I remember as a kid making my first television appearances right here in good old New Bedford. Channel 6 signed on the air in New Bedford in I was only five years old at the time, but I have vivid memories of all of the buzz. It was pretty exciting stuff. The Flintstones , at the time an adult animated sitcom, premiered on Channel 6. Back in the day, my uncle was a bartender at J. C's Office downtown, right around the corner from Channel 6. Like all good media people back then, many of the folks from Channel 6 were a bunch of barflies.
My uncle knew them all, and through his connections, I got tickets to appear on Bozo. What I remember about my first television appearance is being told to stomp on balloons on the soundstage floor while wearing a blindfold. It was me competing against a little girl about my age. The one who popped the most balloons won the prize, probably a plastic sleeve of Hoodsie Cups or something.
As I frantically stomped around, all I could hear was the sound of balloons popping β and it wasn't me doing the popping, either. The little girl kicked my butt and won the Hoodsie Cups. As though I hadn't learned my lesson the first time, I eagerly made an appearance on Romper Room with Miss Diane a short time later.
Since there is no videotaped evidence in existence to prove otherwise, let's just say that I was a star. Fortunately for me, no one there recognized my star quality, so I remained largely in the background for the entire 90 minutes. Channel 6 didn't last long in New Bedford before moving to Providence around I guess sales revenues were more lucrative there. Along with the station went my dreams of being a television star.
As coincidence would have it, it was around that I met my good friend and colleague Phil Paleologos at another New Bedford radio station. He had worked as a booth announcer at WTEV 6. Phil and I work together again and have many great memories to share.
