July 4th in Houston in 1979

Here's a newscast from 1979 that shows long lines at Houston gas stations. Crowds were so bad, they hired HPD for security.
abc13.com/5375374/
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[@patotmaster7747]

Great stuff. As a Houston native, watched quite a bit of this crew for years. Houston was the greatest place you could imagine to grow up in the 60's and 70's. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

[@lemonhead162]

I grew up in LaMarque & Santa Fe in the late 70s & 80s. We also had an aunt who lived (and still does) in Houston right off Telephone Road. I remember going to Chinatown near downtown to get those salted plumes every time we'd go visit my aunt & cousins. Lots of memories!!!

[@judysetran9198]

I do remember.we road bikes to movies about 4 miles...

[@J.P.82]

Me too born in 1982 grew up on Briar Forest and Dairy Ashford.

[@MrDburt2]

I'd rather watch this than today's news.

[@bmasters1981]

You bet-- this from Houston (and any good old-timey newscast from anywhere in America) beats the political junk from FOX, MSNBC, Newsmax, OAN and any political pundits of any stripe hands down.

[@char3497]

OMG! This is serious old school. I grew in Houston all in the 1970s as a kid and teenager. Brought back memories. Simple life. Thanks. Keep em coming!

[@polynesia8733]

4:05 sweet wonderful lady encouraging Houstonians during tough times...hope she had a wonderful life

[@MrSamer83]

RIP Astroworld :-(

[@nicholascollado6565]

Please put up every broadcast you have! This is great!

[@leanajo754]

I miss the old Astros uniform. I wished they could have stayed with that look.

[@case139]

Absolutely great stuff from Houston. That showed the true flavor of the Houston market back in the day. And no one else in Texas that I know of had the WABC tiered-seating style in the newsroom.

[@RageTVHTX]

The WABC set was identical except it was tan. KTRK would go tan in the early 80s

[@jordantate7402]

Hello ABC 13 News my grandmother was killed in Houston, Texas In June 1979, (June 22, 1979). Her name was shirley Spradley i was told by family members that channel 13 news covered the story when it happened and was wondering if you could see if you still had the story and upload it for our family to see would mean the world to us. thank you.

[@texasturner2313]

Jordan Tate Apparently, ABC 13 doesn’t keep up with this KZbin channel.

[@nickj3513]

How was she killed??!!

[@gnelms24]

I like the classic commercials.

[@houstondante777]

I here ya ) 1979 old school

[@driver4011]

TV was good in the 70s.

[@BRO77TX]

The 70’s...compared to today, so innocent!! 😢

[@driver4011]

no comparison....like night n day, apples to oranges. want my 80s n m tv back.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

It was better for me, for sure.

[@jrwoodson3927]

You got that right.

[@Imchriswalker]

Nah not really

[@Imchriswalker]

Nah not really

[@candysmith8724]

When it was okay to look like me to be in commercials and news anchors. Those were the days!

[@duffbaker9554]

Just 16 days after this broadcast, I attended my first ever concert-Blondie w/Rockpile. I had just discovered the new wave and I was hooked, a 'goner' you could say. I will always remember that summer of '79!

[@bobo420TX]

Where did you see this?

[@BradleyLoomis-wq9yf]

I was Born beginning of 79 how cool to here 😎

[@jimporter4331]

Also, HOLY SH*T, that last minute of Dave Ward pen-twirling is amazing!

[@cityslacker6221]

yep, and he used to sit and do that twirl while drinking down at Kay's Lounge.

[@kleverich]

I know, it was the stuff of legend for which he was well known. Occasionally you'd catch the tail end of a pen toss right as the newscast started, but I've never seen it on full display before.

[@jimporter4331]

Note: the satellite images in Ed's weather forecast say that the date is actually June 4th. Still, thanks for the waycool trip back in time.

[@mjt2231]

Marvin Zindler!

[@nickj3513]

Thanks for the upload 😊!! The 70's rock!!

[@2packs4sure]

Highs of 85° ?? I don't think this was July 4th..

[@robertjordan7508]

This is REAL news...love this!!!

[@Robert8455]

I want to go back to 1979

[@RageTVHTX]

me too, I was 9

[@SW-od5er]

Me too! I was 14.

[@johndoe-zz1nr]

Me too😂

[@aaronwilliams6989]

Not me!

[@aaronwilliams6989]

Too far back for me. I was 13.

[@MrLyosea]

Wow Move Closer To Your World from philadelphia WPVI was used in Houston. Had no idea!

[@georgeschlaline6057]

When news was news and no Crappy INTERNET

[@anjie0301]

Wow! I was 6 and my brother was born in March of ‘79. We’re both oldies now 😆.

[@variousJnames]

Grew up watching this newscast team of professionals! Something that is definitely missing today

[@ariamartinez7355]

Trying not to cry. I miss these times.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

LOL!

[@bryanburnap4537]

I know I was 6 in 1979. I'd do anything to go back !!!! I miss it so much I can feel my heart ache !! Like this was actually how it was and I wish we could go back

[@stantheman8609]

This is pure gold! Except did y'all not save the Chroma Key texts and graphics, ABC13? And for the record, 1979 feels a lot like 2024 to say the least...

[@alexcarino3274]

Watching these news is so much better than todays news

[@disco76]

I miss Marvin!

[@keannajefferson659]

I remember him being on the news in the 90s that man was on there for ever 😂😂😂 and I remember the man doing sports

[@davidhenson6337]

@@keannajefferson659 Bob Allen was the sports guy. That's also Jan Carson who left channel 13 and went to work at KPRC channel 2.

[@texeddieguerra]

I'd love to see an archive of these for every day of the year since the broadcast started.

[@davidhenson6337]

Broadcast is from June 4, 1979. About a month and half later on July 23 tropical storm Claudette would hit and dump heavy rains displacing thousands including my family. I grew up in Alvin and, at that time, the National Weather Service was located out on the east side of Alvin on Hwy 6. They recorded 42 inches of rain in a 24 hour period. Several local residents recorded up to 45 inches out on the west side of town. Not a great memory.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

Those temps don’t seem like June temps and definitely not July. 😂

[@anastaciomunoz1076]

16:12 the dude that made a rant about about houston traffic a decade later

[@zoeyd7812]

Great to see oldies! I remember how scary this news was for me back then....I was 10/11. Sadly after watching this I really think crime and gas problems are now just as scary!! ‘79 was at the end of this scary time and sadly we are just beginning. 😢 Houston looks so much cleaner and better now and I hope the ‘20s don’t destroy her like the ‘70s with stagflation, crime and poverty.

[@mikeangelson]

That's when everyone came outside

[@jessecoffey4737]

Quite interesting that KTRK used the same theme ("Move Closer To Your World") as sister station WPVI in those days.

[@212Elevators]

Well if it was a sister station to WPVI, they had all rights to use it.

[@paulnguyen8910]

As did WKBW in Buffalo, NY.

[@ericsamuelson5656]

WNEP Scranton still have the theme song as their trademark along with WPVI

[@chrisrodriguez7351]

Houston totally sucks now. I can't believe how much it's changed over the years. It used to be such a cool unique place. Now it's ugly, crime ridden, corrupt and if I remember correctly some weeks ago I heard Houston was supposedly bankrupt or something like that. Damn I'm old, I was in either middle school or highschool when Marvin Zindler died. It was kind of a big deal in the city when he passed.

[@jw77019]

We’ve got the same problems today as then. We should have listened to President Carter.

[@ramonmendoza566]

How did I only just now discover this?

[@adams8132]

Simpler times for sure, can’t help but love those Texans accents and cowboy hats. Very Houston and very Texas.

[@kleverich]

27:55 - Not only was the murder of Judge Woods a professional hit, it was Woody Harrelson's father who did it.

[@wmbrown6]

Looks like an RCA TK-45A in the studio at 2:10, no?

[@joemartin1253]

I was 6 years old!

[@gabbya.m.9963]

Also, notice there was no ‘Thank you Marvin’ after his commentary segment. I think a viewer complained a few years ago that they should thank Marvin after all of his commentary segments so Dave Ward would always say “Thank you Marvin” afterwards up until Marvin passed in 2008.

[@briodiz4772]

feels like a time machine.

[@RayTuttle-of5qd]

Dave Ward was the man when it came to Houston news my parents watched him every night!

[@Jadammiller1]

Curious: When did KTRK’s 6pm news become an hour-long broadcast????

[@paulnguyen8910]

9-06-1982.

[@TheDeadHead420]

Fantastic

[@danieltaylor9275]

Besides TPiR nighttime, what other game shows did KTRK air around that time?

[@paulnguyen8910]

Family Feud, Gong Show, Hollywood Squares & Name That Tune.

[@danieltaylor9275]

Did KTRK ever air Match Game PM?

[@paulnguyen8910]

No, they didn't. CBS 11 aired it from 1976 to 1978; what's now KIAH from 1979 to 1981.

[@neal6473]

Could you believe that Wendy's restaurant and location still exist until this day in 2023.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

the one on Gessner? Yes it does. Newer building though.

[@danielmota1095]

just news no bs wow

[@jw77019]

Notice the teacher diagramming sentences at the public school. I doubt they even attempt this at $30,000 a year private schools now.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

and you’d be correct.

[@paultexasusa1366]

This is a time machine

[@ericsamuelson5656]

WABC set with the WPVI theme collied in Houston

[@BryanX64]

I wanna know more about that model T cross continent trip

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

what’s crazy is that this newscast is almost as old as that Model T was then.

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

That theme music (in the intro) was used by one of the Pittsburgh stations (I think it was WIIC), which is now WPXI. It was and still is Channel 11 and an NBC affiliate. I've lived in the Pittsburgh TV market all my life, and I know that one of the stations used it.

[@RageTVHTX]

WPVI has used that theme for Action News for a long time

[@TheBrooklynbodine]

@@RageTVHTX OK, thanks.

[@MK-el6fr]

So does WPVI Channel 6 in Philadelphia

[@bradleymcwilliams6348]

Just watched for the fun of it, but surprised to see that Smith and Russell is still selling Honda's, at south main and 610

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

man that Honda. I I. Was nice looking. Would drive it today.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

Weingartens, Astro world, the million dollar movie. Dave ward, Ed Brandon . sylvan Rodriguez has a school named after him. Sadly that Houston is gone😢 I was 9 but I remember my parents waiting in lines for gas.

[@gabbya.m.9963]

I didn’t know Jan Carson worked with Channel 13. That explains how her and Bob Allen met…I think they had one child together. Also, Jan Carson is Iiona Carson’s mother - The former Channel 13 News Anchor who retired recently.

[@13thJurorVote]

I didn’t know that. Wow I liked Ilona Carson

[@joeydbball1729]

I think this is actually June 4, 1979

[@intrepidman2]

That weather report was ancient! lol

[@johntexas8417]

I was 18.

[@paulnguyen8910]

There's a few seconds of the opening of Fremantle's "Price Is Right" near the end.

[@RageTVHTX]

Paul Nguyen yeah that’s weird because the Price Is Right aired on channel 11/CBS not 13

[@paulnguyen8910]

This one is from the syndicated version. Season 7.

[@jessecoffey4737]

The night-time version thereof. Apparently, according to the Victoria Advocate, KTRK only aired the night-time version on Mondays back in 1979. On Tuesdays, channel 13 aired the nighttime HOLLYWOOD SQUARES (the daytime counterpart was on NBC 2), on Wednesdays, the $100,000 NAME THAT TUNE aired over channel 13; on Thursdays, channel 13 aired the nighttime FAMILY FEUD, and, finally, on Fridays, channel 13 aired THE GONG SHOW. This is quite awkward for another reason; all these shows were of the daily strip variety, and yet channel 13 aired them once a week.

[@212Elevators]

Mark Goodson at that time.

[@RageTVHTX]

I don't believe Fremantle was a thing in the early 80s

[@admiralradish]

I was born 2 months after this aired.

[@mattbpatterson]

Nice hair Dave

[@michaellong3836]

Same Action-News theme used by WPVI-TV 6 (Philadelphia).

[@RageTVHTX]

They are sister stations

[@gregsells8549]

@@RageTVHTX Also used by other sister stations WTVD 11 Raleigh-Durham and KFSN 30 Fresno. Unrelated stations in Texas using MCTYW were KXAS 5 Fort Worth-Dallas (Action News) and KRIS 6 Corpus Christi (Pro 6 News).

[@erichani1]

I was 13 years old

[@romelovesdan]

Monday night Baseball was the PADRES defeating the Dodgers 6-0.....No Astros score mentioned?

[@edscottable]

Sharon Fryer

[@kennethcunningham2949]

What would Marvin say about today's politicians?

[@admiralradish]

7:40 there is some weird shit happening and i dont think it has stopped. We need to rid ourselves of this.

[@ssbabymoses4758]

i was 6 days old 👉🏾👈🏾❤️

[@clintonnwachukwu1505]

I wish I could do something in the 70’s, if I could just born in a different year.

[@jrwoodson3927]

I wasn't even born yet.

[@jesusgalvan6513]

I really miss Marvin zindler . I really miss the 70's especially the news.

[@jorgezarco9269]

That 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film hasn't been made yet.

[@miltwade]

Even a clip about the killing of Judge John Wood before it was revealed that actor Woody Harrelson's dad pulled the trigger!

[@bigcurt011]

The day and year I was born 🎊

[@aaronwilliams6989]

I mean the whole gas thing was fake.

[@robertking1480]

Left My wife to make $$$ in oct 1978 to instale air conditions in saudia arabia from HoustonRemember high gas n lines But in saudia gas was high octane red n 19 cents a gallon there

[@NoNo-iz8hd]

Crooked politicians!!! Nothing changed.

[@aaronwilliams6989]

I was 13.

[@judysetran9198]

LoL I worked for Weingartens 1975 ish

[@dioniciobelmarezjr.3312]

Jan Carson! 😍

[@basidan4488]

Is weingardens walgreens in real life

[@jayalexander3356]

Back when actual Texans lived here. I hate Houston now.

[@chrisrodriguez7351]

Hey no lie, how come you Houston local news stations just don't put out your old news episodes streaming online? I'd smoke a blunt and get lost for hours watching old news reports from decades and decades ago. As far back as they can lol.

[@BradleyLoomis-wq9yf]

😂 i was 34days old now im like wat?? 20.000 days lol seriously gotta do the math but its up there..ok did the math im like 16,433 days old now wow 😳

[@georgepops5590]

Back when ya big moma dem was living great great grans cooking them yam's chicken and dressing Texas corn 🌽 sweet Polly pop Cool aid 🤩

[@kayumochi]

Reporters like Marvin Zindler were once merely a side dish. Now they are the entire meal.

[@thebiscuitrose]

David Glott!

[@danorthsidemang3834]

15:50

[@uwusmolbean]

This just in; 2018 USA apologizes for selling out to foreign interests, the country you left in our care

[@goatfrog6364]

June 4th.

[@Internetbusinessreview]

Hi.

[@elmulatodonovan1303]

No

[@willdrucker4291]

I guarantee…Red Sox Fans we’re not cheering Mike Torrez a few months later at Fenway…thank you BUCKY DENT..lol

[@tbewin1z143]

that was 1978

[@tamekkaknuth9612]

Leicht Park green bay wisconsin

[@seanwhatshisname1831]

After you leave earth(hell)....i believe that your real life starts..earth is just a tough lesson that needs to be learned on the way to bliss...

[@pedrotello9590]

I like

[@EdrickWalker-in7wp]

Eyewitness News 1990

[@aaronwilliams6989]

That whole thing was fake.

[@terranceaddison4599]

What thing?