WMUR

[Dan.Strassberg]

The rumor about the nasty remark--at least as related to WOR-radio's
Uncle Don (real last name, Rucker, I believe) in the '40s in New York
City--has been recorded as an official urban legend. If you visit one
of the urban legend Web sites (snopes.com is the one whose name I
remember), you will doubtless find the story officially debunked
there. Whether you will find it debunked with respect to Emery is
another matter, but apparently there is a version of this story for
every guy who ever did a kids' radio or TV show in the US--and
probably some foreign countries as well.

-----
Dan Strassberg (dan.strassberg@att.net)
eFax 1-707-215-6367

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Drown" <revdoug1@verizon.net>
To: "Bud Yacomb" <outofthebusiness@gmail.com>;
<boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 12:46 PM
Subject: Re: WMUR


> >I have often wondered whether Uncle Gus actually hated kids or if
> >parents who brought kids to be in the audience of a low-budget TV
> >show generally
> raised brats.
>
> I don't know about Uncle Gus Bernier, but there is a long-standing
> urban legend (that has been going around Massachusetts for at least
> 35 years) to the effect that "Big Brother" Bob Emery on WBZ-TV
> couldn't stand children
> and was once heard to make an exceedingly nasty remark about them
> one day before his mike had been turned off.
> I've never quite believed it; I was on the show once I when I was a
> little kid and he seemed like a heck of a nice guy.  A friend of
> mine from my college days, who was raised in Needham, swears it's
> true and that he heard Emery say it.
>
> . . . And then there's the story about Channel 5's Bozo (Frank
> Avruch) and the squirrel joke.  We won't get into that.
>
> (Donna, can you confirm or deny any of this ---?)
>
> -Doug
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bud Yacomb" <outofthebusiness@gmail.com>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 10:33 AM
> Subject: RE: WMUR
>
>
>>I have often wondered whether Uncle Gus actually hated kids or if
>>parents
>> who brought kids to be in the audience of a low-budget TV show
>> generally
>> raised brats.
>>
>> Uncle Gus was hysterical; its major prop was an outline of the
>> United States
>> and Gus would call kid after kid up to the desk to try to identify
>> each of
>> the several states.  Years later when the Uncle Floyd show became
>> popular on
>> NJPTV, it evoked many memories of Uncle  Gus.
>>
>> And, of course, when I saw him doing the Atlantic weather, this fit
>> with
>> Frank Avruch as Bozo and recognizing his voice as a station
>> announcer, and
>> Captain Bob also giving art lessons on Dateline: Boston, and Bill
>> Harrington
>> as Nozo, a TV/radio news reporter, and husband of Romper Room's
>> Miss Jean.
>> This led to a theory that kids' show hosts were in it for the fun
>> and had
>> other employment where they made actually money, as opposed to
>> being paid in
>> giant Tootsie-pops and Butchie-boy grab bags.
>