T-Bar-V Ranch went off the air in 1970, but ask any Louisville baby boomer to sing the theme song and you'll instantly hear, "Brush your teeth each morning / Get lots of sleep at night / Mind your mom and daddy / Cause they know what is right." Such is the power of homegrown television. This book is a look at Louisville television history over the last 50 years, from T-Bar-V to Tom Wills's retirement. Along the way, you will catch a glimpse of Diane Sawyer (as the WLKY "weather girl") and dozens of images of locally produced musical shows, game shows, talk shows, children's shows, and newscasts--not to mention all the lyrics to the T-Bar-V Ranch opening and closing theme song.

Television in America examines the history of the industry from a local station perspective. Some interesting ramifications are: What would have happened to the ABC network without the support of its key station, WABC? What effect did KSL television have on the Mormon Church communication empire? Can stations in Atlanta and Orlando be credited with promoting a civil-rights agenda before it was politically correct? Would the Kefauver hearings have taken on as much national significance had it not been for the local coverage of WMAL-TV? Without the efforts of WEW's Dorothy Fieldheim and Nancy Craig at WABC, would women have been welcomed in the nation's newsrooms? The histories of the 20 television stations in this unique collection help answer these questions and set the stage for further inquiry.