Results tagged “wgn”

When we spoke with Rick Klein about his online Museum of Classic Chicago Television (colloquially known as Fuzzy Memories) for this Chicagoist interview, one of the things that was mentioned was the way that WGN-TV was barring his site from posting TV clips from the station.

And you thought Obama had approval rating issues. A new poll released by WGN and the Chicago Tribune claims that Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has an abysmal approval rating of 10 percent, which is even lower than Blago's was last fall before his arrest. The poll was made of 300 registered Cook County voters and a full 70 percent of those polled disapproved of Stroger and 72 percent said they don't want to see him re-elected.

• He's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.
• The Sun-Times looks into a fence that cost taxpayers over $45,000 but seems to have benefited Ald. Ed Burke (14th) the most by keeping those damn kids with their rock'n'roll music off his lawn.
• Jackie Heard, Mayor Daley's press secretary, is not amused with media reports suggesting she rented a house to drug dealers.

While Drew Peterson remains jailed on charges of killing third wife Kathleen Savio, WGN AM has gone forward with a mock trial and will air the mock closing arguments this Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. According to WGN:

Kathy and Judy are off the air at WGN. This doesn't really mean much to us, but we suspect our mother is very upset by this news. She loved those girls. I mean, really loved 'em. So we're guessing that there's a wide swath of folks mourning the demise of their radio show. What's even worse is that the plug was pulled so abruptly so we imagine there're a bunch of folks in semi-shock right now (not least off all Kathy and Judy!). So long gals, you'll be missed. [CBN]

Friend of Chicagoist Pat Tomasulo of WGN started the Blackhawks season this year by swapping places with a few of the 'Hawks. With the team's first appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 14 years on tap - once the Red Wings and Ducks decided their series - we thought it'd be fun to look back at this video.

Four local television stations are banding together to share coverage of non-exclusive events, according to a report by Phil Rosenthal in yesterday's Tribune. The stations involved in the agreement are NBC 5, Fox 32, CBS 2, and WGN. The hold-out? Top-ranked ABC 7, whose chief Emily Barr "has said she wants her station to remain independent and flexible with its coverage," according to Rosenthal. Essentially, there would be one camera crew at a non-exclusive event - i.e., a Mayor Daley press conference - that will feed all four stations with each station deciding on how it uses that footage, also cutting down on costs. Check out Rosenthal's story for more information, including quotes from each station.

It's Thursday and with such gorgeous weather, it's hard not to think about the weekend, but remember that tonight's episode of 30 Rock - featuring a few Second City alums you may be familiar with - will also feature footage from actor Tracy Morgan's 2007 visit to WGN's morning show, further proving that the line between fiction and reality has been blurred beyond imagination. The episode airs tonight on NBC 5 at 8:30 p.m. [Thanks to our pals at WGN for the original tip]

When last we saw WGN's Pat Tomasulo, he gave us the best anti-Facebook rant we've ever heard. Now he's back and taking on vanity license plates. It also got us looking back fondly on "Bumper Stumpers."

We needed some good news this morning, and any news that enables us to watch the amazing clip below (which we've probably run at least two or three times already on the site) is good enough for us.

While former governor Rod Blagojevich was paying Karl a visit, Gov. Quinn was preparing to counter Blago's attacks on him. Sure enough, Quinn appeared on WGN 720 AM with John Williams, calling Blago, "yesterday's tomatoes." SNAP! Quinn also admitted he listened to Blago's appearance for about half-an-hour and took questions from listeners. You can listen to Quinn being interviewed here: Part 1 (MP3) and Part 2 (MP3).

That isn't us in front of you at the convenience store, holding up the line while muttering specific numeric combinations to the harried counter attendant like a druid who has the economic downturn all figured out. Straight/box, 4-way combos, Pick 3, Pick 4, and any number of those garish quick-play pieces -- it's wishful thinking in our opinion, and we'd rather spend that cash on a personal stimulus package in the form of Hostess Zingers.

WGN's Pat Tomasulo is cranky and by God, he's not gonna take it anymore. Normally, we're wary of mainstream media's take on social media, but Pat...actually makes us laugh with this video about Facebook etiquette, especially when he shouts his "status updates" to random people on the street. While not quite as cantankerous as Andy Rooney, Pat does remind us of Chicagoist's own curmudgeon, Tankboy. Plus, this video reminded us of another take on Facebook, a classic bonus video you can check out after the jump.

We've always thought speculation about whether or not your favorite television news anchor wears pants under that desk was rather juvenile and silly. However we admit that we have long wondered just what the heck they do during commercial breaks. WGN's Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange break down that wall to reveal the truth behind the mystery.

The collective group of Chicago radio obsessives that make up part of the Chicagoist staff have posted in the past about Kevin Matthews, Steve & Garry, the Loop collectively, the Blaze, and Mancow. One man we hadn't written about was "Chicago Ed" Schwartz, longtime late-night king of Chicago radio. No one dominated overnight Chicago radio like Schwartz, and it's a shame his first mention on this site is for the occasion of his passing yesterday.

For many of you, today is your first day back at work in two weeks. Right about now, you're in need of something that's just bizarre and funny and doesn't require you to think, it just requires you to watch and be amazed. We present to you this old yet still amazing clip of actor Tracy Morgan doing his thing on WGN. No matter how many times we watch it, it never ceases to amaze us, especially the highlight which starts at the 2:50 mark.

We first stumbled across Rick Klein's site, FuzzyMemories.TV, while we were researching a post about Christmas advertising in Chicago. After we lost a full 2 hours browsing through a ton of local video content, we knew that Klein had something amazing there. Between decades-old newscasts, ancient local commercials, and the short produced pieces called "bumpers" that ran around all of our local programming, it's possible to get a real sensation of time travel. It's as though we were sent back to when we were kids, getting out of school and camping out in front of the TV with some potato chips and cartoons.

It was a small piece buried at the end of yesterday's Cubs round-up from Paul Sullivan, but it seems that Cubs broadcaster Bob Brenly has landed himself on the short list of managerial candidates for the Cubs' NL Central rivals, the Brewers. Steve Rosenbloom commented a bit on the story today, claiming it's unlikely Brenly would leave unless the Brewers managed to re-sign robo-armed ace C.C. Sabathia. Fair enough. Either way, we're not surprised a former manager with a World Series ring is in demand.

Renowned local television and radio personality Norman Ross passed away this morning at the age of 86 from congestive heart failure. Ross was a popular radio host on WGN and WFMT, including the shows Tunes from Talman and The Norman Ross Show. Ross also worked at ABC 7 as a reporter and commentator from 1989 to 2001. Away from the media, Ross was "vice president for public affairs for First National Bank of Chicago for many years, and chaired the architectural competition for a new downtown Chicago public library." His father was Norman Ross, Sr., 1920 Olympic gold medalist and also a radio host.

Were you going to watch the new from 7–9pm like I thought they were going to, they're airing the Cubs game. The teen drama is scheduled to air from 10:30pm–12:30am instead. You know. When teenagers are up. Grrrr.

From the "this makes us feel old" department: Merri Dee, WGN TV's director of community relations since we had the stiff neck and crotch view, is leaving the station to join the leadership council of AARP Illinois.

Our biggest local news crush Mark Suppelsa will be back on the air starting in a few weeks. The plan from June has indeed come to fruition: Suppelsa will anchor the 9pm news on WGN alongside Allison Payne. Come September, station veteran Steve Sanders will move from the 9 o'clock spot to a newly-formed 11:30am–1pm newscast, and Suppelsa and Payne will anchor a new 5:30pm cast. That brings WGN's local news programming to a grand total to 37 hours per week.

Dean Cage was wrongfully convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault 14 years ago and has been in prison ever since. DNA evidence cleared him over the weekend. [S-T]

WGN didn't lead off last night's 9 p.m. newscast with more Clinton/Obama drama. Instead, they started the newscast with Jackie Bange's discovery of an advanced rodent civilization in Terminal 1, Concourse C of O'Hare Airport.

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]

Charges were filed today in the Halloween killing of Back of the Yards resident Leticia Barrera Orlando Avila, 18, was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder. [Trib]

Jeffrey Ross isn't that funny, and these jokes are so generic they came in a bag instead of a box...but that part at the very end? Where one of the guys calls Robin a whore? That part is wild! Looks like Sam Zell isn't the only part of the Tribune Company who likes to talk fresh.