The Return of Gino's Restaurants!

I got good news yesterday:  the long dormant fast food chain Gino's is coming back!  One of their new locations will be in King of Prussia, PA, outside of Philadelphia.  I loved Gino's when I was a kid.  There was a location within walking distance from my house back in the 70s, until the entire chain was sold to Marriott.  Many locations were converted to Roy Rogers locations, but there was already an existing Roy's across the street in my neighborhood, so the new owners converted it to a KFC, which it remains to this day.  I'm sure the food won't taste quite the same as it did back then, but I love to see a fond slice of nostalgia come back.

Here is the Web site for the returning chain, and here is a cool fan site for the old locations.

And as always, here are some great Gino's commercials.  Enjoy!

The Fray, How To Save A Life/Snoopy Come Home Mashup

It's been awhile since I posted a Peanuts-related item, something I planned on doing regularly since this is Peanuts 60th anniversary. Here is a cool item I just discovered this morning: a mashup of footage from the theatrical film Snoopy Come Home with the song "How To Save A Life" by The Fray (made popular on Grey's Anatomy). The two things really do work well together, and the song brings out the sad tone that permeates much of the movie (if you've never seen it, you'd be surprised how sad the movie is). Don't let the clip depress you too much, as it really is well done. Thanks!

WPHL-TV Channel 17 Philadelphia, "The Great Entertainer"

Not being one to resist giving old broadcasting a plug, I continue my nostalgic trip through Philly TV past, this time with a look at WPHL-TV Channel 17, known in the late 70s and early 80s as "The Great Entertainer."  I didn't watch too much stuff on 17 back in my very early youth, as Channel 48 had the majority of what I was interested in.  Still, there were definitely highlights, some of which I'll spotlight here.



Welcome Back Kotter!



Barney Miller!



Its spinoff Fish!



The original Battlestar (I'll stop with the exclamation points).



Star Trek.



As far as kids programming goes, I watched the 60s Filmation Superman and King Kong cartoons during the summer in the mornings, and Ultraman, Spectreman, and Speed Racer in the afternoon, but the most important contribution to my childhood that Channel 17 made was airing the 60s Spider-Man cartoon, one of my favorites TV shows ever.  Not just cartoon series, but any kind of series.  When Channel 48 died, much of their equipment and library went to Channel 17.  When that happened, Spidey left 17 and was off the air in Philly until Channel 57 brought it back in the mid-80s.

Today the station is mostly still independent, save for its affiliation with My Network TV, of which I'm not a fan, to put it mildly.  The station, however, does recognize its past with a section of its Web site called "Vintage 17," where you can see the clips I posted here as well as some others.

I apologize to those not interested in my Philly-centric tone of late.  I'll get back to more broad topics soon.  Until then, here is Channel 17, and me, signing off!

WGBS TV "Philly 57"

In the wake of the sign-off of WKBS-TV in Philly, the city was reduced to two commercial UHF stations for two years before the sign-on of WGBS-TV, "Philly 57."  Formerly the signal was used as an outlet for local cable premium channel PRISM until the license was purchased by the Grant Broadcasting System and relaunched with much fanfare as the city's newest entertainment station.  Although it didn't market itself as the successor to Channel 48, it unofficially took up the old station's mantle.  The station has gone through several ownership changes since its launch; today it is owned and operated by CBS/Viacom as a CW affiliate.

Here are several clips, commercials, and promos from the station's first few years of operation.  For more detailed information on the station, click here.  Enjoy!

WKBS TV Channel 48 Philadelphia Part 2

One of my most successful posts on the blog is my article about the late and lamented Philadelphia TV station, WKBS Channel 48.  No matter what I'm currently blogging about, this article is always in the top two or three most read articles at any given time.  As demand for information on the station continues, and as it's been over two years since I wrote the last article, it's high time I featured Channel 48 again.  So without further ado, here goes!

Here are a couple of quick voiceovers between programs.  The second clip is credited to Don Rose, a legendary radio DJ who voiced all of the Field TV stations, but I'm not sure it's him in this case.  The voice sounds a bit high, but his inflections are there.





Going back even before I was born, here are some audio airchecks of promos from 1970. This is before Kaiser Broadcasting and Field Communications merged.




Don't miss Sanford & Son tomorrow night at 7:30!



Next is a news brief (featuring future KYW Newsradio anchor Pat Farnack) and even an editorial, something TV stations rarely do anymore.




Finally, here are a few clips edited from viewings of Channel 48's 8:00 movie that aired on weeknights, including station promos and various commercials.






Here is another blog dedicated exclusively to Kaiser/Fleids stations.  Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated in a few years, but the material that is there is good stuff.

Thanks!

Philadelphia Radio Station TV Commercials

Putting my abilities to beat a dead horse to the test, here are yet more Philadephia local TV commercials, this time for Philly radio stations.  There's something ironic about radio stations advertising on TV, but I believe it's integral for a successful radion station.  Here are some great ones, some for statioins still around, others for stations long put to rest.

The beautiful music format tried to make a comeback in teh market in the early 90s on 560 Am, WISH, sister station to B101-FM, a station which formerly held the format.



Speaking of B101, it was known as Easy 101 in its old format. Here it is now, (among some other TV station promos and commercials).



Here a young woman speaks the praises of Hot AC station Star 104.5. It is now alt-rock station Radio 104.5.



For you rockers out there, here are two spots for 94 WYSP, still a rock station today.




Here's a clip for WIOQ, which was then an AOR station, now a CHR.



After this format, it was an oldies station for a year or so, and a very good one, too.



Speaking of oldies (my favorite format), here are spots for WOGL Oldies 98, still on the air today...



...and WFIL, 560 AM. Today it's a Christian talk format.



"Rock on, Philly!"

Krass Brothers TV Commercials

Continuing to plow through as many nostalgic Philadelphia TV commercials as possible, today I present  many short but entertaining commercials for Krass Bros. clothing stores.  Run by charismatic owner Ben Krass, the store was an institution, made famous in no small part by his funny, and somewhat bizarre, TV commercials.  If you grew up in Philly, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Regardless, take a look!