WGBH History Book
Fred’s Goodbye at 89
“Winter weather’s coming and snow is probably not far behind. I think it’s probably time to say my goodbye. Well, it’s not so much a goodbye as a big thank you to WGBH, my spiritual home.”
Read MoreLive Music Television at WGBH: Cosel, Atwood, and Norton
![Lionel Hampton and Bill Cosel - photo from the collection of Bill Cosel [filename: Hampton.jpeg]](https://www.wgbhalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Hampton√-600x398.jpeg)
That’s how we learned how to direct: live. We didn’t have any choice. We did stuff live because we couldn’t afford to record it!
Read MoreGordon Mehlman Shares Memories of WGBH Engineering Innovations
When I applied to WGBH in 1968, I had already interacted with the engineering department and so was lucky enough to be hired immediately.
Read MorePaul Noble on John F. Kennedy, Mrs. Roosevelt, Music, Art, and More
Paul Noble was hired through the Boston University Scholars program. Starting in 1959, he and his crew created a strong relationship between WGBH executives and staff, a culture based on humor and fun.
Read MoreWhy has WGBH had such an impact? Five views
Fred Barzyk: “I have asked several long time producers at WGBH to take a crack at the question of ‘Why does WGBH, a local public TV station in Boston, have such an impressive impact on media, culture and innovation?’ What follows are several responses to the question.”
Read More“The Negro and The American Promise” (1963)
Featuring interviews with Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, this program made headlines in spring 1963.
Read MoreFred Barzyk’s Snapshots: Scene 5 – Opera, Film, and a Dream
I always dreamed of doing an original TV musical. Raposo and Lehrer were willing to work on the musical for no money. What we needed was a play.
Read MoreVonnegut and Barzyk: Between Time and Tibuktu
“Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5: A Space Fantasy by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.” was an idea hatched by David Loxton who was working for NET Playhouse. This is how the 1974 TV show happened.
Read MoreFred Barzyk’s Snapshots: Scene 3
This is the second in a series of reminiscences by Fred Barzyk, longtime WGBH producer and director.
Read MoreFred Barzyk’s Snapshots: Scene 2
I was asked to produce and direct a program for college kids during the summer of 1967. The show featured a young Englishman who was lecturing at Tufts University. His name was David Silver and he looked a lot like Mick Jagger.
Read MoreFred Barzyk’s Snapshots: Scene 1
This is the first in a series of reminiscences by Fred Barzyk, longtime WGBH producer and director.
Read MoreThe Making of “The Lathe of Heaven”
Fred Barzyk: It is still amazing to me how many people of a certain age remember watching this TV movie. I mean it was 1979 when it aired!
Read MorePaul Noble Remembers: Eleanor Roosevelt
In the fall of 1959, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt began her series of monthly discussion programs for National Educational Television. It was called “Prospects of Mankind,” and was a production of WGBH-TV
Read MorePaul Noble Remembers: Elliot Norton and Rodgers and Hammerstein
They came into the studio and taped a half-hour show with Rodgers at the keyboard and Elliot and Hammerstein standing behind the piano.
Read MoreA stranger in a strange land
From Fred Barzyk: Bill insisted I try to get into the scholarship program. You studied for your graduate degree at Boston University and worked three days a week at the Educational Television station. Free tuition and you got $600 to live a year in Boston!
Read MorePaik and the Video Synthesizer
From Fred Barzyk: I remember Nam June Paik telling me to stand back since TV sets sometime exploded when he did this. I backed off. The TV did not explode but gave forth a dazzling array of colors, buzzed and slowly died, never to live again.
Read MoreJean Shepherd tells his first WGBH story
From Fred Barzyk: I first heard Jean on the radio in Boston. It was 1961. I was babysitting my young son and, while idly scanning radio stations, I heard this person, this intense personal voice, talking to me.
Read MoreRemembering the original WGBH
From Art Singer: Fifty one years ago this past September, on several late afternoons a week, I would take the twenty minute walk from BU across the Charles to the station’s studios on the MIT campus for a night’s work.
Read MoreWe’re in the “understanding business”
The chance invitation to work here at WGBH placed me in an environment that was a perfect fit for my temperament and aspirations as a professional and as just a plain person. Once here, I recognized, gradually, why it felt so right as a place to work and associate.
Read MoreIn a World All Its Own (1955)
From John Nadeau — 3/2007 When we did simulcasts on radio and TV, my station break announcement sounded like this: “This is the Lowell Institute Cooperative Broadcasting Council…WGBH-FM at 89.7 megacycles and WGBH-TV, channel 2, in Boston.” I joined the staff of WGBH-FM-TV in 1955. The two stations identified themselves as “noncommercial and educational” because…
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