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Who has been on the air at NBC longer Don Pardo or Howard Reig?
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AFAIK, Pardo's been there since 1946-47. Reig [who, I should clarify for those who are wondering, was the voice of NBC Nightly News] has been there since '43, if my math is correct.
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Interesting timing:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/25/t...t.ap/index.html (http://\"http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/25/tv.final.announcement.ap/index.html\")
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[quote name=\'opimus\' date=\'Mar 25 2005, 03:34 PM\']Who has been on the air at NBC longer Don Pardo or Howard Reig?
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A great question that is not easily answered. Howard is taking credit for being the first and the last staff voice for GE, but not necessarily for NBC. He started at GE in 1943, on their local WGY in Schenectady. But the date of his start at NBC NETWORK is not clear.
If you are asking about NBC NETWORK, Don Pardo, now 87, likely spent more time and certainly had the higher profile career. Don started as a newscaster at NBC in 1944, and there are airchecks of his early work that survive to this day. Pardo remembers his first assignment involving an individual program. He was "warming up" the network phone lines that stretched through much of the country just before NBC Radio's "Hour of Charm". Don retired last year after 60 years and 6 months with the net. His present work on SNL continues for that show alone. He is no longer on staff.
Howard Reig is undisputedly the last of his breed at NBC, and some say he kept the job so far past his retirement age simply to trump Pardo. An insider at 30 Rock tells me the two were not on the friendliest terms. But before you lay the blame at Howard's feet for whatever simmering feud the two might have had, know that Reig is a dear man held in high regard at the net. My friend at 30 Rock writes:
>>I saw Howard in the hall today - after seeing the article (tribute) on our in house Website - and wished him the best. He would call me all the time - someone in the announcers lounge would set the TV to the wrong cable input - and he couldn't watch any TV! Otherwise, I'd see him the halls often, and if he had a moment, he would spin the best old radio stories... Today he gave me a hug, and thanked me for all the attention I gave him over the years. I gave him my business card. He said "whenever you are in Florida, you are welcome to visit me." He meant it. A kind and gentle man, Howard will be missed around here. <<
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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Pardo is 87? WOW!!!! He doesn't sound a day over 85. lol Seriously though he actually doesn't sound old at all. Ask teenagers unfamiliar with Pardo how old that announcer on Saturday Night Live sounds. I bet you that most would guess him to be in his 40's. He's got great pipes! I hope that we all sound as energetic at 87 as Pardo does now. I wonder when he will retire. Saturday Night Live just won't sound the same without him.
Randy, How much do you know about Pardo? Does he only work on SNL or does he still do other work for the Network? My guess is that he works on SNL for about 6 hours a week and that's it. I bet you that he makes a hansome Dolllar for his 6 hours too!
Dizzy
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Friday night at 6:58pm, Randy West wrote:
Don retired last year after 60 years and 6 months with the net. His present work on SNL continues for that show alone. He is no longer on staff.
The following day at 7:53am, Dizzy wrote:
I hope that we all sound as energetic at 87 as Pardo does now. I wonder when he will retire.....
Randy, How much do you know about Pardo? Does he only work on SNL or does he still do other work for the Network?
Love it!
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[quote name=\'dizzy\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 07:53 AM\'] Ask teenagers unfamiliar with Pardo how old that announcer on Saturday Night Live sounds. I bet you that most would guess him to be in his 40's.
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I bet that you are wrong.
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LOL. YEAH I missed the part about Don only working on SNL now. So how much work do you think that amounts too? I still say 6 Hours a week total. I'm sure he's there for dress rehearsal and warm ups.
Gotta admit that weather you agree with the 40's thing or not, he definitely doesn't sound his age.
Dizzy
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[quote name=\'dizzy\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 12:47 PM\']LOL. YEAH I missed the part about Don only working on SNL now. So how much work do you think that amounts too? I still say 6 Hours a week total. I'm sure he's there for dress rehearsal and warm ups.
Gotta admit that weather you agree with the 40's thing or not, he definitely doesn't sound his age.
Dizzy
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I think he sounds like he's in his 60's, but that's just me.
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[quote name=\'dizzy\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 11:47 AM\'] Gotta admit that weather you agree with the 40's thing or not, he definitely doesn't sound his age.
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I don't share that opinion (not that I'm trying to pick a fight). I do happen to think that Pardo's best days are clearly behind him. There were times last season and this where it just seemed like he was straining to get the cast's names out.
Believe me, I salute him for the wonderful career he has attained. He set a standard that for the most part has been unmatched by anyone in broadcasting. But listening to him for the last couple of years at least in my misguided view has been a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps I'm spoiled by having heard him for years at the top of his game.
Anyway, YMMV.
Doug -- and the countdown to 1100 continues
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One other legendary NBC announcer was Fred Facey, who did Meet The Press, Today Show, WNBC, and sometimes NBC Nightly News. He died in 2003.
There was also Mel Brandt, the voice behind the famous "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC" open who also announced on SNL's 1981-82 season (Pardo would return the following year). He probably retired many years ago.
Jonathan Allen
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[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 02:09 PM\']There was also Mel Brandt, the voice behind the famous "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC" open who also announced on SNL's 1981-82 season (Pardo would return the following year). He probably retired many years ago.
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IIRC, Brandt served as announcer for the 1984 COLLEGE BOWL special, hosted by Sajak.
Doug -- and the countdown to 1100 continues
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[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 03:09 PM\']One other legendary NBC announcer was Fred Facey, who did Meet The Press, Today Show, WNBC, and sometimes NBC Nightly News. He died in 2003.
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Ah! That explains why the names of the weekend Today anchors aren't announced by him. It's rather macabre that two years after he passed, that NBC still uses his voice for the open for that show. At least they don't show a Fred Facey claymation like they do for Mel Allen on This Week In Baseball. But then again, why would they? Back to the bar!
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Randy, you mention that Don Pardo's first assignment was 'warming up' the network lines before the Hour of Charm started. He must have been the duty announcer that Sunday night in 1944. He must have just came on at the end of the American Album of Familiar Music to say "This is NBC the National Broadcasting Company" and then pressed the button that started the chime machine. His 'warmup' was perhaps the local WEAF station break(10 PM B-U-L-O-V-A Bulova Watch Time.....).
I seem to recall that Mel Brandt announced GE College Bowl after that show moved from CBS in 1963.
Oh, the Hour of Charm was a musical show that featured Phil Spitalny and his All-Girl Orchestra, featuring Evelyn and her Magic Violin. Oh, the sorbiquets they gave radio performers back then! The show was sponsored by Howard Reig's original(and last) employer, GE.
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[quote name=\'JCGames\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 06:44 PM\']Randy, you mention that Don Pardo's first assignment was 'waming up' the network lines before the Hour of Charm started. He must have been the duty announcer that Sunday night in 1944. He must have just came on at the end of the American Album of Familiar Music to say "This is NBC the National Broadcasting Company" and then pressed the button that started the chime machine. His 'warmup' was perhaps the local WEAF station break(10 PM B-U-L-O-V-A Bulova Watch Time.....).
......Oh, the Hour of Charm was a musical show that featured Phil Spitalny and his All-Girl Orchestra, featuring Evelyn and her Magic Violin. Oh, the sorbiquets they gave radio performers back then! The show was sponsored by Howard Reig's original(and last) employer, GE.
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Kudos JC for the research! Yes, the amazing and legendary chime machine. For those unfamiliar, NBC's 3 note signature (G-E-C for General Electric Corporation) was not struck with a mallet by hand like a high school principal doing the public address announcements. It was generated by a huge rotating drum device. Weird, wild, wacky stuff!
And thanks for the info on "Hour of Charm"! Don Pardo made it clear that he was not the announcer on that show, but that his first non-news assignment was keeping the net phone lines warm with chatter and countdown so affiliate stations would know the line was hot (phone lines were far less dependable than the distribution systems now in place).
And to the earlier comment about Mel Brandt being the voice on the peacock "living color" show open, I know there were several versions of that animation and voice-over before they settled on the one that was burned into our memory. But is anyone familiar with which of those were voiced by staff announcer Bill Hanrahan?
As Bob Hope would have sung to Pamela Anderson, "Thanks for the mammaries"!
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 12:00 AM\']
Kudos JC for the research! Yes, the amazing and legendary chime machine. For those unfamiliar, NBC's 3 note signature (G-E-C for General Electric Corporation) was not struck with a mallet by hand like a high school principal doing the public address announcements. It was generated by a huge rotating drum device. Weird, wild, wacky stuff!
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Oh, the things you learn. So that's how the NBC chimes came about, with those three notes. I never knew that. Thanks, Randy!
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 09:00 PM\']
And to the earlier comment about Mel Brandt being the voice on the peacock "living color" show open, I know there were several versions of that animation and voice-over before they settled on the one that was burned into our memory. But is anyone familiar with which of those were voiced by staff announcer Bill Hanrahan?
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I don't know about Mr. Hanrahan, but there was also a version of the voiceover of the bird done by Ben Grauer, prior to Mel Brandt, if I'm not mistaken.
-Kevin
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Historical References:
NBC Chime Machine: http://users.adams.net/~jfs/chimes.htm (http://\"http://users.adams.net/~jfs/chimes.htm\")
NBC Peacock Opens: http://www.kingoftheroad.net/KARD_html/kard4.htm (http://\"http://www.kingoftheroad.net/KARD_html/kard4.htm\")
(Opens are from the GREAT site of Kris Trexler, also featuring a photo tour of Wichita's KARD TV circa 1964).
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[quote name=\'mystery7\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 12:44 PM\']Historical References:
NBC Chime Machine: http://users.adams.net/~jfs/chimes.htm (http://\"http://users.adams.net/~jfs/chimes.htm\")
NBC Peacock Opens: http://www.kingoftheroad.net/KARD_html/kard4.htm (http://\"http://www.kingoftheroad.net/KARD_html/kard4.htm\")
(Opens are from the GREAT site of Kris Trexler, also featuring a photo tour of Wichita's KARD TV circa 1964).
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Priceless. Thanks for that. Down the road, I'd say this is archive-worthy. :)
Doug
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[quote name=\'TwoInchQuad\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 03:56 AM\'][quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 09:00 PM\']
And to the earlier comment about Mel Brandt being the voice on the peacock "living color" show open, I know there were several versions of that animation and voice-over before they settled on the one that was burned into our memory. But is anyone familiar with which of those were voiced by staff announcer Bill Hanrahan?
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I don't know about Mr. Hanrahan, but there was also a version of the voiceover of the bird done by Ben Grauer, prior to Mel Brandt, if I'm not mistaken.
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Mr. Hanrahan also announced for both Huntley-Brinkley and "Nightly News" before his retirement and replacement by Mr. Feig.
I wonder what they're going to do with the announcers' lounge in New York, now that there are no more staff announcers... :) Are there still staff announcers in Burbank? (It seems like the guy who does the billboards on "The Apprentice" could be a staffer.)
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 12:00 AM\']NBC's 3 note signature (G-E-C for General Electric Corporation)
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That strikes me as a bit odd, since GE would not acquire RCA (NBC's original parent company) for several more years.
Or were the chimes done for just the sponsor originally, and they became so identified with the network that they stuck?
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In the early days of NBC, the announcer on a particular program would read off the callsigns of the stations carrying the program. This got too cumbersome, so it was decided to create a sound effect to alert the stations as to when to ID themselves. Several employees of NBC came up with the idea of using a set of dinner chimes to serve as a coordinating signal. Originally the chimes were rung manually by the announcer, who would do this after saying "This program has reached you from the New York studios of the National Broadcasting Company". The chime sequence was originally 7 notes, but after awhile it was reduced to the soon-to-be-familiar 3 notes G-E-C(the story that GEC referred to General Electric is an urban legend I believe). The manual ringing of the chimes became inadequate after a few years though, and NBC asked a Captain Ranger, the inventor of the electric organ, to develop an electromechanical device that would play the chimes in a consistant manner. The device was developed and installed at all of NBC's facilities in NY, Chicago and the coast. I understand that the original chime machine is on display at the NBC studio tours at 30 Rock.
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[quote name=\'Tony\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 07:20 PM\'][quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 12:00 AM\']NBC's 3 note signature (G-E-C for General Electric Corporation)
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That strikes me as a bit odd, since GE would not acquire RCA (NBC's original parent company) for several more years.
Or were the chimes done for just the sponsor originally, and they became so identified with the network that they stuck?
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Neither. NBC was originally owned by General Electric, then transferred over to RCA, then reacquired in the 1986 merger.
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[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 07:17 PM\']... NBC was originally owned by General Electric, then transferred over to RCA, then reacquired in the 1986 merger.
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Thank you!
The history of broadcasting is great reading. It involves a lot of politics, partnering and patent fights among entities such as RCA, Lee DeForrest, AT&T, GE, Guglielmo Marconi, Reginald Fessenden, Westinghouse, Philco, Bell Laboratories, The United Fruit Company (yes, you read right).
And there's one giant sweetheart deal between the government and "General" David Sarnoff after World War I in which the Navy turned over its research and patents to GE to keep America a leader in wireless communication. In the deal GE created a new subsidiary called the Radio Corporation of America; RCA later became a separate entity. But make no mistake about it, NBC's chimes proclaim the name of the parent company, the General Electric Corporation.
We now rejoin our regularly scheduled broadcast already in progress.
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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I must thank Messers. Nedeff and West for clarifying my question. I didn't know that RCA started as a subsidiary of GE.
Just goes to show that, unlike some on this forum that I could mention but won't, I don't know everything. ;)
EDIT: Adam's surname misspelled.
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[quote name=\'johnnya2k3\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 12:09 PM\']... There was also Mel Brandt, the voice behind the famous "The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC" open who also announced on SNL's 1981-82 season (Pardo would return the following year). He probably retired many years ago.
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Not that I had any doubts, but your facts as well as the comments by Uncamark and TwoInchQuad are all confirmed by author David Schwartz who writes:
>>Ben Grauer did the original Peacock opening from 1957 to 1962. When it was re-done in 1962, Mel Brandt re-did the voice-over.<<
A peacock feather in all your caps, and that should put the bird to bed ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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I do happen to think that Pardo's best days are clearly behind him. There were times last season and this where it just seemed like he was straining to get the cast's names out.
At last year's Game Show Congreff we heard a recorded message from Don Pardo which paid homage to Bill Cullen. Pardo sounded ageless, but he was speaking ad lib and was not competing with an opening theme and applause to get announce copy out. On the tape he complained of having a touch of laryngitis but who could tell? We also heard from Betsy Palmer who sounded equally ageless, and from Kitty Carlisle who sounded damn good for someone of her years.
Think now -- when the late Johnny Carson did an interview which ran a little long, what did Ross Tompkins play on the piano to nudge things along?
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And don't forget the four-note chime, which was a signal to NBC news staffers to get your butt into work, there's some bad stuff going on.
http://www.old-time.com/misc/chimes.html (http://\"http://www.old-time.com/misc/chimes.html\")
--Mike
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 28 2005, 06:12 PM\']Think now -- when the late Johnny Carson did an interview which ran a little long, what did Ross Tompkins play on the piano to nudge things along?
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Usually when faced with the station breaks--affiliates didn't like going late. :)
I recall at least once when Johnny ignored Ross and kept going, Doc cued the whole band to play the chimes melody. That got his attention.
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Yes, the fourth chime. It actually went on the air at least once--on D-Day, 6/6/1944, around 330am ET. The duty announcer in the wee hours that historic day gave the network ID and then the chime sequence E-G-C-C came on; it sounded a little like the opening notes of the song Over There.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'79827\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 06:35 PM\']
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 28 2005, 06:12 PM\']Think now -- when the late Johnny Carson did an interview which ran a little long, what did Ross Tompkins play on the piano to nudge things along?
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Usually when faced with the station breaks--affiliates didn't like going late. :)
I recall at least once when Johnny ignored Ross and kept going, Doc cued the whole band to play the chimes melody. That got his attention.
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That unquestionably happened more than once. It was first played softly on the piano, then in a higher key if Johnny kept going, and finally by the whole band.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'79607\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 04:58 PM\']
[quote name=\'TwoInchQuad\' date=\'Mar 27 2005, 03:56 AM\'][quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Mar 26 2005, 09:00 PM\']
And to the earlier comment about Mel Brandt being the voice on the peacock "living color" show open, I know there were several versions of that animation and voice-over before they settled on the one that was burned into our memory. But is anyone familiar with which of those were voiced by staff announcer Bill Hanrahan?
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I don't know about Mr. Hanrahan, but there was also a version of the voiceover of the bird done by Ben Grauer, prior to Mel Brandt, if I'm not mistaken.
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Mr. Hanrahan also announced for both Huntley-Brinkley and "Nightly News" before his retirement and replacement by Mr. Feig.
I wonder what they're going to do with the announcers' lounge in New York, now that there are no more staff announcers... :) Are there still staff announcers in Burbank? (It seems like the guy who does the billboards on "The Apprentice" could be a staffer.)
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I know that, for much of the 1970's and into the mid-'80's, the core West Coast announcing lineup (who handled promos for upcoming programs, NBC News Updates for airing in the Pacific Time Zone, and the network's various movie shows, among others) - indeed, could well have been the entire West Coast announcing staff, for all I know - consisted of Don Stanley, Donald Rickles, Victor Bozeman, and Peggy Taylor. I read an excerpt of a book on old-time radio in which Mr. Stanley was quoted as saying he was the last of the old-time NBC West Coast staff announcers to leave the network (in or around 1990). Being as Rickles passed away in 1985 and Bozeman in 1986, when did Ms. Taylor's tenure with NBC end? And as one of you mentioned Carson, did any of these individuals besides Rickles appear and/or do V/O work on The Tonight Show during Carson's long run?
As to alternate "living color" voices besides Messrs. Grauer and Brandt: A 1971 clip on YouTube (obviously taped from an affiliate, based on the telco-transmitted 50 Hz-5 kHz audio frequency response) had another New York-based announcer, Jerry Damon, V/O'ing that bumper - preceding a special which preempted two Saturday-morning children's shows on the network at the time, Hot Dog and Jambo.
And other New York announcers: I figured out Roger Tuttle's voice, based on listening to a 1956 episode of the radio series X Minus One on which he subbed for regular announcer Fred Collins. (Tuttle, besides being announcer or sub-announcer on many game shows, handled announcing duties for late-afternoon and early-evening editions of WNBC-TV's NewsCenter4 in the '70's, and intros for the station's editorials into the '80's.) I'm curious if any of you would know offhand what Vic Roby's voice sounded like . . . or who was Hanrahan's sub as V/O for NBC News prior to Reig and Fred Facey coming on the scene.
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[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' post=\'79452\' date=\'Mar 25 2005, 06:58 PM\']Howard is taking credit for being the first and the last staff voice for GE, but not necessarily for NBC. He started at GE in 1943, on their local WGY in Schenectady. But the date of his start at NBC NETWORK is not clear.
If you are asking about NBC NETWORK, Don Pardo, now 87, likely spent more time and certainly had the higher profile career. Don started as a newscaster at NBC in 1944, and there are airchecks of his early work that survive to this day. Pardo remembers his first assignment involving an individual program. He was "warming up" the network phone lines that stretched through much of the country just before NBC Radio's "Hour of Charm". Don retired last year after 60 years and 6 months with the net. His present work on SNL continues for that show alone. He is no longer on staff.[/quote]
From what I've read, Mr. Reig first joined NBC NETWORK itself in 1952.
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Bill Hanrahan's sub on Nightly News was Bill McCord, who as I said in a different post was announcer on Twenty-One in the 50s.
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According to an article I read in www.tvgameshows.net Pardo now lives in Arizona but flies in
to do SNL. Of course, he was the announcer on several game shows. most notably the original
Price is Right and Jeopardy. Pardo annouced five game shows that Bill Cullen hosted, those
being Winner Take All, TPIR, Eye Guess, Three on a Match and Winning Streak.
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[quote name=\'BillCullen1\' post=\'173112\' date=\'Dec 25 2007, 07:51 PM\']
According to an article I read in www.tvgameshows.net Pardo now lives in Arizona but flies in
to do SNL.[/quote]
Confirmed. And a hell of a nice man.
What was it--two hours holding court in the lobby of the Beverly Garland in North Hollywood?
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[quote name=\'JCGames\' post=\'173108\' date=\'Dec 25 2007, 07:28 PM\']
Bill Hanrahan's sub on Nightly News was Bill McCord, who as I said in a different post was announcer on Twenty-One in the 50s.[/quote]
Ah, Bill McCord. I seem to remember his other game show announcing credits in the '50's included Concentration and the daytime Tic-Tac-Dough.
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Outside of IDs, the only time I remember hearing Peggy Taylor on Carson was a joke revolving around the fact that when NBC aired "The Godfather Saga" (the two films edited in chronological order by Coppola), they ran a disclaimer that more or less stated that the film was not meant to disparage the fine Italian-Americans who have never been in the Mafia. I don't know if Taylor did the disclaimer when it aired, but she did read Carson's parody of it as it crawled up the screen.
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Randy,
The story about Sarnoff is correct. There is a lot of NBC history knowledge here in Cincinnati, since WLW-T was the first NBC affiliate outside of NYC (also the first color affiliate). The University of Cincinnati (primarily at the Raymond Walters campus) has an archive that is very impressive, including an unique Rod Serling collection of "The Storm" series (scripts, set pieces, artwork, film b-roll, everything), which predates "Twilight Zone" and was done live on WKRC-TV (who's studios are on two separate floors). The director of this program eventually left WKRC and America and founded/started channel 7 in Australia. Anyway, back to the history lesson, Sarnoff also had a patent squabble with Farnsworth, but the patent story with the Navy and Sarnoff, 100 percent true. It was to keep Marconi from entering the States with something called "wireless telephones". Apparently, the Gov't was very concerned about a non-American company wielding too much power in telcom. (Fast forward 70-80 years and ????)
(And we won't start with Crosley using WLW's 500,000 watts as a facsimile machine during WWII)