Anecdotes
Meeting the original Rocky, 1964
Rocky was a bit shorter, was dressed conservatively in slacks and a sports jacket that showed that he was in very good shape. I figured he must have been Fernandes’ bodyguard. I had no idea what Frankie did for Fernandes.
Read MoreWe Were the TV Generation
I got pulled to work on a kids’ TV show called ZOOM and was on the pilot and the first season. The show was a big hit… I quickly aged out of that as if I was in Menudo.
Read MoreCelebrating Michael Ambrosino: Alumni Stories
Stories shared at the celebration of Michael Ambrosino’s career in October 2019
Read MoreJulia Child & Godzilla the Lobster: Early Memories in Studio A
From Bill Charette: My big moment as Assistant Stage Manager came on the day Julia did a show about lobsters.
Read MoreFred Barzyk’s Snapshots: Scene 6 – The Waiting Room
I love actors. I love how they are willing to give of themselves, to be vulnerable to critics, to wrap themselves in personas not their own, and how they love what they do.
Read More“What’s going on here?” – Louis Lyons and the News
Louis Lyons used to do a 15-minute newscast every night. Louis was a salty old New Englander who said whatever was on his mind.
Read MoreHenry Becton Remembers: Alistair Cooke
In 1987, we decided to create the major giving society named after our founder. I sent a solicitation letter to Alistair.
Read MoreJim Lewis Remembers: Julia Child’s Car Talk
In 1985 Julia Child received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Smith College. One of WGBY’s supporters arranged for her old classmate to stay on the day after the ceremony to do a reception for our donors.
Read MoreBarzyk’s new film, The Waiting Room, now online
Fred Barzyk’s TV drama, The Waiting Room, explores the lives of seven characters who find themselves at the end of their dramatic lives.
Read MoreA Boy from Milwaukee
From Fred Barzyk: My Mom had this vision for me. She thought it would be wonderful if I could be in show business… I announced that I would become a piano player! Only problem was we didn’t have a 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 MoreLeft alone in the Museum of Modern Art
From Fred Barzyk: Peter Hoving and I travelled to New York for a shoot. We were shocked to be free and alone in a gallery with some of the worlds most noted modern masterpieces.
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 Club”
From Bruce Bordett “The Club” began on channel 44 as “Club 44.” I think it was around 1977-80. Studio A was converted into a bar/club where each Friday night we would tape four, half-hour, back to back, “live” 30 minute segments. These featured local bands and musical acts, cooking segments, political editorials from Barney Frank,…
Read MoreBruce Bordett: The Place I Wanted To Be
From Bruce Bordett Sometime my senior year in college I decided that WGBH was the place I wanted to be. I started in the mailroom in 1971 and made it onto the crew about a year later. This I learned later was the time-honored path for many who had gone before me to find job…
Read MoreStill connected over the years
From Steve Rabin — 10/18/2008 I am not really a WGBH alum, although I spent many days during four years at the station working as Director of Programming at EEN with a number of the producer/directors on programming for the EEN member stations. Beyond that, as Media Program Director for NEH from 1974-1982 I was…
Read MoreVideo Tour of 125 Western Avenue (2006)
Six WGBH Alumni — Fred Barzyk, Michael Ambrosino, Olivia Tappan, Bruce Bordett, and David Atwood — tour the studios and offices at 125 Western Avenue, WGBH’s primary home from 1964 to 2007
Read MoreWGBH Pioneers: Michael Ambrosino – Part 2 (1998)
Michael Ambrosino — the creator of NOVA — describes his early years at WGBH, an era of live and live-on-tape TV productions at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studio in Cambridge.
Read MoreWGBH Pioneers: Michael Ambrosino – Part 1 (1998)
Michael Ambrosino — the creator of NOVA — describes his early years at WGBH, an era of live and live-on-tape TV productions at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studio in Cambridge.
Read MoreMoney for Nothin’ at the CPB (video and lyrics)
Written by WGBH Vice President Lance Ozier. Performed 3/21/07 at the “Liroff Liftoff” farewell event by “Henry Becton and The Platform Agnostics”
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