STYLE Entertaining and Party Guide, directory of party planning services, Baltimore, Maryland

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008

TV Time

A few weeks ago, I was at a Thursday afternoon Orioles game with a couple of friends. As we strolled through the concourse between innings, we were greeted by a fellow who was introduced to me as John Ziemann. I didn’t realize it at first, but I was meeting a bit of local television history.
Where I grew up, we received TV broadcasts from stations in both Baltimore and Washington. So even in those days of very limited channel choices, we had more than most, getting programming from two major markets. As a youngster, I spent many mornings with Miss Sally of “Romper Room” and afternoons entertained by Captain Chesapeake. I recall watching “Pinbusters” and”Bowling for Dollars.” And I remember quite clearly the eloquent, precise diction of the impeccably chic Sylvia Scott, as my mother frequently tuned in to “The Woman’s Angle” on weekdays at lunchtime.

My Saturday morning routine included watching Bugs Bunny and old Warner Bros. cartoons, “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” and a local Baltimore show called “Professor Kool’s Fun Skool.” Something about his voice sounded familiar but, as a kid, it never occurred to me that Professor Kool was actually the same Stu Kerr that I saw on weekdays on “Dialing for Dollars.” Watching the show, I always harbored a sneaking sense of dread though, knowing that sooner or later, that scary witch, Miss Spiderweb, would emerge from a closet at the rear of the set and menace the on-air classroom full of kids, all the while remaining practically invisible to the professor.

So I met a bit of my childhood history that day at Camden Yards. You see, when I met John Ziemann, I met Miss Spiderweb, too. John spent 14 years— the entire run of “Professor Kool”— behind that rubbery witch mask. It’s hard to imagine that someone as nice as Ziemann played a character as creepy (to a kid) as Miss Spiderweb. I interviewed Ziemann (a 35-year studio veteran of WMAR) for this issue and heard lots of great stories about those days when local TV stations actually produced shows other than newscasts. The stories of Stu Kerr, Sylvia Scott and the behind-the-scenes workings of a local TV station in its prime were fascinating. Sadly, those days seem to be near an end, as local programming has been all but abandoned.

That, and recalling many other TV memories from my childhood, was what made putting together the story in this issue on Baltimore’s Golden Age of Television so much fun. Aside from meeting John, I also spoke (via telephone) to Linnea Anderson, who many remember as the comely blond correspondent on WJZ’s “Evening Magazine,” another show from my youth. And I’ll admit it— I used to harbor a bit of a crush on her.

I hope you enjoy this peek back into local TV programming. And I also hope that it might spur some thinking about preserving this important part of our local history. Perhaps it’s time that we find a permanent repository for the artifacts from Baltimore’s TV past. The local TV affiliates haven’t preserved much of it. Let’s hope we can find a home for it before it’s all gone.

brian michael lawrence
editor-in-chief

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