As old-school NYC enthusiasts, we here at Urbanite have been waiting for this since we first told you in April that WPIX was going retro to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Well, the CW 11 will briefly become "11 Alive" during its special marathon of classic programming on Saturday, June 14 (from 12 noon to 9pm) followed by a one-hour documentary hosted by news anchors Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong. PIX is also inviting you to share your memories at http://cw11.trb.com/60 (not yet "Alive") where they will gather a great collection of WPIX nostalgia. Let us know of your memories, too -- after all, this is the station that coined the phrase "What's your opinion? We'd like to know."
The schedule will be composed of programs that were once a big part of the WPIX schedule. Here's the rundown:
The Little Rascals12-1230pm: Teacher’s Pet
1230p-1pm: Hearts Are Thumps/ Feed ‘Em and Weep
Abbott & Costello1pm Getting a Job
130pm The Actor’s Home
The Three Stooges
2pm Gents without Cents230pm A Plumbing We Will Go
The Adventures of Superman
3pm Crime Wave
330pm The Perils of Superman
Get Smart
4pm Mr. Big
430pm A Spy for A Spy
My Favorite Martian
5pm My Favorite Martian
530pm A Loaf of Bread, A Jug of Wine and Peaches
I Dream Of Jeannie6pm The Lady In The Bottle
630pm Tomorrow Is Not Another Day
The Odd Couple7pm Password
730pm My Strife in Court
The Honeymooners
8pm Better Living Through TV830pm The $99,000 Answer
WPIX 60th SPECIAL
9-10 pm
Hosted by CW11 News Anchors Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong
Fire up your Betamaxes -- err, DVD recorders -- and have fun. And check out some more vintage WPIX and old school TV stuff here and here. Release is after the jump.
-- Rolando Pujol
THE BIRTHDAY BASH BEGINS ON JUNE 14 with A CLASSIC COMEDY MARATHON AND RETROSPECTIVE SPECIAL
June 5, 2008--NEW YORK--The year was 1948, the price of a stamp was 3 cents, a subway ride 10 cents, and a gallon of gas a whopping 16 cents when WPIX hit the air on June 15 as New York City’s first independent television station.
For 60 years, the award-winning WPIX-TV has been New York’s home for groundbreaking television, and to celebrate, WPIX will air WPIX AT 60 BIRTHDAY BASH, a special marathon of classic programming on Saturday, June 14 (from 12 noon to 9pm) followed by a one hour retrospective hosted by News Anchors Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong.
Beginning at noon, the PIX AT 60 BIRTHDAY BASH will feature 9 hours of vintage programs including: The Little Rascals, Abbott & Costello, The Three Stooges, The Adventures Of Superman, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Odd Couple and The Honeymooners (program schedule attached).
9 hours…19 episodes…and all the nostalgia you can cram into a day. Did you know Abbott and Costello were the first non-baseball players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (for “Who’s On First?) or that Jeannie’s bottle in “I Dream of Jeannie” was actually a bottle of Jim Beam painted gold? Interstitials will run throughout the BIRTHDAY BASH and will feature PIX program trivia and fun facts.
At 9 pm, WPIX will air a 60th Anniversary Special hosted by Jim Watkins and Kaity Tong. The hour-long program will take a look back at WPIX from 1948 to 2008. Today, WPIX is the CW11, the home for great programs like “The CW11 News,” “America’s Next Top Model,” New York Mets baseball and many first run and syndicated hits. In the last 60 years, WPIX has celebrated many milestones including the first instant replay (July 17, 1959 Yankees vs. White Sox) and The Rolling Stones’ first New York TV appearance on WPIX’s “Clay Cole Show” (1964). From the Giants to the Yankees to the Mets…from Cap’n Jack McCarthy to Officer Joe Bolton to Bozo the Clown…From Dawson to Buffy to Serena, the WPIX 60th Anniversary Special will track the stations’ growth from a small independent station to the powerhouse it is today.
Remember playing the PIX PIX PIX game? Did you warm your hands over “The Yule Log” fire? Do you long for “Peanut Butter and Jelly Time?” WPIX is inviting viewers to share their favorite memories at cw11.com/60 which will also feature expanded online coverage of WPIX’s rich history.
In addition, WPIX has created a commemorative insert which will run in Newsday and amNewYork on June 13 featuring a comprehensive timeline of PIX’s greatest moments with vintage photographs.
The PIX AT 60 BIRTHDAY BASH….It’s better than birthday cake…