If you weren't able to go downtown to check out yesterday's Thanksgiving Parade, and you'd like to poke through the broadcast (which went around the nation on WGN America), you can check out each and every marching band, balloon and waving princess on the WGN website. But it's something WGN itself did yesterday that gave us pause. On the WGN Float is the whole gang: Tom Skilling, Pat Tomasulo and Ana Belaval from the morning show and...Bozo the Clown. The same Bozo the Clown that was unceremoniously dumped from the station's lineup in 2001 after more than four decades of bringing joy to Chicagoland kiddies. more ›

Alan Livingston, the man who, among other things, is credited with creating Bozo the Clown, has passed away at the age of 91. While Livingston will best be remembered as the president of Capitol Records who was responsible for signing The Beach Boys, Steve Miller, The Band, Frank Sinatra, and The Beatles, he'll be remembered locally as the creator of Bozo the Clown. more ›

A slightly shorter podcast this week, but the star power packed within should offset that somewhat, we hope. Last week's Tribune article about the leftovers from the Bozo show piqued our curiosity - who wouldn't want to have the Bozo Buckets hanging around their house? So we contacted our Bozo of choice, Joey D'Auria, who spoke with us about his experience on the show, as well as what he's kept from his time at WGN. more ›

Local television stations will be participating in small, five minute test sessions tomorrow in order to help viewers prepare for the nationwide switch to digital broadcasting on Febrary 17, 2009. WGN Channel 9 viewers who are equipped to handle the digital signal will receive an on-screen confirmation, while those with outdated eqipment will see Bozo the Clown appear on their screens, saying, “It’s me, your ol’ pal Bozo, a big part of WGN’s glorious past, with an important message for you about the future of WGN. If you can see me right now, that means you’re NOT ready for America’s conversion to DTV, digital television.” All local TV stations perform test sessions tomorrow at 6:53 a.m. and 5:23 p.m. more ›

When we were kids taking summer road trips down to Florida, it was always somewhat comforting to be able to turn on the TV and see good ol' Tommy Skilling on the WGN Superstation giving the weather reports for the Chicago area. Nowadays on the Superstation, the noon and 9pm newscasts continue to air nationwide, but the Superstation schedule is almost completely different from the local showings. (Sports broadcasts are included in Superstation scheduling as well.) But is the Tribune Company about to kill the call letters? Or maybe get rid of even more than that? Rob Feder seems to think so. [S-T] more ›