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Academic Challenge returns to Cleveland

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Don Howard:

--- Quote ---Don Webster did continue to draw the numbers on the "one-minute" Ohio Lottery drawing shows for a while longer into the early 1980s

--- End quote ---

1984, to be specific, Michael. He left that and his co-hosting chores with
Wilma Smith on Live On Five for a management position at TV-5.
Townsend Coleman, from WLTF-FM, briefly replaced him and then Paul Wilcox
from Polka Varieties took over. I remember one Saturday night when
Paul drew one Lotto number yet announced another. Shortly thereafter, Bob Becker, news director at the time at 3WE Radio, hosted the first three days of
the week while Karen Harris (who's still there) announced on the other three.
When Bob took a TV reporting job at a rival station (WKYC-TV 3), Sam Varr
took over. Sam died a few years later and then Bob came back--he'd left TV-3
by this time.

TimK2003:
[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Dec 6 2003, 04:17 PM\'] After a 4+ year hiatus, Academic Challenge (AKA It's Academic in most areas) is returning to WEWS, Cleveland's ABC affiliate, starting December 13.  The show will air at 6:30 PM on Saturday nights, AC's time slot for many years, from at least the late 70s through about 1996.

 [/quote]
 Cleveland Magazine also did an article on Academic challenge as well.  Here are some of the interesting sidenotes that the article presented:

•  The AC concept was created by Altman Productions out of the Washington DC area.  At it's peak the show & format was seen in 15 different markets, mostly in the eastern half of the USA.  Currently, it's seen in about 6 markets -- mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region, Pittsburgh, and now Cleveland again.

•  All questions and formatics are created by Altman Prods., and are sent to the hosts appx. 2-weeks before the next batch of shows are to air.  

•  The Cleveland market has the honor of airing AC the longest, starting in 1965 or 66 and is named as the longest running educational quiz/show in TV history.

•  Adam Shapiro will be the fifth host of Cleveland's AC.   The original host's name escapes me, but Don Webster emceed most of the years, with Steve Wolford and Lou Maglio also hosting a few seasons.  (Oddly enough when Lou was hosting, there were so many eps already in the can, he went over to rival WJW-TV8 and was a news anchor for several months while his shows were still airing on WEWS.)

•  One of the more noted contestants on AC in Cleveland was a young George Stephanopoulis, now a host of ABC's This Week.

For those in the Cleveland area, there will be a program airing Sunday 12/7 doing a retrospect on AC Cleveland at 6:30PM.

Don Howard:

--- Quote ---• The Cleveland market has the honor of airing AC the longest, starting in 1965 or 66 and is named as the longest running educational quiz/show in TV history.

--- End quote ---

I thought the Washington DC version hosted by Mac McGarry since its inception
in 1961 through the present held this record.

Jimmy Owen:
[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Dec 7 2003, 01:41 PM\']
--- Quote ---• The Cleveland market has the honor of airing AC the longest, starting in 1965 or 66 and is named as the longest running educational quiz/show in TV history.

--- End quote ---

I thought the Washington DC version hosted by Mac McGarry since its inception
in 1961 through the present held this record. [/quote]
 This may be splitting hairs, but the Washington version is titled "It's Academic."  It's from the same production co, though.  The record setting claim makes good copy.

Gus:
If anyone from NE Ohio cares, I'll probably be on to represent Cloverleaf HS sometime later in the season. Our advisor hasn't gotten the call yet, but he knows that there'll be 8 weeks notice, so we'll probably tape in February or March and air sometime in May.

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