually "spacing out" at work right now...spending the last 30-minutes thinking back to my TV news days in San Jose & SF.

    Thanks Rich!

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  3. Sylvia Chase was ill suited as a news anchor. And she had a bad habit at laughing at Wayne Shannon's jokes...even when he wasn't making any.

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  4. Brought back memories for me too Rich....I was the announcer at KPIX for close to 10 years during its heyday.....McElhatton, Tokuda, Kelly, et.al. In fact, that's my voice on those KPIX opens.....I wonder if I could collect any residuals on those "sounders". I
    could always use a little extra $. Thanks for posting them.

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    Replies
    1. You have a great voice. I think you announced at Stanford Stadium as well right?

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  5. Had a friend who operated a camera who ended up getting fired from KTVU because he kept Elaine in focus too long (she was sensitive about her acne scars). Also was told to avoid side shots of her as she didn't like her nose either.
    He worked for KRON too, said Emerald Yeh was great.

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure the rest of them didn't like Elaine from the side or front either. The back was pretty good, especially the last night when it was headed out the door for the last time. We don't miss you, bitch, anymore than we miss Terilyn Joe, Anna Chavez or Wendy Tokuda. Spoiled brats, all of them.

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  6. Meteorologist Mike PechnerAugust 6, 2014 at 12:17 PM

    I was Bob Hullmans sub on KNTV for two years in the late 70's and substituted for him on vacation. Maggie Scura was the anchor along with another excellent anchor whose name escapes me at the moment. She can run circles around most of the anchors on Bay Area TV today except for Cathrine Heenan. This was my first TV job and she taught me to be calm, cool and collected despite that fact I was in awe of her. She was straight forward, no hype, no jive, just the facts and a great ad libber on breaking news. A real professional and fun to work with.

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  7. Emerald Yeh. That's a name out of the past. What ever happened to her?

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    Replies
    1. She got canned around 2003. Noon anchor who was paid waaay more than she was worth. She was the first KRON "name" who got axed.

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    2. Saw her on a flight to New York a couple years ago and she looked great - exactly the same.

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  8. I second the kudos about Maggi Scura.
    I was hired at KNTV in the early 80's..there's not a nicer, sweeter and yet more professional and DARN GOOD anchor that I've met in my entire 25-year TV news career.

    She would "hang" with us in that small "break/TV room" (the one with vending machines..and a ratty microwave oven...she coined it "Chez 11). She'd watch Jeopardy with us...wheel of fortune...or a Giants game.

    TOTAL sweetheart...and a pretty damn good anchor, to boot.

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    Replies
    1. Utmost respect for her. But can someone please fill us in on the fun she had before going on air for the holiday parade downtown one year in the 80s?

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