Pat McCormick (television personality)
Encyclopedia
Pat McCormick is a retired
local television
personality in San Francisco
, California's
KGO-TV
, and Oakland's
, KTVU
channel
2 in the San Francisco Bay Area
, where among many jobs he was the nightly news' weatherman
, hosted the midday movie Dialing for Dollars program, and co-hosted the local edition of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.
in Los Angeles, McCormick pitched a children's program to a CBS
affiliate in Fresno
, California, and went on the air there in Spring, 1959
with Charley (inspired by Dennis Weaver's
character Chester on Gunsmoke
) and his sidekick Humphrey. Charley was a horse
who wore a sea captain's hat, and Humphrey Hambone was a bulldog
. In time, he'd added additional characters, "Sneezer," "Shagnasty Bear," and "Pussyfoot", the grand piano playing cat wearing sunglasses. The characters followed McCormick when he signed with San Francisco's KGO-TV in 1961, and finally to KTVU where they were a staple in afternoon PSAs
. Humphrey eventually wore a trademark Oakland Raiders
sweater sent to McCormick by Sonny Barger of the Oakland Hells Angels
.
In a 2008 interview, McCormick admitted that the "Charley and Humphrey" skits were his favorite aspect of working on television: "All the other things I did on television were just jobs. It was my work. By contrast Charley and Humphrey were my passion. They were me. I miss working with them more than I can describe."
where random Bay Area people were called and asked to guess the "Count and the Amount". The "count" was used to determine which person would be called. The host would pick a slip of paper from a drum containing pages from local phone books sliced into convenient sizes. At the beginning of the show, the count was determined by spinning two wheels, one of which resulted in a number and the other in "up" or "down". If the count was, for instance, 3 down, the host would start at the top of the slip of phone book and count three numbers down from the top and call the resulting number. The "amount" was the amount of money to be won. It would start at $100 and increase by a fixed amount with every unsuccessful call. The calls were made during commercial breaks while the afternoon movie was being screened.
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
local television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
personality in San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, California's
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
KGO-TV
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
, and Oakland's
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
channel
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
2 in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, where among many jobs he was the nightly news' weatherman
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
, hosted the midday movie Dialing for Dollars program, and co-hosted the local edition of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon.
"Charley and Humphrey"
While working at ABC-TVAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in Los Angeles, McCormick pitched a children's program to a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate in Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, California, and went on the air there in Spring, 1959
1959 in television
The year 1959 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1959:For the American TV schedule, see: 1959-60 American network television schedule.-Events:...
with Charley (inspired by Dennis Weaver's
Dennis Weaver
William Dennis Weaver was an American actor, best known for his work in television, including roles on Gunsmoke, as Marshal Sam McCloud on the NBC police drama McCloud, and the 1971 TV movie Duel....
character Chester on Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
) and his sidekick Humphrey. Charley was a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
who wore a sea captain's hat, and Humphrey Hambone was a bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
. In time, he'd added additional characters, "Sneezer," "Shagnasty Bear," and "Pussyfoot", the grand piano playing cat wearing sunglasses. The characters followed McCormick when he signed with San Francisco's KGO-TV in 1961, and finally to KTVU where they were a staple in afternoon PSAs
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
. Humphrey eventually wore a trademark Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
sweater sent to McCormick by Sonny Barger of the Oakland Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
.
In a 2008 interview, McCormick admitted that the "Charley and Humphrey" skits were his favorite aspect of working on television: "All the other things I did on television were just jobs. It was my work. By contrast Charley and Humphrey were my passion. They were me. I miss working with them more than I can describe."
"Charley and Humphrey" episodes
- Bees
- Boating Safety
- Borrowing Without Asking
- Think For Yourself
- Park
- Exercise
- Interruption
- Hostility
- Kitten
- Library
Dialing for Dollars
McCormick also hosted a show in the 1970s called Dialing for DollarsDialing for Dollars
Dialing for Dollars was a franchised format local television program in the United States and Canada, popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.-Format:...
where random Bay Area people were called and asked to guess the "Count and the Amount". The "count" was used to determine which person would be called. The host would pick a slip of paper from a drum containing pages from local phone books sliced into convenient sizes. At the beginning of the show, the count was determined by spinning two wheels, one of which resulted in a number and the other in "up" or "down". If the count was, for instance, 3 down, the host would start at the top of the slip of phone book and count three numbers down from the top and call the resulting number. The "amount" was the amount of money to be won. It would start at $100 and increase by a fixed amount with every unsuccessful call. The calls were made during commercial breaks while the afternoon movie was being screened.