Tag Archives: pat sajak

Sep 28

That great smokehouse in the sky

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I posted a link to a video of Sir Cecil Creape earlier on Facebook, and in the process of doing that I ran across some blooper tapes from Nashville TV in that same era. Here’s Pat Sajak, in his weatherman days, with the late Dan Miller:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXNJyE-LCDo

It wasn’t the only time Dan got tickled. Several minutes into this next video, you’ll see Dan with Huell Howser, doing a followup to one of Huell’s human interest stories, this one about a pig:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOVwOFLfifs

This one begins with a brief clip of a very young Chris Clark, but most of it is taken up by an announcer for the “Carl Tipton Show,” who can’t make it through a live ad.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JTCYBCQ0XI

Sajak, by the way, mentions his radio show on WSM-AM. I once won a Polaroid camera from him on that show. During those days, WSM – the traditional, clear-channel home of the Grand Ole Opry – played country music at night but adult contemporary pop during the day! The two different formats were buffered in the morning by Teddy Bart’s live “Waking Crew” show, and in the afternoon by an hour of news at 5 p.m.

Dec 15

Al Voecks

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I don’t have a radio in my car, and it’s actually been a while since I’ve listened to Gerry House and his “House Foundation” on WSIX, but I have to say that this news is truly lousy. Newscaster Al Voecks and sportscaster Duncan Stewart are being let go, apparently to be replaced by some minimum-wage college grad who will do both news and sports.

I have never met Voecks face-to-face, but I won a Polaroid camera in the mid-1970s when he was the newscaster for Pat Sajak’s show on WSM-AM. (Yes, for you out-of-towners, that Pat Sajak. He was a weatherman and DJ in Nashville before moving to L.A.) Voecks and Sajak would kibbutz a while at 3:30 every day, before Voecks’ newscast, and they decided to hold a “name the 3:30 segment” contest. I forget the grand prize; my camera was a runner-up prize, for my ingenious entry “The 3:30 Segment.”

Many years later, Voecks and a cameraman spent the day with my father taping a piece about Dad’s ship models for “Tennessee Crossroads” on public TV. My father had a great time with them, as I recall.

Voecks is a classy guy and a great professional who deserves better.