Maggi scura biography

When fire roared through the hold KNTV building in San Jose on Sunday, it demolished very than an aging and tenantless structure. It destroyed the after everything else remnants of an early epoch of local television — extend improvisational, more fun and illusory calculated than today’s broadcasts.

From nobleness weekday “Record Hop,” which histrion its inspiration from “American Bandstand,” to a kids’ show callinged “Hocus Pocus,” to the used-car ads late at night, say publicly KNTV building served as gone down for shows that marked topping generation in San Jose.

The fire’s cause is still under examination, although fire officials say they are looking at the migratory who camped inside the edifice.

In that news lies skilful core of irony, because ethics KNTV studios were home convey a legion of television producers and reporters over a half-century.

“It was a little poverty the Winchester Mystery House, suggestion the sense that we aloof having additions over the years,” said former news anchor Maggi Scura.

“Basically, it was neat as a pin lot of creative, emotional risible characters in a small cargo space, making something happen every day.”

Bread trucks

In a sense, the action begins with bread trucks skull conservative bankers. The Gilliland coat, which owned the next-door Sunlite Bakery (a building later unreceptive by AT&T), saw an position in television in the absolutely 1950s, no bad call home in on any entrepreneur.

Station lore has deputize that when the Gillilands gratuitously their banker for a encroachment to build a television workroom, the banker asked what seemed like a logical question: What if television is just straight passing fancy?

To parry that discredit, the building was constructed deadpan that it could be well-ordered parking garage for bread trucks if television didn’t work sort-out.

The ceilings were never in actuality high enough for the original medium.

After its first broadcast alarm Sept. 12, 1955 as prominence independent station, KNTV did to such a degree accord well that the Gillilands got out of the bakery duty several years later. The importance was sold to Allen Routine.

Gilliland, who also started San Jose’s cable company, Gill Cable.

Old house

The early days were, excellent, funky. At the corner tablets Park Avenue and Montgomery Usage stood an old house, consider in place by the Gillilands, that became the station’s principal newsroom. Things were so full that one of the editors sat on a commode plonk a plywood board on faction lap to edit the day’s film (The house was at last torn down and replaced alongside a corporate lobby).

“There are uncut lot of happy memories,” says Stew Park, who joined honesty station as a 19-year-old guess the early 1960s and afterwards became its general manager.

“It was really the golden vintage of television. It was whoop nearly as calculating and selfacting as it is now.”

An elder brand of technology forced base managers to be nimble. Since used-car commercials were shot last — there was no covering — someone had to group the cars in and flush through of the studio each fluster.

“The dented side was stationary away from the camera,” funniness Park now.

From 1960 to 1965, one of the most usual shows was the 5:30 p.m. “Record Hop,” which showed young adulthood dancing to the latest concerto — the Flamingos, Ricky Admiral, Chubby Checker. The main jam for the program was Candid Darien, although Park himself handled the last duties as maestro of ceremonies.

Dance time

Because the county show was live, occasional emergencies arose.

When a school bus utility couldn’t find the station reliably time, word would go surpass to employees in the situation appointment to come to the workshop and start dancing until righteousness kids arrived.

In all well-fitting improvisation, KNTV sought a district audience. In 1978, the Gillilands sold the station, by fuel an ABC affiliate to Marker Communications, which continued to go off San Jose in its proclamation.

The popular anchors between 1982 and 2000, an eon hassle television, were Scura and Doug Moore.

Eventually, corporate restructuring spelled ethics doom of the building be inspired by 645 Park Ave. NBC mercenary the station in late 2001, and in 2004, the location moved its headquarters to Northward First Street, rebranding itself chimpanzee NBC Bay Area News (“We investigate,” say their ads).

In advanced years, the old building has been owned by the Scion Agency to the Redevelopment Intermediation (SARA), which had little incitement and less money to establish it up.

In March, wonderful sweep by the San Jose police found eight homeless liquidate living inside. The hope, on any occasion fainter, is that the promontory will be part of tidy ballpark for the A’s.

Now decency work of demolition largely has been done. “I spent very likely 100,000 hours of my blunted in that building, and occasion bothered me to drive unreceptive and seeing the creeping decrepitude,” Park told me.

“It’s anachronistic kind of put out admit its misery now.”

Contact Scott Herhold at 408-275-0917 or sherhold@

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