Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page E004

iVAMOS! Sunday, May 31, 2009 ARIZONA DAILY STAR Sunday, May 31, 2009 ARIZONA DAILY STAR iVAMOS! RECOGNIZE THEM? Channel 11 wasn't the only game in town. For years, these familiar faces popped into our living rooms via the television set. See if you can name them: Those crazy, hazy days at KZAZ television station. From 1970 through 1984, Gene Adelstein first managed and then with Ellen owned KZAZ -TV, Channel 11. Today, you know it as the Fox Network affiliate KMSB, home to They held live wrestling matches in the studio, organized a paint -the -station day and ran a 24 -hour "Star Trek" marathon that sparked a run on blank videotapes.

such blockbusters as "24" and "American Idol." But turn back the dial three decades and it was "Facts of Life" and "Gilligan's Island." "All the stores in town were mad because they ran out of videotape says Ellen Adelstein, who along with her late husband, Gene, once ran something pretty much akin to a mom-and-pop "We had the afternoon kiddie block," says Ellen. "Gene would ask Ilysha, our youngest daughter, which she wanted to watch, 'Facts' or and he'd go buy it." High school sweethearts from Clayton, Mo. the two arrived in Tucson with their infant son, Evan, in 1961. Armed with a brand-new broadcast journalism degree from the University of Missouri, Gene went to work as news editor at KVOA-TV, Channel 4. "Gene was making $400 a month, and out of that we were paying out $100 for college loans and $100 for rent," says Ellen.

In 1963, he movedto radio station KTKT as assistant news director. "I was a disc jockey and he was my newsman," says Ray Lindstrom. "He had a telephone hookedup to a tape machine and he'd call people and interview them. Unlike just about everybody else who would rip and read, he would generate his own stories." Asa "Ace" Bushnell, who covered the police beat for the Tucson Citizen from 1962 to 1964, regarded Gene Adelstein as both friend and competitor. "Was he ever a hard worker," says Bushnell.

"He never letup." In 1964, Gene Adelstein moved to news director of KOLD-TV, Channel 13. Four years later, he became the city of Tucson's first public information officer. His pay: $12,500 ayear, which generated a scornful editorial, says Ellen, in the morning paper. By 1970, Gene, then only 30, was casting his lot as general manager at KZAZ. Licensed in Nogales, Ariz.

in 1967, its studios were located in a former Safeway supermarket on North Tucson Boulevard. "It was $2 million in debt and there was a terrible signal problem," says Ellen. "You could get up on the roof and attach a thing that looked like a coat hanger to the antenna and it would work fine At first we gave "(The $2 million and terrible problem. could get roof thing like a to the it would At first them we sold Ellen former COURTESYOF ELLEN ADELSTEIN From left, Maye and Fred Snowden with Ellen and Gene Adelstein in the early 1980s. Fred Snowden and Gene Adelstein played prominent roles in the continuing popularity of University of Arizona basketball, Snowden as the coach who drew a lot of talented players to the UA, and Adelstein as the broadcaster of Wildcats games that drew a huge following locally.

DID YOU KNOW The former KZAZ-TV, Channel 11 studio at 2445 N. Tucson Blvd. now houses a Tucson Association of Realtors office. PSSST, KEEP THIS UNDER YOUR HAT For his pioneering work in supporting and telecasting University of Arizona sports, particularly men's basketball and football, Gene Adelstein will be inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame in October. His name, along with those of 11 other 2009 inductees, will be announced at a press conference at 3 p.m.

June 10 at the Holiday Inn Palo Verde, 4550 S. Palo Verde Road. Kalil, who maybe the No. 1 fan of UA basketball, remembers an away game in Wyoming when Channel ll's camera truck froze up. "They brought it into the arena, or field house, and it thawed out in time for the game.

"There's no question that TV helped the basketball program," Kalil says. "Gene brought a personal touch to the whole thing, where everybody felt like they knew all the players, knew the coach." The Adelsteins and Snowdens soon became close friends, weathering hate calls from what Ellen later learned was the Aryan Brotherhood. "This man called and said, 'We're going to kill you N-loving I was so shaken, I called the police. Later on, I learned the FBI was keeping an eye on us." So, it turns out, was neighbor Joe Bo-nanno, the underworld crime boss who spent his last years in Tucson. "An FBI man told Fred Snowden that Joe Bonanno's people were looking after us He loved those basketball games With Channel ll's debt retired through aggressive ad sales and Wildcat viewer -ship, Gene decided to act.

In 1977, he and Tucson attorney Edward Berger bought the station with about 270 investors. "The owners were asking $1.8 million," says Ellen. "Ed put up $25,000, Dennis DeConcini put up $25,000 and we put a second mortgage on our house to get the $25,000." The rest came from individuals putting up $1,000 each for one unit. "Gene and Ed were general partners the rest were limited partners It took us a year and a half to raise the money," says Ellen, who pushedfor making sales pitches over the airwaves, including Channel ll's. "We had to buy time.

Then we had meetings at the Doubletree Hotel." There investors were told they would have no say in how the station was run. Even so, Ellen sold one unit to the bellhop at the Plaza Hotel, another to her pharmacist at Walgreens. Stories by BONNIE HENRY lar duties. "Gene askedme to chaperon his son, Evan. Gene was out of town.

He asked me to pick up Evan and his girlfriend and take them someplace. By golly, I did." That sort of family atmosphere also extended to painting chores. With no money to hire professionals, the stationbought the paint and employees painted it over the weekend, says Ellen. "We were total family. We were the smallest independent station in the country and we were No.

4, the last station in town. We had to try harder." Meanwhile, inside the station, kiddie show host Uncle Bob Love held forth for years. "We also had live wrestling in the studio every Saturday night," says Ellen. "We had a local promoter, with a ring and an audience. But it was basketball that really had viewers crawling up on their roofs to adjust their antennas.

"We struggled and struggled," says Ellen. "And then Fred Snowden came to town." The first black head coach of a major university, Snowden came to Tucson in 1972 and began turning it into a basketball town. In 1976, the Wildcats won the Western Athletic Conference and advanced for the first time to the NCAA Sweet 16. Gene Adelstein, who had played basketball in high school, saw it coming long before. "Gene loved to go to basketball games," says Ellen.

"He said, 'There's anew coach in and got me to go with him." Before long, Gene had talked his boss into carrying the games, with Gene doing the broadcasting. "It was a turning point for the station," says Ellen. Channel 11 also ran tape delays of the UA football games, with Gene hustling up sponsors for both football and basketball. Early basketball sponsors included car dealer Jim Click and George Kalil, president of Kalil Bottling Co. "We started doing those commercials in 1972.

We'd do them right in the studio. We got a great response," says Click. jl station) was in debt there was a signal You up on the and attach a that looked coat hanger antenna and work fine. we gave away, then them for a dollar." Adelstein, KZAZ co-owner One of the first female newscasters on Tucson TV, she went to work at KVOA-TV, Channel4, in 1965, where she anchored a women's report and also hosted "Dialing for Dollars," randomly calling people up and offering a prize. Inl973, she moved to KOLD-TV, Channel 13, anchoring the 5 o'clock weeknight news.

She left KOLD in 1987, taking on a series of public-relations jobs. Known as "The Old Weather Wrangler," he forecast the highs and lows for more than two decades at KVOA-TV, Channel 4, beginning in 1977. A self-taught weatherman, he introduced viewers to the mythical "stick lizard" known for climbing onto sticks whenever its little feet got too hot. And it wasn't officially the weekend until his Friday night "whoopee," complete withbouncing Styrofoam bits. After retiring in 1 9 9 8 he re sume his weathercasting duties in 2000 over at KGUN-TV, Channel 9, but retired again after a couple of years.

The zany host of "Cartoon Corral," he doodled his way into the hearts of thousands of Tucson youngsters from the mid-1950s to 1963 over at KVOA-TV, Channel 4. He was also known for his cartoon panels that ran with the Arizona- Sono -ra Desert Museum's column by George L. Mountainlion, published in the Arizona Daily Star. Though "Cartoon Corral" headed for its last roundup in 1963, he stayed on as the station's art director, retiring in 19 82 He died of bone cancer in 19 93 A Tucsonan since the age of 7, she landed her first news job in 1971 at KOLD-TV, Channel 13. Two years later she moved to San Diego, where she woundup ducking a typewriter thrown by anchorman Harold Greene the model for Will Fer -rell's Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman." In 1975, she returned to Tucson and a 30-year career anchoring the news at KVOA-TV, Channel 4.

Perhaps the first visibly pregnant anchor in the country, she got through motherhood, a divorce and replacement by a younger woman in 2005. After an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2006, she moved the following year to Wisconsin with her husband. eB 'AjnqsoLUV S9jeq3 peip! 7 9ns 'I SH3AVSNV JAMES S.WOOD ARIZONA DAILY STAR Ellen Adelstein, who owned KZAZ with her husband, Gene, also hosted weekday shows and a weekend show called "Talk It Over," and got some big-name guests to appear. Our largest owner was an Alaskan pipeline welder. He bought 15 or 20 units.

He would go to Alaska, make big money and buy a unit." Besides selling ownership in the station, Ellen served as public -affairs director for Channel 11, where she hosted weekday shows, as well as a weekend show, "Talk It Over," that focused on in-depth issues. Guests ranged from Casa de los Ninos founder Sister Kathleen Clark, to Sen. Barry Goldwater, actor Michael Landon, and the Rev. Jerry Falwell. While in Cairo, she also snared an interview with the first lady of Egypt, Jehan Sadat, as well as Boutros Boutros-Ghali, future secretary-general of the United Nations.

Despite such successes, "we were always lacking in money," says Ellen. Plus, there were those investors to think of. "They had been patiently standing by, re -ceiving nothing except two nice dinners a year." And so they sold the station. Price tag: $13.6 million. "I still run into people who tell me it was the best investment they ever made," says Ellen.

"They made six times their investment, plus it was a tax write-off." Unfortunately, her husband was also investing, this time in radio stations, as well as a TV station in Spokane, Wash. "I went up to Spokane and did a show, and I asked the two mayoral candidates COURTESY OF ELLEN ADELSTEIN Ellen Adelstein conducts a Channel 11 interview of actor Michael Landon, whose TV credits included "Bonanza," "Little House on the Prairie" and "Highway to Heaven." COURTESYOF ELLEN ADELSTEIN Besides game-show host Monty Hall, Ellen Adelsteins guests included Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Mrs. Anwar Sadat. JIM DAVIS ARIZONA DAILY STAR 1984 Gene Adelsteins KZAZ was home to a wild assortment of programming, from studio wrestling to big-time college sports. them away, then we sold them for a dollar." Once ensconced at the station, Gene started up a newsroom.

One of his first hires was John C. Scott, who alongwith the late George Borozan held forth on an issues -discussion program for much of the '70s. "Gene wanted to do the news even though the station did not have the re -sources to do it," says Scott. Withno outside cameras, they were "reading the news." Scott also got nabbed for extracurricu what the biggest problem was in the town. They said it was the 10 percent unemployment I knew then it was a big mistake Less than two years after he sold Chan-nelll, Gene Adelstein, 45, diedof heart failure on March 1, 1986, after playing tennis in West Palm Beach, Fla.

"He was down there trying to put together another deal," says Ellen. "I was a widow at 43, trying to hold the employees together in Spokane. I had an 11-year-old daughter at home. It was a horrible mess. It took me 10 years to clean it up." She did so by declaring business bankruptcy.

"I am convinced the stress I went through gave me breast cancer." Today, Ellen is a healthy 67-year-old, still involved in community causes, still liv- ing in the home where she and Gene raised their children, Evan, Tracey and Ilysha. "I'm a survivor," says Ellen, who's now busy marketing the new DVD release of her 19 81 interview with "Star Trek" ere -ator Gene Roddenberry. It first aired, of course, on Channel 11. "I look back at the audacity of two 'kids' 'Star Trek' repeats were a staple, rated a 24-hour marathon taking on this job. Our dream was to one day own a TV station." And so they did.

Bonnie Henry's column appears Sundays and Mondays. Reach her at 434-4074 or at bhenryazstarnet.com, or write to 3295 W. I na Road, Suite 125, Tucson AZ 85741. JOSE GALVEZ ARIZONA DAILY STAR 1973 Gene Roddenberry, "Star Trek" creator, was the subject of a memorable Ellen Adelstein interview that's now available on DVD. The original episodes ran for only three seasons in the late '60s.

But when "Star Trek" went into syndication in the 70s, its new audience would launch it into the stratosphere. adin, to a science-fiction character. Science fiction, he said, liberated "Star Trek's" story lines. Television was heavily censoredback then, he told Ellen, particularly when dealing with sex or religion. But setting the stories on strange planets with "polka-dotted" people in them allowed him more latitude.

"I always knew this interview was special," says Ellen. Still, after it aired, the tape sat on the shelf for years. Occasionally, she would look at other interviews done with Roddenberry, who died in 1991. "None was as good as mine. I thought, 'Gee I really have something here In 2004, she sent a clip of the interview and a letter to Roddenberry's son, Rod, who was only 17 when his father died.

She heard nothing back. And then fate intervened. Her daughter, Ilysha, who was living in Los Angeles, had married a professional magician who was able to get Rod Roddenberry, a magic buff, into the Magic Castle, an exclusive club for magicians and their friends. From there, a friendship blossomed. One night after dinner at her house, Ilysha popped in a VHS copy of her mother's interview with Gene Roddenberry.

"Rod was almost moved to tears," says Ellen. Not long after, he invited her to show the interview in his booth at a couple of Star Trek" conventions. With permission from Rod Roddenberry and help from all three of Ellen's children, the interview was digitally remastered into DVD. Running about 1 hour and 20 minutes, it includes an introduction by Rod Roddenberry, as well as a brief interview he gave to Ellen. It's now marketed under Beshert Productions.

"In Yiddish, that means, 'It was meant to says Ellen. "Gene Roddenberry: Up Close and Personal" canbe ordered for $19.95 at www. roddenb erryinter view, com "It was a big hit for us," says Ellen Adelstein, owner, along with her late husband, Gene, of KZAZ -TV, Channel 11 which ran Star Trek" repeats for years. In 1981, Gene Adelstein decided to run a 24-hour "Star Trek" marathon the first in the country, says Ellen. In conjunction with that, she and Gene asked "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry to pick his favorite episodes to include in the marathon.

Roddenberry did them one better. He invited them to his Beverly Hills home for an inter view that would also be televised during the marathon, as well as for Ellen's show, "Talk It Over." "We took the little remote truck that we used for all the basketball and football games to L.A.," says Ellen, who conductedthe interview on June 16, 1981. Wearing oversized glasses not seen since disco died, Ellen sat next to Roddenberry dressed in a leisure suit and asked him how he got into writing science fiction. Once the head writer for TV's "Have Gun, Will Travel," Roddenberry likened that show's hero, Pal On StarNet: Watch a clip from the Gene Roddenberry interview at go.azstarnet.comlocalvideos McCLATCHY-TRIBUNE Original "StarTrek" cast members included Nichelle Nichols, top left, DeForest Kelley, top right, Leonard Nimoy, bottom left, and William Shatner. KZAZ ran reruns for years..