Tag: WGR

My Pat Trinkley Story: Weekends at TV2 Buffalo

“When you called my name on the air,” he began, “my mother heard it.”

Uh oh. This isn’t good.

At WGR (and then WGRZ), TV2 in Buffalo, I worked with a guy named Pat Trinkley. Pat was our weekend director. He was young and, as I remember a pretty good director.

Unfortunately it was the weekend!

In television… and most everything… weekends aren’t staffed as weekdays are. The crew was inexperienced and overwhelmed. Weather was when they regrouped.

For a director and crew weather is the easiest part of the newscast. The camera is stationary. The meteorologist or weathercaster is running his own graphics. You can almost sit back and let it happen.

In Buffalo Pat only had one cue to hear during my ‘cast.

After working a map I turned to the camera and said, “Let’s look at the current conditions.”

Pat was supposed to hit a button and switch from my weather graphics to a character generator which produced the “Currents” page.

Nothing.

I vamped a few seconds and then, again, called for “current conditions at Buffalo International.”

I was new at weather. I could ad lib, but I’d ridden into a box canyon. Once you’ve finished your narrative and called for the conditions you’re stuck.

I tried once more then having received no response took two steps forward and squarely faced the camera. I probably stooped just a little which I do when I make a close approach to the lens.

“Pat! I’m talking to you. May I have the currents?”

It was awkward. What options were there? It worked.

I was upset.

I was already stockpiling airchecks hoping to spring myself to a larger market. This tape wouldn’t make the cut and that was what had me the most ticked. Opportunity lost.

I steamed out to the parking lot, got in my car and drove home for dinner. A few hours later I was back for the eleven. The six o’clock broadcast was behind me now.

I was in the weather area when Pat walked in my direction. Now I was worried. I’d called him out on-the-air. Maybe he was angry with me?

“When you called my name on the air,” he began, “my mother heard it.”

Uh oh. This isn’t good.

“She really liked that!” And with that he smiled.

I mentioned his name when I could. He never missed a cue again.

30 Years Ago: The Most Important Day Of My Life!

As I barreled around a corner I knocked down a young woman who’d just started that morning. By the time I saw her she was sitting on the floor!

July 7, 1980 was a Monday. It was sunny in Philadelphia. I remember that. I was working mornings as a deejay at WIFI in Philadelphia, an also ran top-40 station.

There was nothing to make me think the day would be special. As it turns out it was the most important day of my life!

I was still on the air when the phone rang. Farrell Meisel. He’s my friend now. That morning he a was offering me a job at WGR-TV where he was program director.

Oh my God! I’d sent a tape with (literally) everything I’d ever done on camera. He was asking me to co-host PM Magazine/Buffalo.

This was my break! Radio was over. I was heading to TV in two weeks. Even though it meant a small cut in pay and moving to Buffalo it was a great opportunity. I am forever grateful.

OK–so far a pretty decent day so far–right? There’s more.

At 10:00 AM my air shift was over. I rushed from the studio to meet some friends and give them the news. As I barreled around a corner I knocked down a young woman who’d just started that morning. By the time I saw her she was sitting on the floor!

That was Helaine.

That’s how we met. It could be a scene in a movie.

Wow! In one morning I changed careers, committed to move and met the woman I’d one day marry.

Helaine and I have known each other 30 years today. That’s half my life and a much larger percentage of hers.

Whatever I am and wherever I’ve gone owes a great deal to her. Plus, I’m still seriously in love.

That was a pretty damn good day!

How I Met My Wife

Helaine and I have known each other for twenty five years. I wish I remembered the exact date. I don’t. I know it was around this time of year, sometime in mid-July.

I was working at WIFI – a horrendous top-40 station in Philadelphia. Though owned by the movie chain, “General Cinema,” it seemed more like a mom and pop operation. The equipment was tired and in a semi-constant state of disrepair.

On the air, we used every gimmick possible to try and magnify what meager ratings we had. We even ‘kited’ time checks to try and inflate the amount of time people said they were listening!

Though a true blue radio fanatic, I was getting burned out by my time at WIFI. The final straw was getting calls from nine and ten year olds asking me to play, “We don’t need no education.”

I felt, single handedly, I was leading American society into some sort of social abyss. I made the decision to leave radio and get into television.

Though thirty, I was very young looking. I had only begun to shave on a regular basis. Here’s my 1980 driver’s license. You make the call.

I took everything I’d ever done in front of a camera (and this included telethon appearances, an Evening Magazine audition in Philadelphia, even “Popeye’s 50th Birthday Party”) and started searching for a TV job. On this particular July day the call came in&#185.

I was incredibly excited. Not only would I be leaving WIFI, I’d also be starting a new life a television… albeit in Buffalo.

My air shift ended at 10:00 AM. I ran out of the studio, toward the parking lot&#178 where I’d meet some friends and tell them the good news.

To exit the WIFI studio, you opened the door, turned right, walked down a hallway and then around the edge of another studio, making a full 180&#176 turn! As I rounded that corner I ran into a woman who had just started working in the promotion department.

When I say “ran into,” I am being literal. I ran into her and knocked her to the ground! That was my first contact with Helaine!

We saw each other a few times, but I was exiting Philadelphia in a few weeks. I was a guy who tried to avoid commitment during normal times… much less now, as I packed my stuff.

OK – I’m a jerk. I’m a fool. For all intents and purposes, I should have lost her to someone smarter and more mature. But, I didn’t.

I left Philly and didn’t see Helaine for another year and a half. I’ll tell how we got together some other time. It’s an interesting story with me, again, playing the part of the jerk!

The story you’ve read has been told a zillion times. It needs no embellishment, because it’s totally true.

As it turns out, it might be the best day of my life. The day my career changed and, more importantly, the day I met the woman I’d love for the rest of my life.

Maybe this is why I love the summer and why July is my favorite month. I bet Helaine knows the exact date.

&#185 – The call came from WGR-TV’s program director, Farrell Meisel. I can never thank Farrell enough for that first opportunity. He took a great chance, considering I had no experience in TV at all. Farrell and I are still really good friends, though I can no longer work for his TV station as I don’t speak Arabic!

&#178 – WIFI’s studio were in a mid-rise office complex in Bala Cynwyd, PA (yes, that’s how it’s spelled). In that pre consolidation era, we were in the same building as four other radio stations.