11/25/08 

This is a wonderful time of the year. A time to reflect on family and friends past and present. I have been thinking about the stations where I have worked and the people I have worked with.  Equipment problems are standard and recently there have been another collection of technical problems, so I have had to invade the turf and the good folks at the WJCL/FOX studios on Abercorn on Savannah's southside. You hear great stories about the spoils and escapades of the people you meet working in this industry.  Like the one story where the audio person, who may have been drinking the night before, not having it all together, makes a bad day even worse by not 'closing' all of the microphones and someone yells, 's***,' across the network for millions to hear!  Or, the young, green upstart who is a threat to no one, finds someone with a familiar name known to millions, rummaging through her briefcase thinking she is working for another upstart who later became a familiar household name! (Spiders and Snakes!)  In the old days, in the smaller markets,  there would be the overnight guy who would fall asleep while on the air, and the record would continue to spin until he became conscious or until someone dressed in bed clothes, would drive by and knock on the door. Generally this would be the jock working the nightclubs. Then there are the stories like this.  Here you are in school in a tv production class, assigned to do the lighting, and your instructor tells the class that old antiquated lighting board was in use during the famous Kennedy-Nixon television debates held during the presidential campaign of 1960. That is good stuff. There are thousands of stories like these, most are much better.  Ask someone, they've got one or two or three at least!

What is better, is the stories about families to be told across the eatin' table or sitting rooms this season.  The economy is keeping us close this year, so these stories and good times should flow!  Til next time,

Renee