WHCT 1985 Image Promo

This is a 1 minute image promo that defunct Hartford TV Station WHCT-TV ran in late 1985, shortly after their return to the airwaves to promote their shows. Included are short scenes from "Columbo", "Dempsey & Makepeace", "Dallas",
"SCTV", "Carson's Comedy Classics". The incongruity of the fact that WHCT's slogan was "It's Right Now" combined with the fact that these were syndicated reruns makes this all the more amusing....except if you were earning a (meager) paycheck from them....

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• WHCT
• 1985
• Hartford
• Promo

[WhatsAYak]

The problem was that by the time WHCT returned in 1985, both WTXX and WTIC had long since gotten the jump on both ratings and highly-rated syndicated fare...might have been different if former owner Dr. Gene Scott had sold the station a few years earlier.

[kylebook]

Possibly, except that a few years earlier, the USA was in a deep recession, meaning credit was tight (much like now), meaning Dr. Gene probably had few interested buyers. The Chase family, who signed on Channel 61, had pretty deep pockets back then, which they invested in state-of-the-art equipment.

[koosman28]

Dempsey and Makepeace?? I forgot all about them! Only YOU would have come up with clasic video like this!...and thanks for the kind write-up... :)

[kylebook]

Especially since it came from one of your tapes that I copied back in '93! Be sure to check out the Whaler close & Mass, as well...

[MrChicago891]

I remember only a few years later the jingle was "whct right here right now" and it would have one infomercial after another, I believe sometimes back to back of the same freakin' infomercial!!!! The Vegetable Slicer, Anushka's celulite cream starring Erin Grey from Silver Spoons.....and on weekends they'd play the old Ghost Story/Circle of Fear....anyone remember any of this stuff....???

[eileenh28]

I remember watching SCTV on this. However, my fondest memories were watching "Repo Man" and "Get Crazy," for the first time on Channel 18. Those are two movies that changed my teenage life!

[WhatsAYak]

Yeah, that they did...and their excellent signal coverage prolly didn't help WHCT, either.

[RetroGirl85]

iremeber watching WHCT 18! we didnt have cable for awhile so my dad got one of those rotor antennas and we lived in spfld ma and that was one of the channels we got.. wow the memories

[TBoanz3000]

Yeah, I remember WHCT from back in the day. I used to see reruns of Saturday Night Live and SCTV in the late afternoons.

[GMSpectre]

You know what I love about the internet. I just decide to do a quick check on my old favorite comedy block (SCTV, SNL and Carson), and discover your website with a detailed history of the station complete with print ads and logos. :)

[koosman28]

Checked 'em out and forwarded them to Gary Mottola and my brother. Laurence got a big kick out of the fact that the 'camera cast' was you, me and John!