Pro Bowlers Tour - Opening sequence 1968

The last of the opening sequences used on Pro Bowlers Tour before the computer-generated animations of the '70s. This one voiced by the great Bud Palmer. Looking back on the long run of Pro Bowlers Tour on ABC, Palmer only hosted the show a very small number of times. But he is the one "other" host of Pro Bowlers Tour that I put on the same level, as a broadcaster, as Chris Schenkel. Palmer was just terrific, and I'd have been perfectly fine if his and Schenkel's roles had been reversed. It's funny how broadcasters' career paths can take on journeys all their own. I would know. Mine has.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• bowling
• Pro Bowlers Tour
• ABC
• tv graphics
• bud palmer
• chris schenkel
• broadcasting

[fromthesidelines]

The "PROFESSIONAL BOWLERS TOUR" was originally telecast in color (this is a black and white "kinnie") on Saturdays, usually from 3:30-5pm(et), leading right into "ABC's WIDE WORLD OF SPORTS" at 5.

[howilu]

I remember that opening very well from watching the pro tour each week on Saturday afternoons. I also recognize the voice of Bud Palmer, who filled in several times when Chris Schenkel was on assignment.

[byrd56]

I might recall a couple of weeks in 1976 when Al Michaels, who just got hired by ABC, did the "Pro Bowlers Tour" while Chris Schenkel was in Innsbruck, Austria for that network's telecast of the Winter Olympic Games.

[kevindh71]

Bud Palmer being a near-equivilent of Chris Schenkel? That might be a stretch, but Palmer definitely provided polish and professionalism in his telecasts.

I remember Verne Lundquist doing the '78 Quaker State, and I thought his voice was perfect for bowling. Palmer was more formal, and Lundquist was more down to earth.

Heck, we'll take it, "warts" and all. Rob Stone can take a lesson from all of them.