Oct. 25, 2014:
- Batavia, NY, 51.1 ION [WPXJ] (RF23)...I was positively entertained by ION's spooktacular greetings!
Oct. 27, 2014:
- Rochester, NY, 13.1 WHAM (RF13)...Dancing With The Stars offered up frightening freestyle performances that night! (One group was actually called "Team Creepy"!)
- Rochester, NY, 31.1 WUHF (RF28)...Sharon Swain showed viewers her giant pumpkins!
- Rochester, NY, 10.1 WHEC (RF10)...Kevin Williams provided a grave forecast that evening.
Oct. 28, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...Marry Me offered up a zombie-tastic take on I Love Lucy!
Oct. 29, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 7.1 WKBW (RF38)...Aaron Mentkowski and his shadow twin carved out a scary forecast!
Oct. 31, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...I definitely took note of Maria Genero's warning to be careful around scatt showers!
- Toronto, ON, 41.1 CIII (RF41)...Meredith Viera was no dummy when she dressed up as Amal Clooney for Halloween!
Leslie Roberts and Anthony Farnell (in tornado drag) became the wizards of "awws" when paired with Storm The Weather Dog as "Dorothy"!
I left the friends of Dorothy and eased on down the road to Global National with Dawna Friesen! (Somebody get her a coat!)
Nov. 3, 2014:
- Detroit, MI, 4.1 WDIV (RF45)...I was all 4 a late season Michigan appearance with Evrod Cassimy, Rhonda Walker and Brandon Roux!
Ruth Spencer and Andrew Humphrey encouraged viewers to Vote 4 The Best!
This was my first time seeing WDIV's slightly revamped look!
Ashley Baracy traffics in important updates on the roadways!
Will Jones reported on the controversial open carry laws affecting Michigan schools.
Richard H. Bernstein is a tireless advocate for people with disabilities and was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court a couple of months after this campaign ad was shown!
- Hamilton, ON, 11.1 CHCH (RF15) with Tim Bolen and Jaclyn Colville!
Nov. 7, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 19.1 TVO (RF19)...[tw: assault] The Agenda dealt with the difficult subject of sexual assault with Antonia Zerbisias (co-creator of the #BeenRapedNeverReported hashtag) and Anne Thériault. (Tarana Burke's #MeToo movement began in 2006 and gained national attention through Twitter a few years after this episode aired.)
Nov. 11, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 7.1 WKBW (RF38)...ABC's World News Now featured the fabulous Jennifer Bobbi as "Aunt Barbara" not long before she came out as a trans woman in 2015! Unfortunately, her real life story in the documentary Unsealed: The Story Behind Long Island’s Tupperware Queen shows there's a long way to go regarding acceptance and understanding of trans issues!
- Toronto, ON, 5.1 CBLT (RF20)...Heather Hiscox anchored CBC's Remembrance Day newscast, which also had a crawl about Gap's unfortunately timed sales promotion. (It's interesting to see the rejection of Remembrance Day sales in Canada, while the US has plenty of Memorial Day themed discounts.)
Nov. 13, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 5.1 CBLT (RF20)...Where else could you find a bubbly bottle of shampoo, flying phallic French bread, and a giant ogre? You & Me on CBC...with your host, JP!
Nov. 16, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 9.1 CFTO (RF9)...Gurdeep Ahluwalia was reporting for The Santa Claus Parade!
Nov. 17, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 23.1 WNLO (RF32)...Teresa Weakley and Jordan Williams told viewers they'd Wake Up to an arctic blast! (Side note, Teresa needs to host a newsmagazine called "Teresa Weekly"!)
Nov. 18, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.2 WGRZ-WN (RF33.2)...WeatherNation anchor Chris Bianchi talked about the Snowvember to come!
- Buffalo, NY, 23.1 WNLO (RF32)...I loved seeing Honda's ad with Jem & The Holograms and G.I. Joe on my birthday! (Also check out an alternate version re-dubbed by Samantha Newark, original speaking voice of Jem!)
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...Lydia Dominick was on fire presenting NBC's Prime Preview!
Nov. 20, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 5.1 CBLT (RF20)...Sports anchor Rob Pizzo can give me updates about sticks and balls anytime he wishes! (That means hockey and basketball highlights you filthy minded readers!)
- Buffalo, NY, 2.3 WGRZ-AT (RF33.3)...During this period, Antenna TV occasionally ran classic movies like The Jackie Robinson Story!
Nov. 21, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 4.1 WIVB (RF39)...News 4 began running promos and station IDs with the classic tag "We're 4 Buffalo"!
Nov. 23, 2014:
- Batavia, NY, 51.1 ION [WPXJ] (RF23)...Pillsbury's Poppin' Fresh really rose to the occasion!
Nov. 27, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...I enjoyed seeing NBC repeat the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the afternoon! Love all the Broadway numbers, Rockettes and gigantic wide-eyed turkeys!
WGRZ's Thanksgiving ID came out of the oven fresh and hot!
Nov. 29, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 17.1 WNED (RF43)...The PBS/NPR average audience-to-member ratio was 7% yet WNED had only 4% at the time. So they launched the 7% impact campaign to bolster new memberships!
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...Entertainment Tonight highlighted silver foxes Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper!
It also didn't hurt that ET threw in a pic of Andy with one of my personal icons, Madonna!
Nov. 30, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...The fabulous Claudine Ewing was on my side that evening!
Dec. 4, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...The Buffalo Bills announced an end to their Toronto series. One of my early blog entries took note of this cross border phenomenon!
Dec. 10, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.3 WGRZ-AT (RF33.3)...[tw: assault] Antenna TV reran the most bizarre and problematic episode of Too Close For Comfort, in which Munroe is assaulted by two women. Both AV Club and KINDERTRAUMA® have detailed write ups about the infamous episode and its odd place in pop culture history.
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...Although Too Close For Comfort tried to Push It with questionable humor, Let's Talk About Salt N Pepa and Spinderella starring in a Geico ad instead!
Dec. 16, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 29.1 WUTV (RF14)...Sock puppets and Seinfeld were a winning combo on Fox 29!
Dec. 17, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 9.1 CFTO (RF9)...Jeff Hutcheson waved his hands in the air like he just didn't care alongside Marci Ien and Beverly Thomson on Canada AM!
Dec. 19, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 40.1 CJMT (RF40)...At first I thought Liquidation Channel was an infomercial pretending to be a home shopping service, but they were legit! LC stormed onto late night Canadian TV purse first to sell their jewellery and accessories! (In 2017 they rebranded as Shop LC!)
- Toronto, ON, 5.1 CBLT (RF20)...I enjoyed the Fall for CBC campaign!
Dec. 23, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 7.1 WKBW (RF38)...Matt Bove became a reporter for Eyewitness News earlier that year!
Dec. 24, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 4.1 WIVB (RF39)...The I Love Lucy Christmas Special was a surprise hit for CBS in 2013, so they made it an annual tradition afterwards!
Dec. 25, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 9.1 CFTO (RF9)...Zuraidah Alman anchored CTV Toronto's evening newscast!
Dec. 26, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.2 WGRZ-WN (RF33.2)...Rhonda Lee made national headlines for standing up for herself and others on social media. (Read this...she is awesome!) After leaving KTBS, she landed at WeatherNation and later KING 5 in Seattle!)
Dec. 27, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 5.1 CBLT (RF20)...After my real life entanglements with Magic Mikes, it felt appropriate to close out the year with an episode of Mr. D involving a male strip club!
Dec. 29, 2014:
- Buffalo, NY, 2.1 WGRZ (RF33)...Jonah Javad was a good sport about his report that morning!
Dec. 31, 2014:
- Toronto, ON, 57.1 CITY (RF44)...In 2014, actor Zaib Shaikh became the Film Commissioner and Director of Entertainment Industries for the City of Toronto! (Previously, he had memorable roles on Little Mosque on the Prairie and Metropia!)
Also check out my 2014 Holidays and New Year's Eve Roundup!
Stay tuned to TV Garth for more raucous reception recollections!
