Louisville Loves WROC (And I Love *Them* For Loving It!)

Greetings TV Garth readers! This post is a tip of the hat (or a tilt of the antenna) to a Facebook group created when Louisville, KY's WLKY was briefly replaced with Rochester, NY's WROC on Time Warner cable systems in Louisville back in July. (In the last couple of years Time Warner has replaced stations involved in contract disputes with out-of-market affiliates to continue network programming for subscribers.) The satirical, yet celebratory group Louisville Loves WROC-8 arrived and brought hilarious commentary and live blogging of long distance news to the interwebs! As someone who loves watching out of town news (especially from Rochester) this group totally appealed to my inner TV geek!


(WROC, RF45, as seen on June 9, 2012.)
The group swelled to nearly 200 people at its peak, and a comment from member Rod Botkins perfectly captured why WROC's newscasts are unique and special:

"I haven't consistently watched this much news in years, and I used to be a reporter. WROC has the indescribable something special that larger markets don't. For lack of a better word at the moment, it's neighborly. The news staff are real people. That's why they're believable, trustworthy and, at times, funny. That can't be faked. It doesn't have the glam-factor or false-folksiness that makes so many other newscasts hard to watch. [Scott] Hetsko is funny because he's a genuinely funny person. Caroline [Tucker] furrows her brow when she's reporting a shooting because she honestly cares about her community. It's these qualities that make WROC unforgettable in an ocean of forgettable news casts. The proof is in the puddin'!"


("Team You Can Trust" promo seen via WUHF, RF28, on May 13, 2012.)
Thanks to the awesome Scott Fybush for posting the original link that led me to discover the Facebook group! For more adventures with WROC check out my blog from June covering my tour of the station! It WROCed!

Stay tuned to TV Garth for more long distance television mayhem!

On The Set of CW's "Beauty & The Beast" (Sort Of...)

Greetings TV Garth readers! A couple of weeks ago (Aug. 16 to be exact) I was in downtown Toronto for a pal's birthday gathering. On the way to the party my jaw dropped when I noticed that the CW's reboot/remake of 80s classic Beauty & The Beast was shooting right there on Church Street. (CW pics as seen on Buffalo, NY's WNLO, RF32, August 18, 2012.)



I squealed with delight and asked a couple of crew members if I could take a picture of them. After looking mildly terrified, they politely declined. (Actually, what I really wanted was a shot of the show's logo on their crew badges...) Their expressions looked somewhat like this:



However, I did get a couple of shots of the faux NYPD police cars sitting there in the streets of Toronto!



Look closely at the pic below and you'll see that the "NYPD" cruiser is parked in front of Cawthra Square!



Stay tuned to TV Garth for more beastly fun, and catch Beauty this fall on the CW and Showcase (on cable/satellite.)