Feder’s Chicago media flashback: March 1990
An assortment of news items (updated and annotated) from my Chicago Sun-Times column 20 years ago this week:
- “The hottest tickets in town — 125,000 free passes to ‘The Bozo Show’ — will be up for grabs. For the first time since the waiting list was frozen with a 10-year backlog in 1980, WGN-Channel 9 will accept requests for ‘Bozo’ audience tickets, covering tapings from this fall through 1995. . . . All available tickets will be allotted on one day only — next Saturday — via a special 900 telephone line.” [Tribune Co. canceled “The Bozo Show” in 2001 after 40 years on the air. I’m still mad at them for it.]
- “It’s anchors away at WMAQ-Channel 5, with Ysabel Duron and Mary Murnane preparing to move on from the NBC-owned station to advance their careers. And poised to take over where Duron and Murnane leave off is newcomer Jackie Bange, described by her bosses as Channel 5’s ‘next big star.’ ” [Bange, who joined Channel 5 the previous fall, jumped to Channel 9 in 1993. She now anchors weekends there. Duron is a weekend anchor at KRON-TV in San Francisco. I’ve lost track of Murnane.]
- “High as ever on Jonathon Brandmeier’s potential for television, NBC now plans to showcase the Chicago radio star in a prime-time network special . . . [that] will serve as the pilot for a proposed variety series. ‘We don’t quite know what the show will be yet, but it’s our strong belief that we have a tremendous asset in Jonathon,’ said Rick Ludwin, NBC senior vice president.” [“Johnny B. on the Loose,” a nationally syndicated variety show, ran for just five weeks in 1991. “I didn’t want to do it, and my gut is always right,” Brandmeier later lamented. His most recent radio gig — mornings at classic rock WLUP-FM (97.9) — ended last November.]
- “Rich Koz, the WCKG-FM (105.9) morning man who moonlights on ‘The Koz Zone’ Saturday nights on WFLD-Channel 32, is expanding his television duties to five days a week. Starting next month, Koz will trade his weekend comedy role to host Channel 32’s lineup of children’s programs from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.” [Koz resumed his signature role as “Svengoolie” (shortened from “Son of Svengoolie”) in 1995 at WCIU-Channel 26, where he still holds forth. He was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Chicago Television Academy in 2004.]
- “Edward R. Vrdolyak’s brief career as a radio talk show host appears to have derailed at WLS-AM (890). After five months as a Sunday night fixture on the all-talk station, the former Chicago alderman and mayoral candidate has been missing from the mike for three weeks. . . . ‘He’s still in our plans, and I still think he’s got a future with the radio station,’ [program director] Drew Hayes said.” [Vrdolyak teamed with Ty Wansley to co-host afternoons on WLS from 1993 to 1994. The duo spent two years after that at the former WJJD. In 2008, Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Wansley is morning news anchor at urban contemporary WGCI-FM (107.5). Hayes returned to WLS as operations director in January.]
- “Good news for fans of Rick O’Dell: While continuing to host his popular ‘Sunday Soundscapes’ on WNUA-FM (95.5), overnight jock O’Dell has been promoted to the midday shift — from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. weekdays.” [O’Dell hosted middays on the former smooth jazz station for nearly 20 years and was promoted to the additional job of program director. He now doubles as midday host and program director of smooth jazz WLFM-FM (87.7).]
- “Suspicion is growing that the Chicago Board of Education may be looking to unload its noncommercial public-radio outlet, WBEZ-FM (91.5). On the agenda for the March 14 meeting of the board’s finance committee is a discussion of the possible sale of the station.” [Six months later, the Board of Education severed all ties to the station after 47 years and transferred its license to the non-profit WBEZ Alliance Inc. “I’m very optimistic that we will be successful in this venture,” Carole R. Nolan, general manager of WBEZ, said at the time. In 2010, you're reading this on a website operated by WBEZ Alliance's Vocalo.org.]
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The Koz Zone! I loved the segment, “Who’s Asking?”
Thank goodness we still have Rich Koz . . . forever Svengoolie.
HEY KIDS! Grrrrrreeeeeeaaaaatttttt PHOTO!!!
You forgot to mention that the semi-lovely Melissa Forman was just exiting puberty that month, blossoming into the lady of charm and grace who would soon captivate the radio, and now the television, world.
I always thought the Bozo who replaced Bob Bell was kind of mean to the kids in a snarky way. But still, it makes me sad that there are so many people who don’t know what Bozo Buckets are.
sure glad chicago board of ed dropped wbez….turned out to be a real gem…
Mary Murnane is a class act.
But nothing about Channel 5’s Saturday noon show, ‘Kidding Around’ with Steve Smith and Carrie Fisher (not that one)?
Paul Noce said:
“Mary Murnane is a class act.”
She was quite easy on the eyes as well. She was the best part of the Channel 5 weekend broadcast.
I still have that Bozo cover from Chicago Magazine. Classic image.
And BIG KUDOS to you, Mr. Feder. You are a legend. This blog itself is worth more than the entire Sun Times Publishing Group.
While I grew to love Bozo, his caricature is still very frightening… even as mid-twentysomething…
Bozo lives… Mike North.
To this day, if I am flipping thru channels on a Saturday and see Koz’s Svengoolie… I have to stop and watch… not matter how insane the movie is. He’s a funny guy.
Jackie Bange, still the best “name” in news.
Since the demise of Smooth Jazz on WNUA “Ninety Five point FIIiiiHIIIIvvvveee!”, Chicago cabbies everywhere scrambled to find replacement background music for their cars… enter 87.7 and serenity lives. “Where to? North and Wells? Ok, would you like me to turn the Spyro Gyro up?”
Mr.Feder..I love reminicing with you. I have always been a Feder addict.
Eric Zorn..the very bright Trib reporter..has a very important and scarily
interesting blog from Monday March 8th that everyone should read.
It’s candidate for gov. Bill Brady’s voting record. It is sacry as hell.
I agree that Quinn has been limp and lame..but this guy is a whole ball of crazy. You reflect on 20 years ago and we get all warm and fuzzy..this guy
want’s to put us back 50 years at least and it’s ugly. As a child of the 60’s
I ain’t going backward. Thank you Eric Zorn. I don’t really care if any of the washed up radio guy’s come back or not..I care that the media we have now
is responsiable in helping to educate and entertain(if that’s your job) the public. Thanks and gratefulness to you, Mr. Feder.. and your band of Media people.
Mayor Daley should declare a “Rich Koz Day” or “Svengoolie Day” in Chicago. He’s given us countless hours of hilarious comedy over the past 30+ years. (And his night-time Koz Zone show was some of the best work he’s ever done, in my opinion) God bless Neal Sabin.
On the long forgettable “Johnny B. on the Loose,” didn’t Brandmeier throw a pie in you face or something like that? I remember seeing you on the show at one point and you said that show was a test show and it never should have aired.
Sorry, your memory starts fading in your late ’40’s….
Mary Murnane, talk about a blast from the past. You can throw Mary Laney as also easy on the eye. It show what a great news shop 5 had at the time.
Tobi, what does “whole ball of crazy” mean? I’m much too lazy to check out the other blog. I prefer this one.
I used to watch Bozo’s Circus w/my kids and laugh like crazy…My kids would look at me weird because they didn’t get the joke – thank goodness!! No one would ever be able to get away w/the jokes they told on that show now. I always felt Bozo’s Circus was more for the adults than the kids. Loved it!
James Edwards:
A “whole ball of crazy” is Katie & her Melissa Forman obsession!
Bozo’s Circus was canceled? I had tickets for next week.
Ten years of excited anticipation shot to hell.
@Ferrell Gummitt: Actually, it was a 20-pound bag of dry dog food that Johnny dumped on me without warning. (I was just sitting in the audience to watch the taping of the first episode.) Then he unleashed two big dogs to gobble up the pile of food on me.
Amazing that the show didn’t last, huh?
James Edwards.. if you’re that lazy and can only read one thing a day, as you proudly state.. there is nothing I can tell you that’s going to help.
Garry.. Great example! Thank You!!
I remember Jackie Bange’s debut on channel 5 back then.
Her first assignment, if I remember correctly, was a lightweight piece on the new-ish (back then), trendy sports equipment, roller blades.
They put the poor woman in Spandex and had her skating on the concrete walkway along Streeterville just south of Oak Street Beach.
I felt SO bad for her. But man, did she look good. And still does!
Ysabel Duron, like Roberta Gonzalez, still looks exactly the same. They moved to the SF bay area and drank the magic water…and stopped aging. Check it out sometime if you ever visit San Francisco. Watch them on the news. They are unchanged. We should not forget Linda Yu drank the same magic water in the early 1970s, while working at the ABC affiliate in San Francisco. She also holds up well. Have a glance at Linda Yu’s Wikipedia entry sometime and note her age. It’s astonishing. To me she looks 55 tops.
My family and I were some of the recipients of the free passes!
My mom called the 900-line repeatedly until she got through. We ended up on the show in November 1990 when I was 10. I even got to appear on TV playing a game of Bozo Basketball.
As a resident of SF the last several years, it was good to see Ysabel Duron again. I always felt she got the short end of the stick at WMAQ, along with others from that era: Mary Murnane, Roy Weissinger, Marlene McClinton.
Had management been patient, those names would have become mega-media stars over the course of a few years.
Sigh!
And PS: Whatever happened to that hapless co-anchor of Murnane’s? Daryl David, I believe was his name. Gawd, was he awful!
PS #2: Roberta Gonzalez, former weather reporter for WMAQ, is the principal weather person for KPIX-Channel 5 (CBS) here in SF. She hasn’t changed a bit. She’d still raise Bob Sirott’s hackles. She raises mine, that’s for sure.
Side note: Another former Sirott-show weather reporter, Lisa Argen, does weekends for KGO-Channel 7 (ABC).