Houston Tv Talk Shows

[ladywithlongredhair]

I was surfing the internet to see if i could ever find out why they took the debra duncan show off of channel 13. I happened upon this site and was surprised to see how many people remember all the old shows in Houston. Dialing for Dollars, boy that brings back lots of memories!

I was surprised to see how Debras show was marketed way up north. I thought it was just a local Houston show. My sister and me had went to one of her shows around the time it was a big thing in Houston. Granted it was no Oprah show, but non the less it was pretty decent for being a "local" talk show. And the fact that it was live was a bit nerve racking when we were sitting in the auidence. The camera man made me and my sister his project i think and kept the camera in our face most the show when it was not focused on Debra and her guest. I actually got a bit tired of the camera in my face and made a silly face on live tv.....he didnt put me on to much after that.......lol....

We met Debra after the show and she is not like she appears on TV. She seemed a bit stand offish......get my drift........ I didnt really watch to much of her show after that.

But i have always wondered what caused the final demise of her show.....Anyone know? I always thought that maybe because the show went down hill. it got pretty ridiculous after awhile........One show in paticular that was just horrible was the one where they marketed it as if Ricky Martin would be on the show.......It was old footage of a interview Debra did with him when he was with Menudo and they were playing in Houston. The entire show she did that day was about the most ridiculous thing i ever seen on tv.....playing all of Martins song over and over and having people who "looked" and "sang" like Martin be the guest of the show....It was pretty pathetic. I am thinking maybe that was the nail in the coffin for that show......Hopefully anyways..........lol

[citykid09]

It went off becuse the producer of the show wanted it to go off with a high-note.

[KennethColeSRG]

I went to Debra Duncan's show shortly after it debuted and got the chance to meet her afterwards and didn't find her to be stand-offish at all. In fact she was really friendly and went into great detail about her life and how she ended up coming to Houston. In fact she told me that the real spelling of her name is Deborah, but KTRK changed it to Debra because the real spelling couldn't be fit into the logo they wanted for the show.

ABC/Disney had launched the show with the intentions of eventually taking it national within two years after its debut. However the national syndication plans never panned out because although Debra achieved decent ratings in Houston (usually running second in her timeslot) there wasn't enough excitement generated to go ahead with a national launch. Although I found her to be nice and pleasant, Ms. Duncan, nor the production of her show, in my opinion didn't have the 'star' quality to stand out on a national stage.

To illustrate this point, the guests on the show in which I was an audience member were Bob and Elyse Lanier, a cooking segment, and a woman who claimed to be able to take to animals...let's just say the highlight of that day for me was meeting Ms. Duncan.

[citykid09]

I saw the 'Judge Alex' Show on tv today. The show is filmed in Houston at the KRIV studio's. Although its filmed in Texas, the judge is till representing Florida by having the Florida flag behind him.

Does anyone know how you get tickets for shows like that?

[brucesw]

Does anyone know how you get tickets for shows like that?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmmmm. Just a wild guess - call KRIV?

[brucesw]

In the earliest days, virtually all local TV was live. The original owner of Channel 2 expected it would not only be live but remote so he equipped the original studios in the Milby Hotel downtown with only one camera and put two on a remote truck.

After network feeds began filling prime time on TV, Channel 2 kept up a lot of local programming, entertainment and otherwise, in addition to the required Pretty Serious Programs in the Sunday morning ghetto.

They tried several times to come up with a late nite talk show to follow Carson when the Tonight show was on until midnight. These included Midnight with Marietta hosted by Marietta Marich, who was with one of the local theatre companies (not the Alley I don't think). There was also the Bill Calder show

That's Calder on the right, a KPRC DJ in the era when KPRC was playing big band and swing and jazz; next to him is comedian Bill Dana. The next person looks like Skitch Henderson to me; then there are the members of the Kingston Trio and somebody else.

The guest is identified as Poncie Ponce, whoever that is; does anybody recognize the lady cohost? Hint: the initials are MM.

These were both in 1964, pre-video tape so probably done live.

KPRC also regularly did a Saturday night program, After Midnight?, which was off-beat humor, skits, a little bit of wierdness, etc.

[citykid09]

^ I can't believe Houston had talkshows like that! I am impressed! Have any of those shows from Houston's past gone nationwide?

[jennykind]

^ I can't believe Houston had talkshows like that! I am impressed! Have any of those shows from Houston's past gone nationwide?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There are good new talk shows on cable access channel. There's a cable access show that gets well known guests, and notable locals. I bet the local media folks are pretty comfortable in this town for duration of their career.

[citykid09]

Wow! I was just randomly searching the site and came upon this nearly 5 years after the last post. Its funny through that gap in time, Deborah Duncan came back to TV as a news anchor, and for a few years now has been the host of another local talk show (with a much smaller set though).

[SpaceAge]

They tried several times to come up with a late nite talk show to follow Carson when the Tonight show was on until midnight. These included Midnight with Marietta hosted by Marietta Marich, who was with one of the local theatre companies (not the Alley I don't think). There was also the Bill Calder show

The guest is identified as Poncie Ponce, whoever that is; does anybody recognize the lady cohost? Hint: the initials are MM.

The lady must be Marietta Marich. It was her show. My father remembers it being a good show.

Marietta Marich is an American actress, singer, writer, stage director and television host, best known for her role in the 2003 film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like several other Houston TV stars, she lives in the Briargrove Park neighborhood.

[SpaceAge]

Is the EDIT option gone?

The MM lady in the photo is Maxine Messenger...before she had her hair done at Michael-Lyndon's. Maxine had a talk show too. It was called Maxine at the Mark. It was broadcast live in the mid 1980's from the Adams Mark Hotel on Briarpark Drive.

Marietta Marich, another local MM, had a show on NBC with her husband Bob in the 1950's and 1960's. Here is a link to a 1958 photo of her from Life magazine.

Life

[totheskies]

Inner Views with Ernie Manouse is nationally syndicated on PBS.

[readam]

In the earliest days, virtually all local TV was live. The original owner of Channel 2 expected it would not only be live but remote so he equipped the original studios in the Milby Hotel downtown with only one camera and put two on a remote truck.

After network feeds began filling prime time on TV, Channel 2 kept up a lot of local programming, entertainment and otherwise, in addition to the required Pretty Serious Programs in the Sunday morning ghetto.

They tried several times to come up with a late nite talk show to follow Carson when the Tonight show was on until midnight. These included Midnight with Marietta hosted by Marietta Marich, who was with one of the local theatre companies (not the Alley I don't think). There was also the Bill Calder show

That's Calder on the right, a KPRC DJ in the era when KPRC was playing big band and swing and jazz; next to him is comedian Bill Dana. The next person looks like Skitch Henderson to me; then there are the members of the Kingston Trio and somebody else.

The guest is identified as Poncie Ponce, whoever that is; does anybody recognize the lady cohost? Hint: the initials are MM.

These were both in 1964, pre-video tape so probably done live.

KPRC also regularly did a Saturday night program, After Midnight?, which was off-beat humor, skits, a little bit of wierdness, etc.

[readam]

Is the EDIT option gone?

The MM lady in the photo is Maxine Messenger...before she had her hair done at Michael-Lyndon's. Maxine had a talk show too. It was called Maxine at the Mark. It was broadcast live in the mid 1980's from the Adams Mark Hotel on Briarpark Drive.

Marietta Marich, another local MM, had a show on NBC with her husband Bob in the 1950's and 1960's. Here is a link to a 1958 photo of her from Life magazine.

Life

Poncie Ponce was a star of Hawaiian Eye back in the 60s

[readam]

Poncie Ponce was a star of Hawaiian Eye back in the 60s

In an earlier post someone mentioned Bill Worrell and a Channel 2 sportscaster who died. That was Bill Enis? One of his sons Bart is still in town and does work on Astro's games.

Someone also mentioned Chris Chandler's show on Channel 2 at 5:00pm.

I cannot remember the name of a local afternoon music and talk show on Channel 2 with Paul Schmidt in the 50s and one of the top performers on the show was a young Johnny Nash of "I Can See Clearly Now" fame.

[brucesw]

I cannot remember the name of a local afternoon music and talk show on Channel 2 with Paul Schmidt in the 50s and one of the top performers on the show was a young Johnny Nash of "I Can See Clearly Now" fame.

Paul Schmitt was music director of Ch. 2 in the early years and appeared on several shows, probably not all on camera. The show Johnny Nash appeared on was Matinee with Dick Gottlieb, a daily show at 4pm. 13 year old Nash, a student at Jack Yates Jr. Hi, had been overheard singing for his fellow caddies at a local golf course and his number passed along to Channel 2. He debuted on September 2, 1953, and went on to be a regular.

Schmitt and his TuneSchmitts were on Matinee and I think also the show with Howard Hartman and others earlier in the afternoon called The Guys Next Door or something. Hartman was a baritone crooner and father of Lisa Hartman Black; he played piano himself, as I recall.

Schmitt supposedly had the distinction of turning down an early appearance by a young singer managed by Col. Tom Parker named Elvis whom Schmitt said was 'not what TV is looking for.'

[brucesw]

The lady must be Marietta Marich. It was her show. My father remembers it being a good show.

Marietta Marich is an American actress, singer, writer, stage director and television host, best known for her role in the 2003 film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like several other Houston TV stars, she lives in the Briargrove Park neighborhood.

Maybe best known to people in Timbuktu from that film but if you were around Houston in the 50s you knew the name; it appeared regularly in the entertainment pages of the papers from her work in local theater (still can't remember which one she was with but it wasn't the Alley). She was on another Channel 2 show before she got her own, I think, but I can't remember which. It may have been Howard Hartman's The Guys Next Door or Gottlieb's Matinee.

Her husband Bob Marich was a director at Channel 2 for a long time.

I only stayed up to see Midnight with Marietta once; it was aimed at a mature audience so I found it very boring.

[FilioScotia]

Maybe best known to people in Timbuktu from that film but if you were around Houston in the 50s you knew the name; it appeared regularly in the entertainment pages of the papers from her work in local theater (still can't remember which one she was with but it wasn't the Alley). She was on another Channel 2 show before she got her own, I think, but I can't remember which. It may have been Howard Hartman's The Guys Next Door or Gottlieb's Matinee. Her husband Bob Marich was a director at Channel 2 for a long time. I only stayed up to see Midnight with Marietta once; it was aimed at a mature audience so I found it very boring.

Marietta Marich went on the air at KPRC in 1955 as hostess of a late night movie program called "MGM Theater". MGM was one of the first studios to sell its library of movies to TV and KPRC was one of the first TV stations to buy them. It started at 10:30pm, right after the 10pm news, and Marietta was the live hostess, introducing the movie and appearing live in many of the commercial breaks.

Marietta proved to be so good on TV -- and popular with viewers -- she soon got her own show, one that came on after the movie. That was the beginning of Midnight with Marietta. It was in style and format a local late night talk show, with celebrity guests and Paul Schmidt and his piano trio providing musical accompaniment, often for Marietta herself, who was a very good singer. She was a band-singer with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra in the early 50s before "retiring" to get married.

Over time, in the late 50s, Midnight with Marietta also presented some serious news/interviews with political guests and news makers. I'll never forget the series of broadcasts she co-hosted with KPRC News Director Ray Miller, where they both went after a rabid ultra right wing group called The Christian Anti-Communism Crusade, a Houston-based group that saw Communists under every bed and behind every tree. Marietta and Miller invited the leaders of that group in to be inteviewed and debated by some well known politicians and journalists who opposed them, and the right wingers came off looking like the dangerous nut cases they were. They faded away into insignificance not long after that.

Marietta has always been known as an actress of considerable ability. She's done any number of small movie and television roles over the years, but the mystery is why she has never been a "star." Whatever, in the early 60s, she and her husband Bob Marich started their own local theater group on Main Street in Midtown -- Houston Music Theater. It was several blocks south of the intersection of Main and Richmond, across the street from that old Prince's Drive-in in fact. It specialized in Broadway musicals of course, all featuring the best local talent. I remember seeing a number of her shows there in the 60s and they were all very well done and worth the trip to midtown from the Clear Lake area, where I lived at the time.

Houston Music Theater operated at the midtown location until the early 70s. I think they had to close because they lost their lease, or something like that. At any rate, sometime in the mid 70s, she and Bob brought Houston Music Theater back to life at the Royal Coach Inn on the SW Freeway, where it became the Royal Coach Dinner Theater. I also saw a lot of their shows there too. That venture only lasted a few years, because the Royal Coach kept changing hands and new owners had no use for a dinner theater. I think that was the Marichs' last attempt at presenting "live" theater in Houston.

[FilioScotia]

Marietta Marich went on the air at KPRC in 1955 as hostess of a late night movie program called "MGM Theater". MGM was one of the first studios to sell its library of movies to TV and KPRC was one of the first TV stations to buy them. It started at 10:30pm, right after the 10pm news, and Marietta was the live hostess, introducing the movie and appearing live in many of the commercial breaks.

Marietta proved to be so good on TV -- and popular with viewers -- she soon got her own show, one that came on after the movie. That was the beginning of Midnight with Marietta. It was in style and format a local late night talk show, with celebrity guests and Paul Schmidt and his piano trio providing musical accompaniment, often for Marietta herself, who was a very good singer. She was a band-singer with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra in the early 50s before "retiring" to get married.

I'm having serious second thoughts about the time lines in some of the info I put into the posting just before this one. I know that it was in 1955 that KPRC put old movies on after the 10pm news, to compete with the very popular "Late Show" with Jim Ross over on Ch 11, which was then KGUL in Galveston. (It moved to Houston and became KHOU sometime just after 1960)

But I'm forced to admit that I'm hazy on what time the movie started, and how long KPRC carried them, because I know that KPRC also carried the Tonight Show with Steve Allen, and later the Jack Paar Show from NBC in the same time slot they're still in. Both those shows came on after the 10pm news and were only an hour long. So that means KPRC's late movie must have started after the Tonight Show.

At some point in the late 50s, KPRC stopped carrying the late movies when they gave Marietta her own show, Midnight with Marietta, which went on live right after the Tonight Show with Jack Paar.

I'm hoping someone whose memory is more dependable than mine can come to my rescue here. Bruce?

[brucesw]

You have already run circles several times around my knowledge. I grew up 50 miles from Houston and only read about Marietta and lived away from here for almost all the 60s so my knowledge is rather limited, although I certainly knew more than that Wiki article SpaceAge got the info from and IMDB is even less helpful. Thanks for everything you have posted.

I was under the impression Midnight with Marietta was a Saturday night only show, that there was something else during the week. Not likely I would have been up to watch TV that late during the week, although I probably would have been awake many nights, under the covers, with my cans on, listening to my Zenith Transocceanic.

I have only a couple of TV schedules from the 50s; one in 53 and one in 54 both show a Movie Showtime on 2, starting as late as 11:30; one from later in the decade on a Sunday shows nothing.

A quick search for 'Marich' on R-I's Classic TV forum turned up nothing. A more intensive search for retro Houston TV schedules in the 50s might turn up something plus a search for variations of Marich and Marietta, perhaps? There's one guy who has posted a number of Retro Houston TV schedules but he never lived here and gets some names wrong.

Given everything you've already posted about her it's a shame there's not more information to research.

[brucesw]

A search didn't take that long, and assuming the Search engine on R-I works well, there are only three mentions of interest:

Retro TV sched for 7/9/62, Mon shows no Midnight with Marietta; a short Consult Dr. Brothers follows the Tonight show.

Friday, 7/13/62 lists M w/M at 12 Mid, following Tonight.

Saturday 7/7/62 shows nothing special on Saturday night.

So I guess I was wrong about it being on Saturday night.

[Maisonneuve]

What station can I see the Wendy Williams Show on?

[editor]

What station can I see the Wendy Williams Show on?

It's not carried over-the-air in Canada, but you could try WLNO in Buffalo, or BET International on satellite.

[dbigtex56]

My favorite Houston talk show is the fictitious "Good Morning, Grant!" from Reality Bites.

You'll recall that the host (played by John Mahoney) is tricked into avowing on air his love for very young girls.

[Deborah3855]

I was a model on dialing for dollars, I always was behind Dallas hill on the runway. I have searched for years to try to get copies of the shows I was on to show my kids, we didn't have vcrs then, lol. If any one knows how to possibly get these that would be awesome.

[Deborah3855]

I was a model on dialing for dollars, I always was behind Dallas hill on the runway. I have searched for years to try to get copies of the shows I was on to show my kids, we didn't have vcrs then, lol. If any one knows how to possibly get these that would be awesome.