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PRESENTS
PROFILE:
WFAA-TV's "NEWS 8 ETC..."
SKIP TO PART 2 - TRIBUTES TO DON HARRIS AND GENE THOMAS HERE
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1971 hosts (L-R):  Gene Thomas, Suzie Humphreys, Don Harris

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L:  Comedian Pat Paulsen advertises the coming of "News 8 etc..."  C:  Suzie and Don on the show's premiere,  R:  Newspaper ad, 1971

But the program was not afraid of controversy.  In April, 1970, Don and Suzie queried viewers about the possibility of legalized abortions (which were still illegal at that time, but certainly a hot-button topic.)  Dallas Morning News TV writer Harry Bowman wrote, "Almost before it signed off the air (that day,) the switchboard at WFAA-TV had taken over 40 calls, and the next day's mail was loaded with letters from viewers who were reacting...Most of the writers took a stern, negative view toward liberalizing the abortion laws."

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L:  The late actor/singer Richard Harris with Suzie.  "Lying on the carpet was a bond-with-
the-audience technique Harris was using in his stage show at the time," Suzie explains.
C:  Presidential candidate George McGovern with Gene, August 17, 1971.
R:  Suzie with the late actor and swimming champion Buster Crabbe, September 24, 1970.
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L:  Don with Egyptian actor Omar Sharif ("Lawrence of Arabia,") February 11, 1970.
C:  Suzie with the late actor Yul Brynner, October 11, 1971.
R: The late actress and Maxim Coffee spokesperson Patricia Neal with Suzie.

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L:  Suzie with actor and football great Jim Brown.  C:  The late singer Robert Goulet.  R:  Suzie, the late Alvin "Junior" Samples of "Hee Haw," Gene.

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L:  Suzie watches Don deal with a leaky cup of coffee.
R:  Suzie celebrates hitting Don with a surprise pie-in-the-face on his last day on the show!
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Surprise!  Gene shows up on stage, unaware that he'll be wrestling a 700-pound tiger that day!
Gene said afterwards, "It's not a wrestling match, it's an execution!"

But Gene's reservations about wrestling the tiger were correct:  Suzie found out a few weeks later that the same tiger had mauled his trainer.

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L:  Suzie and the gang share a laugh.
R:  Still reeling after the pie-in-the-face, the show breaks for a commercial.

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L:  A visitor promotes the "Sell America" event's forthcoming tour through Dallas in February, 1970, starring Art Linkletter.
R:  The crew of "etc..." gathers for a photo.

One "News 8 etc..." feature developed after Don's departure was what later became John Criswell's popular "Wednesday's Child" segment on News 8.  "It was our project before it was John Criswell's," Suzie explained.  "While we didn't dedicate the segment to a certain day of the week, it had essentially the same purpose...to feature children in need of adoption."  The children were typically living in foster homes, and adoptions were coordinated through the local Department of Human Services.  Criswell began his own feature on Channel 8 in 1977, as part of another live morning program that he hosted, entitled "AM," and "Wednesday's Child" was introduced as a weekly feature on WFAA's newscasts in September, 1980.  The effort was successful:  In a published, October, 1988 interview with webmaster Mike Shannon, Criswell stated that the "Wednesday's Child" program had placed over 450 featured children since 1980, with over 1,700 other children being placed due to the excess of families that called in on a specific featured child.  "Wednesday's Child" continues at WFAA today, produced by anchor Gloria Campos since 1989 when Criswell departed the station for KDFW-Channel 4.
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After Gene Thomas' death in October, 1971, the show became a revolving door of co-hosts
for Suzie:  Travis Linn (L,) Jerry Park (C,) and Rosser McDonald (R)...
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Left:  Later co-hosts included Rene Castilla (L) and a young John Criswell (R.)  Suzie is in the center.
Right:  Some of the "etc..." cast and crew with guest:  From left, Bob Cardenas (floor crew chief; retired in 2006 as production manager at WFAA,)
Clyde Chappell (production manager,) the late Don Easterwood (audio engineer,) Suzie, Shirley Spitler (assistant to Don Harris; was later station manager,)
Murray Campbell (floor crew; standing, with vest,) Bob Steele (show guest; was a former B-western cowboy star,) John Sparks (floor crew; later the executive
producer for investigations and political coverage with KTVT-TV,) the late Jack Van Roy (weatherman) and the late Ed Hogan (staff announcer and host of "Dialing for Dollars.")
Photo credit (R):  Ed Hogan, and special thanks to John Sparks for identifying everyone!

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Suzie prepares for a western play.  She is aided by the late Jim Pratt (R,) longtime co-host with Mike Shapiro
on WFAA's "Let Me Speak to the Manager"/"Inside Television."

The news/talk format was later resurrected by WFAA on October 18, 1976 as "AM," hosted by "etc..." ex John Criswell, along with Roberta Hammond, Doug Fox, Bill O'Reilly (yes, the same conservative talker of today,) Michael Brown, Troy Dungan, Byron Harris, Bud Buschardt, Bob Brown (now of "20/20,") and Gary Schwitzer.  After experimenting with "AM" and other similar successors, Channel 8 could never recapture the magic of "etc..."  During the 1980s, the station programmed a local morning newscast before "Good Morning America," and followed it with a syndicated newsmagazine ("Hour Magazine," for one) instead.

On September 12, 1994, WFAA introduced "Good Morning Texas," perhaps the closest attempt at re-creating "News 8 etc..."  A local, live, hour-long program, the show features a newsmagazine format, complete with a living room-styled interview area, kitchen and general approach.  It continues today and has featured hosts such as Scott Sams, Deborah Duncan, Debbie Denmon, Todd Whitthorne, Amy Vanderof, Michael Rey, Brenda Teele, Phillip Wilburn, Rob McCollum and the late Paula McClure.  In 2007, the show abandoned its living room environs for new digs at Channel 8's Victory Park studios, using many of the same sets and fixtures seen on WFAA's daily newscasts.  As the years passed, "GMT" evolved into what amounts to a paid infomercial, hosting multiple daily guests who pay a fee in order to hawk their wares or services on the show, while the show itself remains under the guise of a newsmagazine.

Suzie, of course, went on to enormous popularity as Ron Chapman's longtime "girl about town" on KVIL-FM's morning show from June, 1976, until 1995.  Suzie was initially an airborne reporter, but was later given her trademark "KVIL-o-Van" (bearing the vanity plate, "SOOZIE.")  Suzie once narrowly escaped certain death on May 20, 1977, when the KVIL helicopter, a Bell 47, which had just dropped her off at the Northpark Inn helipad only minutes earlier, ran out of gas halfway back to Love Field.  It crashed upside-down behind 4029 Colgate in University Park, killing substitute pilot Elliott Cohn.   Suzie, who was pregnant at the time with son Joshua (born the following August,) complained of nausea and had the chopper land at Northpark.  Cohn, who had only been with the company for two weeks, was filling in for his boss, Ken Montgomery, who normally piloted the KVIL aircraft.  With a change in helicopter vendors early the next year, Ken and Suzie grounded themselves for good on March 24, 1978, with Suzie taking to the van permanently thereafter.  (Ken resumed flying for other traffic services later; he most recently transported WBAP's Laura Houston.)

Suzie has acted in stage productions of "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," "Perils of Pecos" (with Donald O'Connor,) and at Dallas' Crystal Palace in "I Do, I Do;" and in the movies "Crisis at Central High," "Return of Josey Wales" and "Deep in the Heart."  Currently, Suzie has taken her exceptional gift of gab to a new level as a motivational speaker.  She now resides in Fredericksburg, Texas, but still visits the Metroplex quite often for presentations and to see family.  Check out her website at www.suziehumphreys.com.