Home  News & Views  Forums  Donate  About  Contact  
Search our online archive of 4,206 clips.
Category Search:
Keyword Search:  
Latest Additions - Recently Viewed - - My Favorites - Most Favorited - Most Commented - Sponsored - Random
Loading the player ...
Share You must Log In to store favorites.
This clip has not been favorited.		 Link/Embed

WBBM Channel 2 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Excerpts, 1975)

Here's some surviving excerpts of the 1975 airing of a holiday perennial, the animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas on WBBM Channel 2. Includes:

A more complete "Season's Greetings" WBBM Station ID, with the same bumper slide as on here (voiceover by ??) - followed by CBS "bong"

Animated "A CBS Special Presentation" bumper

Opening titles of How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas opening sponsor billboard (for Kellogg's cereals - "Your Best Days Start with Breakfast," and Nestle - makers of Crunch, $100,000 and Choco-Lite candy bars, and Quik chocolate drink mix "for you and your family") (voiceover by ??)

Final moments of last scene of How the Grinch Stole Christmas

How the Grinch Stole Christmas closing sponsor billboard (products same as on opening billboard) (voiceover by ??)

Closing credits of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (with voiceover promos by Bill Martin)

This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, December 12th 1975.

Click here to search for related videos.

This clip aired on Friday, December 12th 1975, and is included in the following categories:

Viewer Comments

CHOCO-LITE!!!! That's the chocolate bar I was trying to remember.
Comment posted by NuBnPrnc2k on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 7:45am.

End credits promo V/O added to clip description.
Comment posted by W.B. on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 12:14pm.

What is the "CBS bong" anyway? When did they stop using it?
Comment posted by FuzzyMemories on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 4:06pm.

Funny you should ask. The CBS "bong" sounded almost like a piano note. I personally measured the sound as being 433 Hz modulated by a faint 866 Hz. It was heard at the top of the hour for the purpose of signaling the start of a network feed. It can still be heard to this day on WBBM Newsradio 780 (and where I live in NYC, WCBS Newsradio 880 - and countless other CBS Radio affiliates across the nation) before the hourly CBS News updates. It was last used on the TV side around the late 1970's or early '80's.
Comment posted by W.B. on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 4:12pm.

A lot of TV programming on all the networks no longer start at the top of the hour. It's not uncommon for a show to start at say, 8:59:30 PM or even at say, 10:01:10 PM. The networks often air network commercial breaks at the top of the hour. Therefore, the use of tones at the top of the hour aren't practical at all anymore. I sure do miss them though. NBC Television had a "beep" at the start of their shows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2dWhjB8_0U&feature=related :12 into video. Although this was used in this instance for radio, I use to hear this on WMAQ-TV and WNDU-TV, South Bend before the NBC peacock would air all the time when I was little.
Comment posted by Matt on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 7:34pm.

NBC's "beep" (both on radio and TV) from the 1960's into the '70's was about 750 Hz, lasting about :00.5 seconds, and sounded like a combo of sine, square and sawtooth (with sine being the louder, of course). (And the opening and closing V/O on that clip was the late Bill Wendell, in-between being sidekick to Ernie Kovacs and becoming David Letterman's first NBC announcer.) It should be noted that this kind of tone with that kind of length lasted on at Philadelphia radio station KYW 1060 AM for many, many years after it switched to the current all-news format way back in September 1965; last I checked, the frequency of that tone was 787 Hz.

The other factor about TOH (and even BOH) tones today is the digital delay applicable at many radio stations today, with anywhere from 8 to 20 second drift after the exact time. (And don't get me started on the lag between picture and sound, with a lot of times looking like a badly dubbed Japanese monster movie where the lip movements don't match what's being spoken.)
Comment posted by W.B. on Tuesday, November 29th 2011 at 8:02pm.

Was this from a Betamax tape recorded on BI speed (from the Betamax console) or a U-Matic tape?
Comment posted by Betamax75 on Thursday, December 1st 2011 at 12:41am.

@Betamax75 - No actually, this clip, along with the Grinch clip, WGN White Christmas broadcast segment, the ""Dart Gun Fun" clip, and Dominick's 1977 Turkey commercial were all from EIAJ open-reel 1/2" tape - same batch that I got at the beginning of this year. I have so many tapes left that we still need to transfer. I am going to need to do another fundraiser soon to finance some of these.
Comment posted by FuzzyMemories on Friday, December 2nd 2011 at 11:06pm.

"Now stay tuned for The Frosty the Snowman!"
oops.
...but first this public service announcement from The Smokey The Bear... :)
Comment posted by ChrisBCritter on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 2:16pm.

Anyone notice anything else strange about the ending voiceover? A flub, perhaps? ;-)
Comment posted by FuzzyMemories on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 2:55pm.

There was no flub that I know of; the audio briefly faded due to a tape dropout. No, Martin clearly intoned, "Now stay tuned for 'Frosty the Snowman'." If you've heard audio tape dropouts on some music, you'd know what I mean. However, the way he said it, it almost sounded like, "Now stay tune for..."
Comment posted by W.B. on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 3:17pm.

"Monday, the p---- gang..." - no one else hears this but me? :-)
Comment posted by FuzzyMemories on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 3:50pm.

You're right - no extra "the" - oh well. In the immortal words of Emily Litella: "Never mind."

And now that you mention it, Fuzzy, it does sound like - uh, that...
Comment posted by ChrisBCritter on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 3:51pm.

Again, Bill Martin did seem to have a peculiar way of pronouncing some things from time to time. But the way he said the word sounded more like rhyming with "Venus." And his pronunciation of the lead character's first name sounded almost like the nickname of former Cubs manager, and member of the 1961-65 "College of Coaches," and announcer for much of the 1960 baseball season, "Jolly Cholly" Grimm.
Comment posted by W.B. on Saturday, December 3rd 2011 at 5:26pm.

The V/O on the station ID is Ed Roberts (compare with other clips featuring his voice and 1974 TV 2 News at 6 open).

And here's an example of NBC's TOH "beep" on TV. This was recorded off WMAQ-TV(!) likely in December 1974, right before a Kraft-sponsored Christmas special starring Andy Williams. However, the tone in this example was 747/748 Hz (thanks W.B.).

@W.B.:
I saw a clip on YouTube from 1980 where the CBS "bong" was still being used, so they continued to used it until the early '80s.
Comment posted by IAmNomad on Thursday, December 13th 2012 at 1:19am.

You must be logged into the forums to add comments.

This clip has been viewed 1378 times.
This clip debuted on FuzzyMemories.TV on Monday, November 28th 2011.
Latest News & Views:
We're Back... (06/06)
Latest Forum Posting:
WGN Flashback - 1969

Latest Additions
10 total pages
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7 8 9 1 page forward10 pages forward

[ NEW! ]
Pronto - "The Ristorante Superbo" (Commercial, 1979)

[ NEW! ]
Preparation H - "A Coworker's Concern" (Commercial, 1979)

[ NEW! ]
Zenith - "Do It Now!" (Commercial, 1979)

[ NEW! ]
Big Brothers - Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago (PSA, 1978)

[ NEW! ]
WLS Channel 7 - Eyewitness News Update with Terry Murphy (1979)


Most Recent Site Comments

Comment posted in WPWR Channel 60 - MV-3 Rock & Roll TV (Opening, 1983) by VintageCanada on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 10:38am CT

As of late, I think Richard Blade is still on First Wave, only it's now on Sirius/XM Channel 33.


Comment posted in Preparation H - "A Coworker's Concern" (Commercial, 1979) by T.K. on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 5:55am CT

Somebody should have told these guys the real reason why Cronkite was called "Ol' Iron Pants." :-)


Comment posted in WLS Channel 7 - Eyewitness News Update with Terry Murphy (1979) by ChrisBCritter on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 3:10am CT

Or as the Trib's Gary Deeb called her, "Terry 'Disco' Murphy", for the kind of stories she usually reported on...


Comment posted in Zenith - "Do It Now!" (Commercial, 1979) by ChrisBCritter on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 3:08am CT

I bought my first Zenith about that time - but I went for the 25" model (just over $600.00, or about $100.00 less than what my first VCR cost a year before).


Comment posted in Ajax All-Purpose Cleaner - "Armed with Ajax" (Commercial, 1979) by ChrisBCritter on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 3:03am CT

I thought she looked and sounded a bit like Andrea Martin - or her prettier sister (no, not Edna Boil).


Comment posted in Chis-An-Bop with Fred MacMurray (Commercial Offer, 1979) by ChrisBCritter on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 2:59am CT

Geez. Try to teach a kid math with that today and his reaction would probably be @o.oo


Comment posted in Jeno's You Top It! Pizza (Commercial, 1979) by Pete on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 1:16am CT

I loved these pizzas while growing up.


Comment posted in Manor Care Nursing Center - "See What a Nursing Center Can Be" (Commercial, 1978) by Pete on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 12:53am CT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqb3jcZAhk


Comment posted in Ajax All-Purpose Cleaner - "Armed with Ajax" (Commercial, 1979) by Pete on Monday, June 17th, 2013 at 12:39am CT

I hope I'm this happy in about 8 hours when I clean my apartment....


Comment posted in WGN Channel 9 - Cartoon Capers (Opening, 1978) by Phantom on Sunday, June 16th, 2013 at 10:18pm CT

KVOS in Bellingham Washington had "Frisky Frolics" as the title of its cartoon show.


<<< Older
  News & Views  Forums  Donate  About  Contact  Disclaimer  Links  Press   
This page was created in 0.75069 seconds© 2007-2013 Museum of Classic Chicago Television