Louisville T.V. anyone?

[Jeff Easley]

Anyone have any fond memories of local programing on channels 3 and 11 from Louisville?I was in Nicholasville and was just about the only person I knew who could pick those up(this was pre-cable).I recall"Hayloft Hoedown" with Randy Atcher and "Cactus" Tom Brooks(brother of comedian Foster Brooks).How about "The Magic Forest" with "Uncle Ed" Callay(sp?).I remember the Sat. morning show put on by Thorneberry's toys.Hosted by Jim(I think) Thornberry in his shortsleeve white dress shirt and tie.Also on hand were cowboy"Trigger Tom" and "Thorny" the monkey(person in monkey suit).They had kids compete in games to win "Thornybucks" redeemable at the store of course!I recall"Tomorrow's Champions" where they put little kids in a boxing ring to whale away at one another!

[John Hourigan]

Yes, I remember Louisville TV -- channels 3 & 11. At the time (1960s and 1970s), we had a farm in Gravel Switch, Kentucky (yes, there is such a place -- check out zip code 40328), and we had to rely on a 1950s-era VHF antenna mounted on the top of our tobacco barn to pull in Louisville TV. (Lexington TV was out of reach reception-wise since our farm was in a valley.)

I also remember Tarzan Theatre on Saturday afternoons on channel 11 with those great Johnny Weismuller Tarzan flicks. Channel 3 also ran movies on Saturday mornings before the cartoons kicked in, and it was on that movie show that I remember seeing "The Giant Mantis" -- great 1950s giant bug flick.

Then sometime around 1973, a storm knocked down the antenna on the barn. It was replaced with a brand new VHF antenna mounted on the roof of the house, along with a new addition -- a UHF antenna. UHF had come to Gravel Switch! Now we could watch channel 32 (Louisville's ABC affiliate), but the best part was channel 41, an independent station out of Louisville, was now available to us (albeit a little snowy) so that we could tune in Ultraman, Speed Racer, Thriller, Rat Patrol and all those other great syndicated shows that Lexington TV stations never seemed to pick up.

Channel 41 also aired "Fright Night," a Saturday night movie show that aired at 7 p.m. with two horror/monster movies. (See the excellent Web site regarding "Fright Night" www.williamgirdler.com/kissinger.html)

Great memories!

[Jeff Easley]

Darn!I wanna be from Gravel SwitchBut,I guess if I'm gonna lie about I'll go for the gold...Monkey's Eyebrow!
I couldn't see ch.32 but recall reviewing their listings in T.V. Guide and eating my heart out over this or that cool show.In that vein,I remember occasionally sitting next to the old TV on late Saturdays with my ear pressed to the speaker and ignoring the static washed screen,just trying to LISTEN to whatever classic they had listed for channel 9 out of Cincinatti!
Once ,channel 11(?) advertised"Bride of Frankenstein" on their 4 O'Clock movie.At the time,I was on double sessions in school,and was in class from 1:00 until 7:00.The soul sucking despair was such that I would not experience its equal until years later,after I married my now ex-wife:)Perhaps it was psychsomatic,but I actually pulled up sick enough to stay home,and watch that great flick.I'm sure whatever I would have learned in school that day would be long forgotten.
Thanks for the "FrightNight" link.I went off to college in '72,so my exposure gets a little sketchy after that.Interesting to see they used the same effect on their host as was used on Nick Clooney on"Terror in the Night".
Anyone remember a kiddy show on ch. 32 called "Skipper Rile"?I only saw it a few time at a cousin's house,but it was on a long time ,I think...

[Jeff Easley]

After checking out the Frightnight site in more detail,I was amazed to see their complete listing of all movies,in order,by date.I would sure love to see a similar listing for "Terror in the Night".The very first show was"Return of Dracula".I'm pretty sure the second show was "Isle of the Dead" with Boris Karloff.I recall the series starting in the fall of the year.Perhaps if someone had access to Lexington paper TV listings on microfilm of that era,they could compile a similar list.I recall the titles to many of the early films.It's actually interesting to consider that many of the movies shown in the early 60's were only 5 or 6 years old at the time.

[John Hourigan]

In terms of your previous post, "Skipper Ryle" was actually on WKRC channel 12 out of Cincinnati. He was a fixture on that station for a long time.

[Mike staple]

Dude! I'm sitting right next to one of the original "thorny monkeys" one mr. Don noe! He was telling us the story and we google it and found your post! He is rattling through all his old memories! Have more, contact us!

[Jeff Easley]

JUST found your post Mike(Nov. '12). Not much traffic here unfortunately. I'd love to hear behind the scenes stories from the Thornebury show! I'm sure others would as well.This is history! Please urge Mr. Noe to come on and preserve his recollections for posterity.