WHUF-TV 31 Snapshots
TV Powww-1981
The TV Powww format, was produced and distributed by Florida syndicator Marvin Kemper. It debuted in 1978 on Los Angeles station KABC-TV and was used by 79 local market stations. TV Poww was one of the first computerized games on television. Kids would send in post cards with their name and phone number and Ranger Bob would call them live on air. The game firing sequence was triggered by kids making the plosive "pow" sound into the phone, but the kids show was presented in a way adults could get laughs too. Surprisingly the Nielsen ratings were higher for the kids show than Phil Donahue's TV Talk show which is why we ended up on the cover of the Upfront section of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. The Poww set didn't look like much from the wide shot, but up close it was cool cause we could make lots of silly stuff pop up from behind the set (like the namesake Mr. & Mrs. Powww puppets). The station received hundreds of postcards everyday to play video games like Pong, Bowling, and Space Raiders. Video games for television were really in their infancy and most TV stations dropped TV POWWW by the mid-1980s. Channel 31 continued the program under the name "The Buckaroo Club with Ranger Bob". Thats when the show did what the Ranger always envisioned- to put kids on TV for their 15 minutes of stardom. A studio audience and many local appearances followed keeping the show on the air for another 4 years.
Watch Buckaroo Club with Ranger Bob Show Open
The BIG Hat
The big foam cowboy hat became part of Ranger Bob's identity. Today you see a lot of them, but back in 1980 it was more of a carnival obscurity. In fact this hat came from Kings Sales and Carnival supply on Sager Drive when the owner, Bob Larter, said to the Ranger, "You've got a big head now that your on TV, try this on."
Autographed Handout
This was the first handout, and every Buckaroo who attended a personal appearance got to chit chat with the Ranger and receive this picture with their name next to his. During the shows run at Channel 31, Ranger Bob handed out thousands of these. In fact at one single event, Ranger Bob signed hundreds and his hand had to be put on life support!.
The Buckaroo Cup
The artwork was done by the TV shows Director Tom Sweeney. There wasn't much outside promotion for the show, so Ranger Bob gathered a few friends, incorporated, and created the Buckaroo Cup. The idea was to sell them at events, and maybe make back the money they invested which didn't happen cause the station made them stop. (wanna buy a cup?)
Characters who appeared on the show
Lenny Goobner
Lenny was the Gooberville, Goob. If you look up Dufus in the dictionary, you'd see his picture. He hosted an on-location Halloween show from a local cemetary. During the shooting someone in the neighborhood called the police, but when they arrived and saw it was Lenny, they let him go figuring they already had too many Goobers locked up.
Officer Unfriendly
One goofy day we decided to have Ranger Bob arrested by Officer Unfriendly (played by Scott Fishman) who took over the show for one segment. The switchboard (yeah we had them back then) had so many negative calls from kids about the Ranger's safety, we had to come back and explain to them how the officer let Ranger Bob out of jail, was really a friendly officer, and now was the Ranger's friend. We saved our jobs for another day.
Ferd Berf
It was Ranger Bob's birthday and our Promotions Director Steve Satterwhite blew him out of the water, with Ferd Berf a character that appeared from behind the set in the middle of a live segment. Ranger Bob was laughing so hard he couldn't talk, so Ferd Berf threw a cream pie in his face.
Buffy
Buffy was the niece of Granny Grits a Gooberville Grandma. Her mustache was darker than Ranger Bob's! She was one of the many good natured people who worked at TV 31, who loved the show and wanted to be a part of it. Being so log ago we don't remember her real name. Do you?
Safety Officers Hank and Gary
The Rochester Police department was so deeply involved in children and education, that they had two officers assigned to their Officer Friendly School Safety program. Hank Majawskas and Gary Raz made appearances at school and were regular guests on the show. They always parked in the Rangers spot so he would get the ticket.
Director Mark
Mark Phillips was the longest surviving director for the Buckaroo Club. All others wanted real jobs and moved on after a month. Mark was known for his keen eyesight and straw hat he wore daily to commemorate the Straw Hat riot that took place in New York in 1922. His motto was," who cares about being socially acceptable!"
Ambulance crew
We can't recall who these people are today, but in the spur of the moment, Ranger Bob saw them driving the ambulance past the Tv station entrance (while not on call) and asked them to capture him as he rode a stick horse down a busy main street intersection for the 1st TV Poww show open. It gave the impression Ranger was an escaped lunatic...he hadn't escaped- but the other part was true!
Kangaroo Court
During one set Ranger Bob ended up in a Kangaroo Court and everyone on the crew got in on the bit. Director Tom Sweeney was the judge, Cameraman Scott Fishman was the police officer, and that left a locked down camera and two people in the control room. It was live TV and they just made it up as they went along. Kinda of like being in Congress.
President & Mrs Regan
During the Regan presidency, Ron and Nancy stopped by to discuss foreign policy with Ranger Bob-you can't get any more foreign than Gooberville! During the interview Ron would only say, "There you go again!" and Nancy kept pinching the Ranger to see if she was dreaming.
Boy Bob
Boy Bob, singer and 7th cousin to singer Boy George sang for the group Cheese Culture and had the hit single "Lactic Acid." Boy Bob made a special appearance on the Buckaroo Club with a spectacular psychedelic light show that sent several camera operators to a psychiatric hospital.
Snapshots
Ranger drives the Tour Bus
Its a close up of the Rochester Sesquicentennial poster from 1984 with Ranger Bob driving a bus full of dignitaries. This poster was displayed at the entrance of the Distillery Sports Restaurant (chicken wing heaven) on Mt. Hope Ave, a favorite meeting place for all Buckaroos!