UHF TV in Boston: WSBK (38) vs WKBG/WLVI (56)

Growing up in the Boston area, after-school (& home sick) TV viewing often meant watching either channel 38 or 56.

For those folks who grew up in the area, which station did you tend to watch more?

Here's a very-basic rundown of each:

WSBK TV-38's best-remembered programming:
- Boston Bruins hockey
- Boston Red Sox baseball
- Hogan's Heroes
- The Movie Loft (hosted by Dana Hersey)
- Ask the Manager (with Dana Hersey often on hand)
- The Three Stooges (daily, and the New Year's Eve marathon)
- Willie Whistle (a clown who had a high-pitched squeaky voice that was nearly impossible to understand)
- Main announcer: Dana Hersey
38 seemed to change its programming more often than 56, but the content listed above was evergreen for them.

WKBG/WLVI TV-56's best-remembered programming (they tended to run the same shows for many years):
- Star Trek
- The Flintstones
- The Brady Bunch
- Gilligan's Island
- The Monkees
- Creature Double Feature (on Saturday afternoons)
- Main announcer (for the kids' block after school): Dale Dorman

I tend to remember 38 as having more of a distinct identity than 56, due to its sports programming, as well as Dana Hersey pretty much being both the face and voice of the station for many years. (The fact he was a good-looking guy with a wacky sense of humor made him quite memorable.)

As mentioned above, 56 seemed to run the shows listed above forever. (6:00pm? Guess it's time for Star Trek...). 38 seemed to have more of a turnover with its after-school offerings.

Both stations ran Warner Bros. cartoons – with 56 showing the pre-1948 A.A.P. syndication package, and 38 airing the post-1948 cartoons WB still controlled themselves (56 generally removed the opening credits from the cartoons they aired, which was quite frustrating).

Thinking about it now, I likely watched more 38 than 56, as endlessly-run episodes of The Brady Bunch is less appealing than almost any other alternative. Still, both stations were after-school staples for years.

(And, yes, I'm aware of WXNE / Channel 25. But, that station went on the air years after the other two and tended not to have much of an identity (apart from its religious programming as its call letters meant "the cross of New England").

 

M*A*S*H was on 38 too, wasn't it? I'd have to say I watched WSBK most simply because of that and Movie Loft.

 

Channel 56 by a large margin. I was never a much of a sports person as a kid so I only watched The Three Stooges on 38. I don't recall that it was on daily though; I seem to remember it was on Sunday morning. Wasn't Underdog on 38? I think I watched that one too. Probably a couple other cartoons as well.

Weekday afternoons after school, I'd watch The Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island and The Flintstones. But the big one for me was Creature Double Feature on Saturdays from one to four. I was glued to the TV as a young kid. Sometimes the 4 o'clock movie was worth watching too. They even had a Creature Feature at 11 PM on WLVI on Saturday nights way back when.

 

Do you still live in Massachusetts today?

 

I would give the edge to WLVI. Just because they showed Lost in Space weekdays in the summer. But WSBK was just as good. I lived in Western Mass , so I also got WPIX out of New York which was great for their late night programmming. TV was so good in the 70's as a kid.

 

Nope. Tokyo.

 

I think 38 ran MASH. I seem to recall it coming on at 11pm (after Hogan's Heroes). (Or was HH on at 11:30, after MASH? It's all a blur now.)

There was also WSMW (channel 27) out of Worcester. It didn't come in very well north of Boston, but if you could stand watching a lot of noisy snow, you'd be able to catch UFO if the atmospheric conditions were favorable.

 

I got Channel 38 over the UHF in Springfield, MA. Channel 56 never reached us out there.

 

Japan? What's it like living over there?

 

Well, it's pretty clean and relatively safe. The public transportation is nicer than the grubby trains and buses in Boston.

I like it.

 

Below are a few items from 38 and 56 that folks who lived in the area in the 70's & 80's are likely to remember.

 

Where are The Brady Bunch promos?

 

Loved me some CDF back in the day!!

 

I didn't grow up there, but spent a couple of decades there and throw my vote to 38 for "Ask the Manager" alone. I fixed Dana Hersey's TV at his house once. You'd never know it from his voice but he was a tiny little dude, probably didn't crack five feet.

Great glimpses of the Rat in that "We Don't Knock" clip.

 

Where were Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion?

 

Boy do I miss the days when local independent stations were great. They don't even exist in most markets anymore thanks to affiliation.

 

I watched WSBK in upstate NY all the time growing up. Great programs. "Ask the Manager" was a cool show. Lots of good movies shown. This is where I probably saw "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad world" for the first time (cropped to hell but still).

I don't think we ever got Ch. 56 in our area, though.

 

Watched in NJ, Boston Bruins. Was sad to see it taken off our cable system due to re broadcast issues. Apparently they were no longer allowed to broadcast the same shows as the local stations. So I cancelled cable and purchased a satellite dish to get the Bruins.

 

Didn't WSBK do those Twilight Zone marathons? Really loved those!

 

Both 38 & 56 were great
But crèacha double featcha was the best

 

MASH was on sometime around 4pm or 5pm, because it was just before the evening news (on other channels). Or possibly just after. And then it ran again at 11pm or 1130pm.