Category Archives: Breaking News From Days Gone By

A PRICELESS PORTRAIT OF TV’S PAST

Two television treasures here from the golden age of local TV. I found these films just the other day and couldn’t wait to get them on-line for you to check out. I’ve never seen either presentation before but both films highlight independent station KTLA as a true forerunner in early television production from back in the day when owned by Paramount Studios. These are priceless portraits of local TV’s “coming of age” and the pioneers who put it all together.  Continue reading A PRICELESS PORTRAIT OF TV’S PAST

FIRST AIRING OF THE ZAPRUDER FILM

The true horror of the Kennedy assassination was brought into the living rooms of Americans on March 6, 1975 – in living color. Geraldo Rivera‘s late night show Good Night America on ABC was the first outlet to air the 8mm film shot more than a decade earlier by bystander Abraham Zapruder in Dallas. Continue reading FIRST AIRING OF THE ZAPRUDER FILM

WITNESS TO LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION!

This is absolutely stunning! Samuel J. Seymour, at the time this episode of I’ve Got A Secret aired on February 9, 1956, was the last surviving witness to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.  Check it out: Continue reading WITNESS TO LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION!

BREAKING NEWS GETS BROKEN

Mrs. Helen Ferguson is devastated when kidnappers snatch her husband and hold him ransom for everything she’s got. Local news reporter Leo MacKenzie scores an exclusive, breaking news interview with Mrs. Ferguson. But once that interview is done, the crew discovers no audio was recorded. What happens next is classic Carol Burnett.

Continue reading BREAKING NEWS GETS BROKEN

WHEN GERALDO MATTERED

From 1973 comes this behind-the-scenes look at how WABC -TV in New York gets a newscast on the air at 6PM. The two highlights for me are seeing Bill Beutel and Geraldo Rivera doing their jobs. I am a fan of Rivera during his news days. Who can forget Willowbrook? I like watching how Rivera tells a story – so anti-establishment for that time and in some ways, would still be today. Continue reading WHEN GERALDO MATTERED