TV Appearances, Then and Now

Next Wednesday, February 17, I'll be appearing on NBC 25's "News at Noon" to discuss Safe at Home:  A Season in the Valley with host Nikki Burdine.  I'm grateful to Nikki and Assistant News Director Pieter Bickford for the opportunity to share the story of the 2009 New Market Rebels with a large audience.  Some people may be nervous about appearing on television, but there's nothing to it, really.  You just sit down and talk to the person who's talking to you the same as you would on the front porch.  Of course, it does help to be prepared and to strike a proper balance between being concise and telling a good story.

I know from whence I speak, as I have already been a guest star for a week on one of America's most famous television shows.  Well, I remember it as being a guest star, although I don't think I was billed that way.  You see, when I was five years old, in March of 1962, Miss Carol looked into her Magic Mirror and announced my name as being a guest on Romper Room. 
That debonair little lad on the left with the party hat cocked at a jaunty angle is me.  And, yes, I earned my Do-Bee diploma.

Romper Room originated in Baltimore on WBAL, the creation of "Miss Nancy" Claster and her husband, Bert.  The shows were live, and none from back in the day were taped.  The thing I remember about my time on Romper Room was getting ice cream at 9:00 in the morning and the fact that the Felix the Cat cartoons that ran as part of the show were snowy on the studio monitors.

In any case, when appearing on television, you just have to be yourself, whether you're 5 or 52; some things never change.  That reminds me:  I wonder if NBC 25 will serve ice cream while we talk about Safe at Home?

Comments

[Nick]

Looking at you in the early pic, I'm surprised if took you 47 years to reappear on TV. How did you get the pic if the original show wasn't taped?

[Austin]

Good ole Mom took a photo!

[Al]

I never made it to Romper Room as that was reserved for the gifted and talented. But I did make it on The Lorenzo Show (Gerry Wheeler). Remember that one? You had to be "special" to get a spot on that show.