Year In Review – Part Four (November-December 2010)

Greetings TV Garth readers! Here it is – the final part of the Year In Review covering my reception in 2010! (Long overdue, but still arriving close to the two year anniversary of this blog!) This entry is the biggest one yet, so grab some snacks and enjoy the TV events of November through December 2010!

NOVEMBER

In the second last month of 2010 I experienced the last full on wave of tropo before the Winter “slumber”, as well as a rockin’ road trip to Rochester! November also brought the return of Conan O’Brien to TV, and my first look at WROC’s First at 4 newscast with Matt Molloy reading one of my tweets on air!

On November 8th it was a Pennsylvania night, with these highlights:

• Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34) arrived with Jimmy Fallon.

• WJAC features RTV (Retro Television) as a subchannel, and I snagged this wonderful station ID!

• Conan O'Brien finally made his way back to late night TV! His new show airs weeknights in Canada at 12am on Comedy Network and 1:07am on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) as seen below.

• Clearfield, PA’s WPSU (RF15) only came in briefly, which is the Nature of tropo reception sometimes.

• Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50) also came in with Masterpiece Mystery!

• It felt appropriate seeing Janet on the repeat of Jay Leno on Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34.) The station could be renamed WJACkson. Janet was hoping for positive Feedback on her latest role in the movie For Colored Girls.

On November 9th I caught a few minutes of Springville, NY’s WNGS (RF7) which is still difficult to pick up in the Greater Toronto area. They were showing a 70s flick, and after seeing the coked out come hither look on the woman’s face and a rugged shirtless guy, I figured some sweet retro lovemaking would begin. Instead, the guy puts on boxing gloves and pummels that poor woman’s face in! Total weirdness! It reminded me of the time in 2009 when I saw a similarly violent flick on WNGS and wrote about it on my sister blog, Frothy Pop Treats.

November 10th was the start of a MEGA Tropo Day! The morning was more of a warm up, but it really got going during the evening and overnight period. Here are the highlights:

• Rochester, NY’s WXXI (RF16) came in with this woman schooling us during GED Connection.

• Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) was breezy with Kara Coleman!

• Poor Barry Grossman keeps getting gross comments from folks about his community college proposal as seen on the “You Said It” segment on WICU.

• I would love for PBS to put together a montage of Charlie Rose’s most pointed questions and set it to the song “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

• Johnstown, PA’s WJAC (RF34) rolled in again with Carla Gugino guesting on Jimmy Fallon.

• Joey Stevens gave his fourcast during the weather report that evening. I almost thought he was giving a shout out to Buffalo’s WIVB! (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

• After reading about Joey leaving WSEE, the pic below seems more meaningful. It looks like Scott McDonnell wants to say “So you’re leaving, huh? You couldn’t tell me earlier, man?” To which Joey might reply “Sorry Scott. But you can still watch me on One Caribbean Weather.”

• Dr. Terry Madonna hoped that Everybody would Get Together for his lecture before they went on Holiday for the season. The lecture had students Burning Up with differing views, but lively debate is always in Vogue.

• Lisa Weismann remarked “What was up with that interview? It certainly didn’t Justify My Love of his teaching methods.” Scott McDonnell wisely noted “Don’t worry Lisa, You’ll See what he has up his sleeve!”

• I would love it if Volk’s had a well branded vehicle that went around collecting jewelry. Then people could point and shout “Look! It’s the Volk’s wagon!” (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

• New Channel Alert! I picked up Alliance, OH’s PBS affiliate WNEO on RF45 for the first time! (Back in January 2010 I picked up their sister station WEAO!)

• I didn’t even know Detroit, MI’s WMYD (RF21) had local news until I saw this promo! Check out the anchors Melissa Long and Curtis Smith below.

• My20 News At 10 also features Dave Leval, Jorge Avellan, and the awesomely named Kila Peeples, who only needs to add an extra L to her first name to create a great rock band.

• The closing shot of the My20 News At 10 promo features their slightly Fox News-ish slogan “Straight To The Point.”

• I was Tangled up in this promo for WMYD’s movie contest, sponsored by the Greater Detroit Auto Auction.

• Detroit, MI’s WDIV (RF45) also popped up with a promo for America’s Thanksgiving Parade. The Parade is held in annually in Detroit and shown live on WDIV (bumping the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.)

• I also got to see some of WDIV’s 4:30am newscast with Andrew Humphrey and the awesome Rhonda Walker!

• I would love to see Andrew Humphrey adapt an old Digital Underground song into his own anthem “The Humphrey Dance.” Also check out the girl in the background serving child labor realness as she rakes leaves during the After School Forecast.

• I got to see this great promo 4 The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on WDIV.

• Here’s a great promo for WDIV’s 11pm news.

November 11th was another MEGA Tropo Day! The signals flowed freely from morning through evening with four States popping in. The highlights reel begins here:

• Detroit, MI’s WDIV (RF45) stayed in as the Local 4 News Morning began at 5am with Steve Garagiola and Rhonda Walker!

• It almost looks like Andrew Humphrey and Steve Garagiola told Rhonda a juicy piece of gossip here.

• Another state, another NBC affiliate! Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) showed up with Kara Coleman presenting the weather.

• If we don’t like Debra’s results in court, can we boo her? (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

• Good Morning Cleveland showed up on WEWS (RF15) with Pete Kenworthy and Kimberly Gill. (I loved that I was seeing three different States on TV within a half hour…like a road trip without leaving my house!)

• Christine Ferreira fashionably delivers the weather on WEWS! Love her glamtastic ways!

• Patty Harken rolls through her traffic segment at just the right speed.

• I almost fainted when I switched to Cleveland, OH’s WKYC (RF17) and heard Hollie Strano saying, “Just go at it…As far as the size, it’s whatever you want, but you have to use your hands…the technique is, you have to kinda squeeze.” I was shocked and appalled until I found out she was talking about how to prepare homemade meatballs!

• Let’s give Mr. Butler a Pat on the back for his traffic reports!

• I remember my pal Mr. A kept seeing Circle K signs and thinking they were K Marts during our Buffalo-Erie Road Trip of 2009. It didn’t help when I said, “Those are Circle K gas stations….I saw them all over the Erie news when they were being robbed.” (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS on RF15.)

• Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) featured a report on a Carnival cruise that was anything but smooth sailing for passengers.

• Maurielle Lue popped up looking fabulous on WEWS.

• This woman was clearly on the ball during the morning show on WQHS (RF34)!

• I was excited to see Pittsburgh, PA’s WTAE (RF51) roll in for a few minutes during their morning news. WTAE is one station I probably won’t get after the Canadian DTV transition. In Toronto, RF51 is marked for either CJMT or City TV depending on which report you read.

• The weather sure wasn’t the Pitts that day!

• Kelly willingly jumps into the Frey to deliver the morning news in Pittsburgh.

• It almost looks like Kelly Frey is saying “Mike Clark is the man!”

• New Channel Alert! I picked up Sandusky, OH’s WGGN (RF42) for the first time and it lasted very briefly, with Shepherd’s Chapel coming in.

• WGGN’s subchannel (52-2 WGGN-FM) features the audio of a radio station, combined with on screen weather information.

• Hollie Strano of Cleveland’s WKYC (RF17) looked proud with a patriotic flag (in honour of Veteran’s Day) on a monitor in the background.

• It wasn’t a stretch to say I enjoyed picking up Alliance, OH’s WNEO (RF45) that morning. They have four channels of programming, including their Spanish language “V-Me” subchannel pictured below.

• Erie, PA’s WBEP (RF12-2) featured a promo for the WICU Holiday Food Drive and a list of locations where you could drop off donations. 

• If You Could Only See how much I was enjoying the tropo that day, maybe you would understand! The reception was definitely an uplifting Tonic for me! (Seen via The Cool TV subchannel on Rochester, NY’s WUHF, RF28.)

• Lisa Weismann appeared in a great promo on Erie’s WBEP (RF12-2) for Newswatch at Ten.

• Sara Gilbert was giving us something to Talk about in SD on Erie, PA’s WSEE (RF12-3.)

• I was able to check out The Talk in HD over on Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45.) The show was decked out in patriotic backdrops and colours for Veteran’s Day. (Sidenote, I would love for Holly Robinson Peete to do one woman show called For Peete’s Sake!)

• The Erie, PA tropo was strong enough to allow WFXP (RF22) to arrive with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

• A short time after picking up WROC on RF45, I turned the antenna and picked up Detroit, MI’s WDIV on the same channel. Here we have the Real Housewives’ Kim Zolciak who sings the trashtastic guilty pleasure Tardy For The Party. (The Tracy Young remix is actually worth checking out!)

• Speaking of trashtastic, Jerry Springer rolled in via Detroit, MI’s WMYD (RF21.)

• After getting home from work (where I served a customer from Detroit and told them about picking up their channels that day) the reception continued. Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) was in with Primer Impacto Extra.

• It’s rare for me to pick up Cleveland, OH’s WEWS (RF15) during the 11pm hour, so I’m providing a generous recap of their newscast. First up was John Kosich reporting live and wearing a jacket I’d love to steal!

• WEWS did a story about a gathering of Veterans to celebrate the Thomas Mihalis Memorial. The event included an appearance from Ohio (D) Rep. Betty Sutton.

• WEWS covered the ceremony for the Thomas Mihalis Memorial for Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 1079. The centerpiece reads “Dedicated November 11, 2010 to our Veterans and their families, past, present and future for their dedication, service and sacrifice to our country and defense of our freedoms.”

• Danita Harris offered up an arresting story about a local youth!

• Debora Lee was live in the WEWS newsroom. (Maybe she’s a relative of Sara’s and also has flair for making delicious desserts!)

• Curtis Jackson also appeared live in the WEWS newsroom.

• Mark Johnson is the Chief Meteorologist for WEWS!

• The ball was in Mike Cairns’ court to deliver a slamming sports report!

• Later that night, I caught a great ad for the Nautica Queen boat ride, featuring a station ID for Cleveland’s WUAB (RF28) at the bottom of the screen.

• WUAB offers This TV as a subchannel. Note the logo “This Cleveland” at the bottom right.

• Akron, OH’s WBNX (RF30) arrived with a showing of My Wife & Kids.

• I noticed there was a new subchannel on WBNX. I love that they have a show called Sing, Sing, Sing, Come On Let’s Sing. It wasn’t until the fourth “Sing” that I knew they were really serious about it.

• Cleveland For Hire…when Spenser’s busy. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WKYC, RF17.)

• Cleveland’s WEWS (RF15) was blasting into my neighborhood with a signal strength of 92% at various times during the night! Talk about NOHvember!

• It looks like consumer reporter Jenn Strathman is telling this guy “Look! I’m gonna level with you!”

• WUAB (RF28) is a sister station to Cleveland’s WOIO, which is why they often feature ads and promos with the “19 Action News” branding.

• I was charmed by the “Just Pay Half” promo for Lady Luck’s Restaurant shown on WUAB.

• Speaking of paying half, WUAB followed that promo with an ad for Taylor’s More 4 Less. These are the commercials I live for during tropo events!

• Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) also came in with an ad for the Players of Utica production of Five Women Wearing The Same Dress. I think those women probably got a deal at Taylor’s More 4 Less.

• Proof that these kids are no small fries (but are welcome to eat them) McDonald’s sponsors the Student Athlete of the Week on Cleveland’s WEWS (RF15.)

November 12th continued the late season tropo extravaganza! Here are the highlights:

• There’s a bittersweet irony in sending the cops after a guy who spray painted “In The Streets World Peace.” (Seen via Utica, NY’s WKTV, RF29.)

• WKTV’s Megan Koskovich was ahead of the other morning shows with info on the upcoming day.

• It was neat to see Don Shipman and the whole Newschannel 2 At Daybreak crew, since I hadn’t seen the show over the air since September!

• Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45) provided a healthy signal for me to watch, with Katrina Irwin anchoring.

• WROC was featuring an interview with a local veteran who was discharged under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. (I didn’t get to see the story, though, and can’t find it on the website.)

• Brian Neudorff’s weather report on WROC showcased some of the reasons why my reception was so amazing during this mid-November stretch!

• It looks as if Brian’s giving a thumbs up for the awesome weather that’s happening! Love it! His enthusiasm is awesome! Check out his web page WX-Man.com or follow him on Twitter.

• Who’s on WEWS? Lue’s on WEWS! Maurielle Lue appeared again during Good Morning Cleveland. (Seen via WEWS, RF15.)

• Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) also appeared with morning news.

• Cleveland, OH’s WUAB (RF28) appeared with the religious program Believer’s Voice Of Victory.

• It was shore fun to see all the various stations that morning, though it was no day at the beach for the poor guy below. Sea Hunt appeared on WUAB’s This TV subchannel.

• WEWS did a report about Veterans being honoured at the Lake Erie Monsters game taking place later that day. Check out the details in the second pic.

• Christine Ferreira, Pete Kenworthy, and Kimberly Gill make me wanna say “OH my gosh” as they rock Good Morning Cleveland! (Seen via WEWS, RF15.)

• Hollie Strano is fair and cool over on Cleveland’s WKYC (RF17.)

• Later that morning, I stumbled onto a wacky and wonderful Spanish language sketch comedy on Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34.) No idea what’s going on, but boas always make it better!

• Erie, PA’s WSEE (RF12-3) featured Mornings Live with legendary Lisa Adams and rollickin’ Ray Petelin!

• Liz Crawford talked to East High School students Wujdan Ahmed and Depend Tamba about the community college proposed by Barry Grossman. Going forward with the college really would Depend on positive reactions from the community.

• Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) featured Mark Soliday talking live with Kara Coleman, who was on location with the winners of the “How Cool Is Your School?” contest.

• Is it not vaguely disturbing that the sassy chicken puppet is coming out of the oversized clown’s mouth? It’s like the clown had a bad reaction to some KFC.

• Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) offered an interesting twist on the usual Veteran’s Day stories by showcasing “Women Warriors” who served in the military. Stacy Fogarty served in the Iraq war and you can check out the story by clicking here.

• Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) featured the awesome team of Rebecca Leclair, Pat McGonigle, and Christine VanTimmeren on morning news duties.

• WHEC’s Rich Caniglia provided the Pinpoint 10 Forecast that morning. (Check out Canadian cities Peterborough and Trenton on the map behind him!)

• Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) also popped up with Marty Snyder giving us the temps for major cities including Toronto!

• There was laughter to be had with Jennifer Johnson, Doug Emblidge, and Evan Dawson on WHAM!

• WHAM’s Norma Holland sailed in to deliver a story about the disastrous Carnival cruise that was making waves that week for the wrong reasons.

• WHAM featured a quick story about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and how the Pentagon’s study showed that repealing the law would not harm the war!

• By the mid-afternoon, I had to leave for work. But since Rochester, NY was coming in so strong, I set up my DVR to tape WROC (RF45) in hopes of catching First At 4 with Matt Molloy. I lucked out and got the whole show plus most of their later news too! Check out Matt Molloy and Meghan Backus below!

• First At 4 features the awesome meteorologist Scott Hetsko, although Matt Molloy doesn’t look too sure about his latest forecast.

• I enjoy Scott Hetsko’s forecasts for his quick wit, energy and ability to make the weather entertaining! Great Scott, indeed! (Also check out his Twitter.)

• One of the highlights of First At 4 is a segment called “Your Turn” where Matt Molloy reads viewers’ comments about various topics on air. (Check out Matt Molloy’s Twitter and Facebook Fan Page.)

• I squealed when I saw that he read my tweet on air! (The question was: “Man is shot twice, but finishes his sandwich before going to the hospital! Is there anything you would try to fit in before going to the hospital?”)

• At 5pm Kevin Doran counted on Caroline Tucker to report on absentee ballots in Henrietta.

• WROC’s Meghan Backus was on deck with a report about a school that, unfortunately, exercised its freedom to close down.

• Ali Touhey did a story about mapping crime in Greece. It’s about time they started cracking down on counterfeit Rand McNally guides. Police Captain Steve Chatterton wouldn’t stop talking about it in the interview that followed.

• I don’t know who this is, but I definitely want to help get his cable gets screwed into the right outlet after seeing him sign up for Time Warner Cable Business Class. (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WROC, RF45.)

• Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) was still there when I came home from work. Bill Worden anchored the 11pm news.

• Over on Rochester, NY’s WHEC (RF10) Rich Funke (pronounced “funky”) anchored the news. I would love for him to release a 70s inflected R&B album called “Rich Funke: Tellin’ It Like It Is.” His backing band could be called the Funketeers.

• Meanwhile, Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) brought out Ginny Ryan, Don Alhart, and Mike Catalana in HD!

• I was surprised to see Watertown, NY’s WWTI (RF21) make its way in. They no longer have their own newscasts, but show news from Syracuse’s WSYR. The interesting thing is that they keep their own “ABC 50” branding at the bottom right corner of the screen instead of WSYR’s.

• Back on Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) I was excited to see Mike Levin cut to a live report from Andrew Donovan!

• It was my first time getting to see Andrew on a WKTV newscast! Check out his TV and social media blog @AndrewDonovan or follow him on Twitter.

• There was a great promo from Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50) featuring an offer to get coupons for Borders Book Stores. (Unfortunately, the chain filed for bankruptcy…so if you’re near one, buy a book, a magazine, anything! Give them a boost!)

• I really don’t (t)rust this guy. He looks like he’ll run me over if I don’t take his rust proofing. (Seen via Watertown, NY’s WWTI on RF21.)

• I totally heart this ad for the Bay Drive-In Theatre shown on Watertown, NY’s WWTI (RF21.) Very neat to see a classic slice of Americana still running and showing current films.

• Note the ABC 50 branding in the bottom right corner during Nightline on WWTI.

• WWTI’s subchannel WWTI-2 is a CW Plus affiliate and showed a few local promos, including this one encouraging folks to visit their Price Trader 50 website for restaurant discounts.

• WWTI-2 also hopes viewers will find their CW page on Facebook! Watertown is part of the “North Country” which is also how they brand their CW affiliate.

• Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) was showing a telenovela called La Verdad Oculta (“The Hidden Truth.”) Google translations helped me figure out that the plot involves two men who love the same woman.

• What a revealing plot, indeed! La Verdad Oculta es muy caliente! I was disappointed, though, that the other man never showed up during this scene.

• Thankfully, Diane Keaton was on hand to discuss the telenovela with Kevin McHale over on Jay Leno. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WKYC, RF17.)

• There was an extreme fog advisory flashing on the weather subchannel of WKYC (RF17.) I often wonder if fog helps tropo provided the fog is in the area of the channel I’m receiving, but not at my own location.

• Lou Ferrigno smashed his way onto to my screen so hard that the picture pixellated a bit. The Hulk actor proved he had the muscle to take charge in a jail cell….wait, that sounds….never mind. (Seen via Akron, OH’s WBNX, RF30.)

• I noticed the new subchannel on WBNX had a different scenic backdrop the second night I caught it. However, they still feature the show that orders you to sing.

• Take a look at “Le Roy” near the centre of the map. Later in November, my pals and I visited the Jell-O Museum which was in Le Roy! (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WHEC-DT, RF10-2.)

• WSEE talked to Korean War Veteran Richard Dombrowski about the graffiti that covered an Erie County war memorial. Thankfully, Dennis Braendel of Braendel Painting stepped in with one of his crews to clean it up. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

• Here’s Lisa Weismann and Scott McDonnell with a great WSEE backdrop on a repeat of the evening news. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WBEP, RF12-2.)

• I was happy to see Julie Coates on hand for weather!

• Mr. Fudgie Fudge is amazing! He looks like the more flavourful cousin of Spongebob Squarepants. Mr. Fudgie Fudge is exclusive to Kali’s Candy, which is located next to Big Woodie’s. I’m really not making this up. Click here to see the ad! (Seen on WBEP.)

• I’m glad that Julie’s here to let us know if we need to wear our hats and Coates during the upcoming week of weather.

• WSEE featured a story about Gannon University President Dr. Antoine Garibaldi parting ways with the school. (It also looks like he’s wearing a tie in honour of Veteran’s Day, with red poppies on it.)

• I can’t bear gossipy reports that speculate on pregnancies. I mean everyone from Mariah Carey to Celine Dion have been buzzed about, but this is clearly too much…

• Meanwhile, over on Erie, PA’s WICU (RF12) Carson Daly took the cameras with him as he went on a very special date. “What are you talking about? This is not a date!” Carson screamed at me through the TV.

• Below is a great closing shot of WSEE’s news crew (as seen via WBEP on 12-2) including Gary Drapcho, Lisa Weismann, Scott McDonnell and Julie Coates!

• This ad was awesome! The guy in the middle trotted through The Liquor Loft dressed as a turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving! (Seen via Utica, NY’s WKTV on RF29.)

• It wouldn’t be a full Watertown experience without seeing an FX Caprara car infomerical on WWTI (RF21.) At least they put up the ABC 50 logo with time and temperature in the bottom right corner.

• Classic Westerns were a part of This evening’s programs on Springville, NY’s WNGS (RF7.)

• I caught the late repeat of the news on Utica, NY’s WKTV (RF29) where Caroline was ready, willing and Gable to tell us about Black Friday deals. (I was actually lucky enough to meet Caroline Gable during my visit to Utica in Sept. 2010! She was sweet and totally rocked!)

• We Musyt forget to watch Adam’s report about what the upcoming weather is like.

• El Gordo La Flaca was serving red carpet realness on Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34.)

• Charo was werking it out, looking much like she did in the 80s! I think she’s been drinking from the Mary Hart fountain of youth. (Seen via WQHS, RF34.)

November 13th was the last day of “big” tropo for 2010. Before the weather got colder, and Winter pushed away the distant signals, I caught some great treats including my first look at the news from Erie, PA’s WFXP! Here goes the highlights:

• I love that The Cool TV shows a wide range of music videos from all eras, including classic 80s jams like Jermaine Stewart’s We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off. (Seen via Rochester, NY’s WUHF subchannel on RF28-2.)

• College Football was on Rochester, NY’s WROC (RF45) and when I saw the team names I couldn’t help but think “Ole Miss Tennessee” could be a fierce Southern Fried drag Diva!

• Rochester, NY’s low powered TCT affiliate W42CO (RF42) showed up with children’s E/I programming. Not sure how I should take the guy’s apron with the slogan “Kiss The [vaguely phallic shaped drawing] Chemist.” 

• It was an absolutely gorgeous, clear, sunny day in Rochester, NY as seen on WHEC’s weather subchannel (RF10-2.)

• I got really excited to see the Wonder Woman football team on the field, until I realized it was actually West Virginia. (Seen via Cleveland, OH’s WEWS, RF15.)

• Cleveland, OH’s WQHS (RF34) had a very enthusiastic host on Viva La Familia!

• The WICU “trilogy” from Erie, PA was coming in including sports on subchannel WSEE (RF12-3.)

• Cook’s Country: America’s Test Kitchen was serving a souffle of drama! It looks like he’s telling her “You know you’ve got a good grip on my whisk! This is a recipe for disaster!” (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

• At first I thought I stumbled onto a documentary about the film Deliverance. But it was really just an ep of the Canadian series Red Green, which became popular in the US via PBS. (Seen via Erie, PA’s WQLN, RF50.)

• At 10pm I squealed with excitement over getting to see the news from Erie, PA’s WFXP (RF22) for the first time! Anchor David Belmondo opened the show!

• It was Berry good to see Meteorologist Jason Berry on deck to deliver the weather!

• WFXP uses “JET Pinpoint Doppler” since they’re a sister station to WJET (a station that I have yet to receive. Hopefully that will change after the Canadian DTV Transition.)

• WFXP interviewed Belle Valley Fire Chief John Semple. I would love to do drag in that town so I could say I was the Belle of the Valley.

• As the Christmas season got closer, Santa started making public appearances, including this one at the Millcreek Mall.

• WFXP featured this great shot of WQLN’s banner during a story about the PBS station’s Holiday Craft Show. (Note the dual ID for Erie and London, Ontario.)

• His name rolls off the tongue like a TV show waiting to happen. Imagine David Belmondo: Private Detective. Then his follow up series would be shortened to just Belmondo!

• Tori Amos popped up on the Artists’ Den via Erie, PA’s WQLN (RF50.) Over the years I’ve loved a lot of Tori’s music, but the guiltiest pleasure of mine is her 1988 big haired pop album Y Kant Tori Read!

• This is most certainly not RCCM TV! It looks like Rochester, NY’s WHAM (RF13) had the wrong program info, as RCCM TV is a paid religious show.

• Meanwhile, WHAM’s subchannel CW-WHAM (RF13-2) was showing what I expected to see on RCCM TV – a locally produced religious show.

• WHEC meteorologist Josh Nichols popped up on WHEC-DT (RF10-2) with updates through the night.

• In Canada, many broadcasters wear red poppies in honour of Remembrance Day (recognized on November 11th much like Veteran’s Day is in the US.) Seen via Hamilton, ON’s CITS (RF35.)

On November 20-21 I went on a Rockin’ Road Trip To Rochester! I travelled with four awesome friends, and we had a blast! I got to meet Meghan Backus and Chetan Rakieten of WROC, as well as literally peek in at Josh Nichols and Nikki Rudd of WHEC! My pals and I also hit up Tilt nightclub, and saw a fabulous Drag Brunch at Edible’s Restaurant featuring Pandora Boxx, Kasha Davis and Poison Waters! Click here for the full recap!

On November 30th I caught a promo on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) for the annual Toy Mountain campaign for children in need. The promo featured CFTO personalities Tom Brown, Ken Shaw and Christine Bentley! (The third pic is a shot I took in early December of the Toy Mountain box set up in my local shopping centre, Markville Mall.)

Also on November 30th, Conan featured a parody of the infamous Spider-Man musical, which included a man in drag as Wonder Woman! Love it! (Seen via Toronto, ON’s CFTO, RF40.)

DECEMBER

Long distance reception went to sleep for the season in December (despite a few “blinks” of Erie, PA trying to come in, but not quite making it.) However, Toronto and Buffalo stations stayed for the Winter, so I documented some highlights below.

On December 7th, I got to see an episode of In The Life that showcased the documentary Gen Silent. The film tells the story of KrysAnne Hembrough, a transgendered woman who battles cancer while trying to reconcile with her unaccepting family. An important and somewhat somber story enhanced by KrysAnne’s triumphant spirit. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WNED, RF43.)

On December 8th, Buffalo, NY’s WNED (RF43) ran their original production Don’t Touch That Dial: Great Moments In Local Broadcasting. The special gave a great look back at the history of TV & Radio in Buffalo, complete with interviews and rare footage. Legendary Buffalo personality Doris Jones popped up during pledge breaks and was vivacious and bubbly, while hilariously dismissing reality TV as “…just horrible.”

Also on December 8th, I caught an ad on Buffalo, NY’s WNYO (RF49) that showed the programs that viewers would lose if their negotiations with Time Warner Cable fell through. (Sinclair stations WNYO and WUTV were both seeking higher retransmission fees from Time Warner.)

December 11th brought one of the annual screenings of Holiday classic It’s A Wonderful Life. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ, RF33.)

Also on December 11th, Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) covered the funeral of broadcasting legend Mark Dailey. Dailey was one of the most recognizable faces and voices in Toronto for his work with City TV. Check out the excellent tribute by Bill Brioux as well as James Bawden’s memories. CFTO’s Andria Case introduced the coverage seen below.

On December 14th I got to see Rob Nelson and Vinita Nair looking extra festive on ABC’s World News Now. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

December 16th brought a promo for Great Romances of the Twentieth Century featuring a lovable Lucille Ball! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WNED, RF43.)

Also on December 16th, I caught this awesome station ID for WNED (RF43) which identifies as Buffalo-Toronto due to their large Canadian support. Check out how far their signal stretches in the promo!

I cheered on December 18th when I saw the reports that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was finally repealed! Whoo! (Seen on NBC Nightly News via Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ, RF33.) Later that night at a pal’s karaoke birthday party, I sang En Vogue’s Free Your Mind in honour of the repeal!

On December 21st I was surprised and flattered to see that the Toronto Star had used two of my pics for their article about TV meteorologists! The pics of CFTO’s Tom Brown and CBLT’s Nick Czernkovich came from last year’s Fantastic Forecasters blog entry. However, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get any credit. (I wrote asking if I could get credit in the online version of article, even if it was just a link to my blog. The author was friendly and replied, but the editor he referred me to never responded.) Still, it isn’t every day you get your TV screenshots used in a national newspaper, so I’m still amazed and appreciate it.

Also on December 21st, Buffalo, NY’s WUTV (RF14) was upping the ante in their battle with Time Warner Cable over retransmission fees. Their new ads suggested you could “get a better deal” by switching your service to Dish Network or DirecTV. The situation with Time Warner was finally settled in the early part of the new year.

On December 22nd ABC’s World News Now showed a segment about the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and included comments from former Staff Sgt Eric Alva. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

On Christmas Eve (December 24th) I stumbled onto a wonderful special called A Christmas For Everyone which took place at New York City's United Methodist Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew. The service was a multi faith experience that aimed to include people from all walks of life, and included a variety of speakers, including Rev. K. Karpen, pictured below. (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WIVB, RF39.)

The special was so inclusive, they even brought back Claire Danes and Wilson Cruz to reprise their roles from My So-Called Life during the service. Wait…that’s not them? Oops!

On Christmas Day (December 25th) I got to see Ryan Seacrest & Maria Menounos hosting the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

I know Mariah Carey has done some Mickey Mouse things throughout her career, but it rarely becomes this literal! (Seen via Buffalo, NY’s WKBW, RF38.)

Speaking of Mariah, my pal Mr. A joined me for my Holiday festivities and brought over his copy of Ms. Carey’s Merry Christmas II You. It went surprisingly well with CBC’s Divatastic Holiday Festival On Ice 2010, which we posed with below. (Seen via Toronto, ON’s CBLT, RF20.)

Mr. A also posed with the awesome Claudine Ewing, who was anchoring the news on Buffalo, NY’s WGRZ (RF33) that night.

Buffalo, NY’s WUTV (RF14) was running TV's Funniest Moments: A Paley Center for Media Special, which included the classic clip from I Love Lucy seen below.

Here’s a great trio of Holiday greetings from Buffalo, NY’s WIVB (RF39), WKBW (RF38), and WUTV (RF14.)

On December 27th I caught a great story on Toronto, ON’s CFTO (RF40) about their upcoming 50th Anniversary. The story included some awesome vintage photos, and footage of their opening night in 1960 which included Diva dancers sashaying around with giant call letters.

On December 31st my pal Adam hosted a wonderful New Year’s Eve party and I squealed and hollered politely suggested that we watch the Dick Clark New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special on WKBW (technically this wasn’t OTA as Adam subscribes to Rogers Cable.) Check out Ryan Seacrest with the legendary Dick Clark below.

And there you have it! 2010 is finally wrapped up! Thanks to all my readers, my pals, and the stations/personalities that have shown so much kindness to a wacky TV loving pop culture geek. Stay tuned for more television treats, station visiting antics, and reception mayhem!