Happy Birthday Channel 11
Channel 11 turns 60 tomorrow. I have a lot of good memories, from growing up, watching WPIX. To this day, it still feels odd to see the Yankees on Channel 9 and the Mets on Channel 11. But, that’s the baseball angle. From a pure T.V. watching angle, I miss those days of watching re-runs of The Odd Couple during “prime time.” I miss watching the late night runnings of the original Star Trek series. Going further back, I miss seeing The Little Rascals and The Adventures Of Superman after school got out. And, watching F-Troop and Abbott & Costello movies on the weekends. Heck, I even miss Pat Harper sleeping on the street for a story on what it’s like to be a homeless person. And the The Twilight Zone, Batman, Gilligan’s Island, Family Affair, Beat The Clock…am I missing anything else?
Anyway, here’s the scoop via Newsday -
WPIX/11′S 60TH
BIRTHDAY BASH
Tomorrow, starting at noon, ending with a 9 p.m. special hosted by Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong.
Reason for watching: If you grew up in the New York area, you have a favorite PIX memory, period, and that will be stirred tomorrow.
What it’s about: Beginning with reruns of classic shows that aired on Ch. 11, there are twofers of “The Little Rascals,” “Abbott & Costello,” “The Three Stooges,” “Adventures of Superman,” “Get Smart,” “My Favorite Martian,” “I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Odd Couple” and “The Honeymooners.” The 9 p.m. special is a mad and comprehensive dash through the years, with classic footage and aforementioned memories.
The bottom line: There was once a lovably eccentric TV station in New York called Ch. 11, or just plain “PIX” (now owned by the Tribune Co., parent company of Newsday.) The reason for this eccentricity is history. Back in 1948, when a big-stakes game of musical chairs called “network affiliation” began, Ch. 11 went its own way, becoming what’s called an “independent.” Like all indies, WPIX – then allied with the Daily News – was a scrappy competitor that had to fight for viewers on budgets far below those of the big boys who were tied with the major networks. This meant reruns, kids shows, old movies, the Yankees and much, much more.
i’m glad you’ll get to renkindle the past steve…
i to remember when the mets were on wwor and the yanks on wpix….i used to watch a lot more mets games (i was a kid i had a lot more time and i didnt have cable), i used to like listening to kiner’s stories…i really dont like keith hernandez or the other guy (not tom darling, i actually like him)
or how about when Scooter would talk about seinfeld (cause he had to do a promo for it)…man i miss those days even tho the yankees sucked
Somewhat after our time, Steve, they had an afternoon kid’s contest with a rudimentary video game (and I mean really rudimentary). The kid would say “PIX” for the video game to do what it was supposed to do (I don’t know, drop apples into a basket? It was something that the kid had to time his call on). So that’s one more memory of WPIX.
Don’t forget the Yule Log
YES! YULE LOG! I actually DVR’d the Yule Log from Channel 11 this year and ran it all day on Christmas night when we opened presents — they had brought it back after the tape was mislabeled and lost for many many years.
I actually prefer it over the yule log I found on one of the HD channels… just not the same.
The Saint Patrick’s Day Parade hosted by Jack McCarthy, for 41 years no less. Priceless. And as Cap’n Jack. RIP
I miss seeing The Little Rascals and The Adventures Of Superman after school got out.
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It was Transformers & GI Joe for my generation.
I kinda miss those days too. At least Ch. 11 kept the New Years Honeymooners marathon.
From central CT, we could get 5, 9, and 11 from New York with varying clarity depending on how long we spent tweaking the antenna. As things got built up more, we lost reception on them, only to get 9 and 11 back when cable came along.
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The Hal Roach era Rascals were priceless. I suspect you can probably find them on DVD now. I think I might go look them up.
How about Officer Joe Bolton? Wasn’t he on PIX? I believe I remember, but am not certain, that when JFK was shot, and every channel suspended normal programming for news coverage, Officer Joe did coverage of the event for kids. Does anyone else remember this?
[...] follow-up to my WPIX entry from the other day. (Thanks to Lisa Swan for giving me a heads up on this one.) The Daily News is [...]
Yes it was Officer Joe Bolton, also Capt Jack and Chuck McCann had afternoon shows on PIX, I will never forget those shows.
Got to meet Chuck McCann in 1967 when I was in the Hospital. He came out to Southside Hospital and saw the kids, He did a dead on impersonation of Maxwell Smart.
I miss WPIX and I am sorry I will not be able to see the special, I hope it comes out on DVD.