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DaveMichaels Talk Shows

WABC-TV - AM New York, KABC-TV - AM Los Angeles, TBS - Between The Lines,   WAGA-TV - Atlanta AM

WABC-TV, AM New York WABC-TV

AM NEW YORK

January, 1974


Me, Producer Don Segall, Co-Host Alice Travis and Actor Tony Roberts on to talk about his role in Serpico.

When I was a kid I was a big fan of Dave Garroway, and I always wanted to host The Today Show. The closest I got was hosting AM NEW YORK. That was in January and February, 1974, for two hours each morning on WABC-TV.

I was finally hosting Television in my home town.

This is really the kind of TV Hosting I should have done and not anchoring the news. I was much more at home and comfortble in this kind of format. But, you have to work, and the offers to anchor news kept me working.

Don Segall, Dave Michaels, WABC-TV, AM New York

I have no idea where I would have been without this show and my good friend, the late Don Segall, who I met through this experience.

Don is seen here with my 'idiot cards.' He went on to produce CBS' Ball Four with Jim Bouton, and Alan Alda's Four Seasons on CBS. Don also wrote for Alan.

Everyone needs a Don Segall in their lives.

It was while hosting this show that ABC O&O News asked me to audition for an Anchoring position. ABC sent me to EYEWITNESS NEWS in Los Angeles.


KABC-TV, AM Los Angeles
Dave Michaels, AM Los Angeles

When Ralph Storey and Stephanie Edwards went to work on AM AMERICA, the forerunner of GOOD MORNING AMERICA, the management at KABC-TV asked me to host AM LOS ANGELES.

At that point, I was hosting AM each morning for an hour-and-a-half, and Anchoring the 5PM Eyewitness News.

I started co-hosting with Maureen Reagan. Maureen wrote about our experience in her book First Father, First Daughter. Maureen was a good friend, and fun to work with.

Dave Michaels, AM Los Angeles
Our first guest was her Dad. He had signed out of the Governor's office the night before as Jerry Brown took over. I told him that I had just seen "Desperate Journey" with he and Erroll Flynn. It had been one of my favorite war movies when I was a kid..

He said, "Funny thing about that film - I received my greetings from Uncle Sam only nine days before we wrapped up shooting. Heck, I thought we were winning that war on the back lot."

When I got back to the Ch -7 Newsroom a few hours later everyone was waiting to show me the wire photo from the interview with Reagan. In the photo was Maureen, her father, and my elbow. I loved it!

The whole production team received a wonderful compliment following our first show from the late comedian Alan King. It came down from the top that Alan called ABC management after watching both AM America and our show AM Los Angeles and said, "You've got the wrong show on the network!"

One of many co-hosts
Dave Michaels,  AM Los Angeles, Sam Yorty
With L.A. Mayor Sam Yorty!
Dave Michaels, AM Los Angeles, George Shearing

In a year I interviewed every major celebrity, author, musician, or politician with something to promote. It was a very good show, with a wonderful staff, and a pleasure to host.

When I resigned the show - Regis Philbin replaced me.

One of my most favorite interviews!

The great jazz pianist - George Shearing! George died Monday, February 14, 2011.


TBS, Atlanta
Dave Michaels, TBS, Between The Lines
When I was at CNN, TBS asked me to host BETWEEN THE LINES each week. I did the show for over six years.

It allowed me to interview some truly amazing people....Coretta Scott King, Maya Angelou, Author Taylor Branch, Raul Julia, Jazz Bassist Milt Hinton, a couple of Astronauts, and the delightful film star Jane Powell - just to name a few.

TBS had some very talented people on their staff and I was proud to be part of their team.

Here's a moment from Between The Lines -

This is Stephen Bogart, the son of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. We did a half-hour touring Atlanta's Historic Fox Theater, talking about his book, "Bogart - In Search Of My Father."

He was a good guy, and there's no doubt his Dad was the same.

TBS, Dave Michaels, Stephan Bogart
TBS, Dave Michaels, EMU Who said I didn't work out in the field?

Take a look at this field where we did a full half hour of Between The Lines on an Emu farm south of Atlanta.

Me and my ratite! Friendly critters that like to peck on your head any chance they get. I brought home a large purplish Emu egg and since we had family visiting it made for more than enough breakfast. Good fun! Good egg!


WAGA-TV, Atlanta - The Early Years
WAGA-TV, ATLANTA AM, Dave Michaels, Jimmy Dean My good friend Paul Shields and I co-hosted Atlanta AM each morning at 7:30AM on TV5.

This shot is from video of that show.

Sausage peddler and Country Star Jimmy Dean is seen here in control of a Telestrator while I was doing the weather. He is running ICBMs in over Canada. Delightful guest and very funny.

World Book's HIGH Q
WAGA-TV,  High Q,  Dave Michaels, I hosted the first version of High Q in Atlanta. It was on every Sunday afternoon on TV-5, and ran for about four years.

It was the High School version of College Bowl, and was a World Book production sponosored in Atlanta by The National Bank of Georgia. I also did the commercials.

It was great fun to do and we had an excellent production crew who took a great deal of pride in working on this program. This shot was lifted from the video World Book used to sell the program across the country.

Hosting The Morning Movie
WAGA-TV, Sandra Dee, Dave Michaels "Ever meet any Movie Stars?" "Oh, Yeah!"

Here's the late Sandra Dee while I was hosting The Morning Movie on WAGA-TV.

Talk about Trivia! Name three of her movies!

Sandra was 19 at this time and not easy to interview. She seemed very shy and unsure of herself.

She died February 20, 2005 - she was 62.

Mickey Spillane was a Morning Movie Guest in 1961.

Mickey told me he would take his old Smith Carona and a box of yellow paper, and sit out on a fishing pier on the South Carolina coast to write. He said he never rewrote - whatever he typed went back in the box and was sent to his publisher.

Maybe that's why Truman Capote said that Mickey "didn't write so much as he typed."

I liked him very much. No phoney airs - just a real guy.

Mickey died Monday, July 17, 2006.

WAGA-TV, Mickey Spillane, Dave Michaels
WAGA-TV, Dave Michaels, Jack LaLanne
Another Morning Movie Guest

Here I am with fitness guru, the late Jack LaLanne.

A delightful guest.

Energetic and very funny.

He told me, "You're in great shape for the shape you're in."

I had just gotten out of theArmy.

Jack died Sunday, January 23, 2011. He was 96 .

The Morning Movie was a trip. One morning while running a western, the projectionist ran reel ONE, reel THREE, and then reel TWO!

Someone called and asked if anyone noticed that the guy killed before the last commercial was now riding in the posse. Believe me, no one did!

WAGA-TV, Dave Michaels, Phil Donahue, Ted Knight
Another moment from WAGA-TV.

Telecasting the Dogwood Festival Parade in 1973.

Behind me are Phil Donahue and the late Ted Knight.

Ted told me that in every station he visited, they had someone they wanted him to meet.

Their own personal Ted Baxter.


Fall 1960!

I was just out of the Army and working in my first TV job. I did the Coca Cola commercials on a statewide network on the Coach Wally Butts Football Show, Sunday mornings. Here's Bulldog Broadcaster Ed Thelinius with Coach Butts. I'm the guy at the Coke stand.

WAGA-TV, Dave Michaels, Wally Butts
No greater thrill than reading from those old Teleprompters and watching the paper start ripping and tearing right before your eyes...LIVE on the air.

How about those cameras? They had tubes and were very noisy because of cooling fans.

WAGA-TV, Dave Michaels
In this photo, left to right: Walt Wynn, Ed , agency guy Andy Parks, Director Dick Christiansen, me, and floor manager Jack Lander.

Jack Lander was a character and a very nice guy.

One of my favorite stories about him involves Edward R. Murrow.

Murrow was the guest on a 30 - minute public affairs show called Reporter's Notebook. He was to be interviewed by host Dale Clark and a couple of local journalists. About ten minutes into taping one of our huge 2-inch Ampex Video Tape machines stopped working. They would have to swtich to the other tape deck and start over .

I was the announcer for this show and very much wanted to see my hero Murrow in person. After opening the show I stood between the cameras to watch him work. When they had to stop the taping Jack Lander who was flooring the show said, "I bet this happens all the time in New York Mr. Murrow."

Murrow took a long draw on his ever present cigarette and said in that memorable voice, "It would happen just once."

I left the studio for the safety of my announce booth where I had to re-record the opening announcement.


WAGA-TV, Mr. Pix Show Christmas - 1967

I'm holding my son Michael at a TV5 Christmas party for the children of studio employees.

At that time I was hosting a Saturday morning children's show called Mr. Pix. I taught kids how to draw, ran Bugs Bunny cartoons, and played games. Every station in those days had such a show. Beats a lot of the crap on now!

Click this image for more Mr. Pix, Sweetums, and my son Michael!
Years later after Anchoring News at KABC-TV's Eyewitness News I returned to Atlanta in 1976 to anchor news at Channel-11.

TV5's management made fun of me and distributed pictures of me hosting the kids' show when we started the newscast. When Bert Lance joined our news to do commentary a TV5 executive told the Wall Street Journal that they vaguely remembered me as someone "who gave out jelly beans to kids." That came from people who I thought were friends.

My brother Robert who was the Publisher of Dun's Business Month at the time wrote a letter to the WSJ criticizing the jerk who made those comments saying they were insulting to both Bert Lance and myself, and didn't show much class. You don't mess around with members of an Irish family!

They conveniently forgot that I did the news on CH-5 every morning for years and anchored the weekend news for them. They didn't seem to mind that I hosted Mr. Pix on one Saturday morning and the next Saturday night I was anchoring their news. I still meet folks who recognize me and are always very complimentary about those days. I'm always shocked that they remember me at all.

At one time even Walter Cronkite spent mornings on CBS talking with a puppet named Charlemagne The Lion. It didn't hurt his career - Cronkite that is. Uncle Walter and the Lion were replaced with Captain Kangaroo.