Local TV stations end the year with the King of Cincinnati recording companies, the Queen of daytime television, three jokers and a ton of nostalgia for Baby Boomers.
- Ruth Lyons, the city’s biggest TV star in the 1950s and ‘60s, returns to WLWT-TV on Christmas again in two documentaries, a Ruth Lyons Special about her hugely popular live weekday noon 50-50 Club show, and Ruth Lyons: A Living Legend.
Lyons, who retired in 1967 and died in 1988, is remembered with comments from cast members Bob Braun, Ruby Wright and others, and clips from her shows featuring comedian Bob Hope and actor Carol Channing.
A Ruth Lyons Special airs 1 p.m. on Channel 5. Ruth Lyons: A Living Legend follows at 1:30 p.m.
- Paul Dixon, the crazy Cincinnati TV host who inspired David Letterman, returns to the airwaves with his craziest Paul Dixon Show in 1969, when he officiated the marriage of rubber chickens named Pauline and Harry.
The rubber chickens were a popular running gag on his weekday morning show on WLWT. His viewers sent in clothes and accessories for them.
So on March 11, 1969, Dixon devoted his entire show to “marrying these dumb things.” Participating in the chicken wedding ceremony were sidekicks Bonnie Lou (Okum) and Colleen Sharp, plus Channel 5 personalities Braun, Marian Spelman, Cliff Lash, Tom Atkins; Rosemary Kelly and producers Dick Murgatroyd and Elsa Sule. The show ended in 1974 after Dixon suffered a fatal heart attack at age 56.
The Paul Dixon Show airs 2 p.m. Christmas Day on Channel 5, following the Lyons’ shows.
- King of Them All: The Story of King Records, which premiered nationwide on PBS in October, airs next week on WCET-TV and the CET Arts digital subchannel.
Cincinnatian Yemi Oyediran worked nine years on the documentary about Syd Nathan’s Evanston record company (1943-71) where “The Twist,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and many James Brown hits were recorded.
King of Them All: The Story of King Records airs at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 28, and 10 p.m. Dec. 31, on Channel 48. It also airs at 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve on CET Arts Channel 48.3.
- Frank Ferrante’s Groucho brought the wisecracking movie and game show star Groucho Marx back to life on Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park stage in 2017. Five years later it premiered on public TV.
Ferrante — a lifelong fan of comedian Groucho Marx, who died in 1977 at age 86 — brings Groucho to life at the peak of his movie popularity in the 1930s, telling stories about his movies with brothers Harpo and Chico; performing songs from their films; and chatting with audience members.
From my review — Hooray For Frank Ferrante! — of his 2017 stage show here:
With great passion and precision, Ferrante performs Groucho's funniest one-liners as Rufus T. Firefly, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, opportunistic agent Otis B. Driftwood, and Capt. Jeffrey T. Spaulding, the African explorer, who went into the jungle where all the monkeys throw nuts. (If I stay here I'll go nuts.) Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
Frank Ferrante’s Groucho airs on WCET-TV Arts (Channel 48.3) five times the last week of this year. The dates: Monday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m.; Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.; and Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. and 10 p.m.
- Tom Lehrer — Live in Copenhagen 1967 wasn’t filmed in Cincinnati, and I don’t know if satirist Tom Lehrer ever performed in the Queen City in the 1960s. But this is my blog, and I’ll break format to alert you to one of my favorite shows. It's a rare look at Lehrer's brilliance filmed for Danish television. Lehrer, who died in July at 97, performs his best-known songs including "The Elements," "Pollution" and “The Vatican Rag” and other hits. Genuflect! Genuflect! Genuflect!
Tom Lehrer – Live in Copenhagen 1967 airs Saturday, Dec. 27 at 9 p.m. on CET Arts Channel 48.3).
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